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No-Lemon Moroccan Chicken (a Maroque recipe) Easy to Cook a Delight to Eat  This originated from an observation that all Moroccan chicken dishes seem to contain lemon and tend to have very storng sweet spice tastes, unusual to the western palate. This is a dumbed down version of the famous Moroccan Chicken recipe. Great to use as an introduction to a new style of cooking.
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized bits
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 red pepper diced
a large pinch of saffron strands
a large shake of cumin seeds
1 tsp of ground coriander
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
1 pint of chicken stock
salt and a generous amount of black pepper 1. Add the oil to a large saucepan or deep-sided frying pan and fry the onions and garlic until brown. Set aside. 2. Fry off the chicken until coloured, return the onions and garlic to the pan. 3. Add saffron, cumin seeds, coriander, chilli, salt and pepper, and stir well to coat everything. 4. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a strong simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until you have a nice consistency to the sauce. Serve with rice. Serves 2, easily doubled reprinted from www.maroque.co.uk republished by Recipe JackC More About Moroccan Food and History Moroccan cuisine has long been considered as one of the most diversified cuisines in the world. The reason is because of the interaction of Morocco with the outside world for centuries. The cuisine of Morocco is a mix of Arab, Berber, Moorish, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean African and Jewish influences. The cooks in the royal kitchens of Fez, Meknes, Marrakech, Rabat and Tetouan refined Moroccan cuisine over the centuries and created the basis for what is known as Moroccan cuisine today. The most popular drink is green tea with mint. Traditionally, making good mint tea in Morocco is considered an art form and the drinking of it with friends and family members is one of the important rituals of the day. Morocco Travel For Westerners, Morocco holds an immediate and enduring fascination. Though just an hour's ride on the ferry from Spain, it seems at once very far from Europe, with a culture - Islamic and deeply traditional - that is almost wholly unfamiliar. Throughout the country, despite the years of French and Spanish colonial rule and the presence of modern and cosmopolitan cities like Rabat and Casablanca, a more distant past constantly makes its presence felt. Fes , perhaps the most beautiful of all Arab cities, maintains a life still rooted in medieval times, when a Moroccan empire stretched from Senegal to northern Spain, while in the mountains of the Atlas and the Rif , it's still possible to draw up tribal maps of the Berber population. As a backdrop to all this, the country's physical make-up is also extraordinary: from a Mediterranean coast, through four maintain ranges, to the empty sand and scrub of the Sahara.
Destination Guides > Africa & Middle East > Morocco  Like accommodation, food in Morocco falls into two basic categories: ordinary Moroccan meals served in the Medina cafés (or bought from stalls), and French-influenced tourist menus in most of the hotels and Ville Nouvelle restaurants. There are exceptions - cheap local cafés in the new cities and occasional palace-style places in the Medina. Whatever your budget, don't be afraid to try both options. The Medina places are mostly cleaner than they look and their food is usually fresh and tasty Basic café foodBasic Moroccan meals may begin with a thick, very filling soup - most often the spicy, bean and pasta harira (which is a meal in itself, and eaten as such to break the Ramadan fast). Alternatively, you might start with a salad ... read more >>Vegetarian/vegan optionsMoroccan cuisine presents distinctly limited options for vegetarians - a preference which will meet with little comprehension in most of Morocco, though restaurants in some places are becoming more aware that tourists may be vegetarian. Tajines can be... read more >>Restaurant mealsMore expensive dishes, available in some of the Medina cafés as well as in the dearer restaurants, include fish , particularly on the coast, and chicken ( poulet ), either spit-roasted ( rôti ) or in a tajine... read more >>A glossary of Moroccan foodNote that where food/dishes are commonly available in all kinds of restaurants, both French and Arabic words are given; in Arabic words, the letters printed in bold italics should be stressed. read more >>Eating Moroccan styleEating in local cafés, or if invited to a home , you may find yourself using your hands rather than a knife and fork. Muslims eat only with the right hand (the left is used for the toilet), and you should do likewise. Hold the bread... read more >> Main Cities in: Marrakesh - "Morocco City", as early travellers called it - has always been something of a pleasure city, a marketplace where the southern tribesmen and Berber villagers bring in their goods, spend their money and find entertainment. For visitors it's an enduring fantasy - a city of immense beauty, low, red and tentlike before a great shaft of mountains - and immediately exciting. At the heart of it all is a square, Djemaa El Fna, really no more than an open space in the centre of the city, but the stage for a long-established ritual in which shifting circles of onlookers gather round groups of acrobats, drummers, pipe musicians, dancers, storytellers, comedians and fairground acts. However many times you return there, it remains compelling. So, too, do the city's architectural attractions: the immense, still basins of the Agdal and Menara gardens, the delicate Granada-style carving of the Saadian Tombs and, above all, the Koutoubia Minaret, the most perfect Islamic monument in North Africa. Morocco is a place well worth visiting but try to respect the local customs. Behaviour and attitude are equally important on your part. If some Moroccans treat tourists with contempt, and exploit them as a simple resource, it has much to do with the way the latter behave. It helps everyone if you can avoid rudeness or aggressive behaviour in response to insistent offers from guides. And be aware, too, of the importance of dress : many Moroccans, especially in rural areas, may well take exception to (or get the wrong idea from) clothes that do not fully cover parts of the body considered "private". That may include both legs and shoulders, especially for women. It is true that in cities Moroccan women wear short-sleeved tops and knee-length skirts (and may suffer more harassment as a result), and men may wear sleeveless T-shirts and above-the-knee shorts. However, the Muslim idea of "modest dress" (such as would be acceptable in a mosque for example) requires women to be covered from wrist to ankle, and men from below the shoulder to below the knee. In rural areas at least, it is a good idea to follow these codes, and definitely a bad idea for women to wear skirts or shorts above the knee, or sleeveless T-shirts, and for members of either sex to wear only very short shorts. Even ordinary T-shirts may be regarded as underwear. The best guide is to note how Moroccans dress locally - and not how other tourists choose to. Extract From a German Travel Blog - This site has some GREAT pictures! In summer of 2004 we were in Morocco for six weeks and at the end we regretted that we could not stay longer. We lived in Tangier which is a modern Moroccan town with French and Spanish influence. The old part - Medina is unchanged since centuries and the life goes there on slower pace. Our accommodation was in Ville Nouvelle - New Town on the boulevard lined with coffee shops where the Moroccan men spend there time in front of a mint tea watching the passers-by. The first three days were hard for Diana walking alone on the streets in this male dominated society, getting used with the stares and greetings from the men, but later she found out that a pair of dark sunglasses makes the life easier. In general Moroccan people are very friendly and a smile and a polite answer does a lot in Morocco. [READ THE FULL TRAVEL BLOG AND VIEW SOME FANTASTIC PICTURES OF MOROCCO] If you hold a full passport from the UK, Ireland, any other EU country, the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you require no visa to enter Morocco for up to ninety days. Note, however, that your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your date of entry, and always double check your visa requirements before departure as the situation can change. South African citizens are among those who need a visa; applications should be made to the nearest Moroccan embassy or consulate. Some information researched from wikipedi.com and askvicki the international online travel centre |
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