Moroccan food
Riad Attajmil’s New Farm
One of the Marrakech riads on Morocco Gateway, the popular Dar Attajmil, has recently acquired a small farm, Farm of Lalla Abouch, located 25 km south of Essaouira.
The owner of Dar Attajmil, Lucrezia Mutti tells us more about the Farm and what it offers it guests:
“Working with families of the area, we cultivate and process our products using local materials and traditional techniques” under the caring eye of Argan Abouch, a hundred year old argan tree to whom locals are devoted. We welcome guests to visit us and enjoy a healthy way of life that can only be found in rural Morocco.”
“During their stay, guests can enjoy privacy, a tranquil setting, traditional rustic meals and also easy walking treks through the surrounding area, donkey trails and other farm activities. Breath-taking sand beaches and the lovely beachside town of Essaouira are close by. We also offer massage and yoga classes at the farm, and for those who appreciate culinary arts a cooking experience is available, introducing guests to some of the most typical and authentic Berber dishes.”
The Farm of Lalla Abouch grows a variety of herbs, vegetables, and grains including barley and wheat for our breads and couscous. They also raise poultry, rabbits, and goats for milk and goat cheese – all organic.
They also produce their own organic olive oil and argan oil for both culinary and cosmetic purposes.
Guests are welcome to share in any moment of the farmer’s life, from barley harvest in May and olive oil extraction at the old mill in October, to caring for the goats and cultivating the orchards and gardens all year round. If preferred, guest can just rest in a hammock, have a dip in the pool, or go on a walk with the farm’s dogs.
To get in contact with Lucrezia directly and to learn more about staying at the Farm, visit our Dar Attajmil profile.
Chicken with olives – the traditional Moroccan version
One of Morocco’s most popular dishes is chicken with olives. For all those who’d like to enjoy a little of Morocco at home we are exploring two versions of this classic.
The first is a traditional Moroccan recipe from Samira at the Riad Laaroussa kitchen, who writes the blog A Moroccan Kitchen, recommended reading for anyone who enjoys the Moroccan cuisine.
This recipe uses the traditional Moroccan ingredient of preserved lemons.
For this recipe that will feed 4 to 6 you’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1 chicken – approx 2kg – or 2kg of chicken legs or thighs
- 4 medium onions – sliced
- 4 tablespoons – Olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves – crushed or sliced
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- A pinch of saffron
- 1 litre of water
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley and coriander
- 100g red olives
- Strips of preserved lemon
Cooking:
Samira uses a pressure cooker in her recipe, but we’ve adapted it a bit as pressure cookers aren’t that common in the kitchens of most people we know. Use a heavy metal casserole pan with a lid or similar.
Pre heat your oven to 180c or Gas Mark 6.
- Add the olive oil to the pan and allow the pan to heat over a moderate heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown well chicken all over to seal them
- After the chicken pieces have started to brown add the onions, garlic and a generous pinch of salt
- When the onion has coloured nicely add the ginger and saffron
- Continue cooking until the chicken is golden on all sides
- Add 1 litre of water and heat to a rolling simmer
- Now put a lid on the pan and put it into the preheated oven for approx 1.5 hours – 2 hours.
- Check the chicken is well cooked and remove the pan from the oven
- Turn up the oven o 220C or Gas Mark 8
- Remove the chicken from the pan and put it on a tray in the oven to brown
- Put the olives with the preserved lemon strips into the sauce and reduce it to a thick sauce.
- When the sauce has thickened and the chicken browned, stir the parsley and coriander into the sauce
- Serve the chicken with sauce and decorate it with olives and slices of preserved lemonThis dish is best served with rice.
This dish is best served with rice.
Chicken with Lemon and Olives – An adaptation of the Moroccan classic
This is a version of the Moroccan classic which tastes fantastic and can generally be made out of your store cupboard essentials if you can’t get your hands on preserved lemons or red olives.
This recipe serves 4
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3 teaspoons of paprika
- 3 teaspoons of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 chicken thighs
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- 3 teaspoons of ground turmeric
- 200g green olives
- 3 large lemons
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
- 400ml water
Cooking:
- Crush the garlic cloves to a paste with a pinch of salt
- Mix the garlic with the paprika, cumin, black pepper and half the olive oil
- Toss with the chicken and leave it for as long as you can – a few hours is fine or overnight if you are preparing in advance
- Heat the rest of the olive oil in a shallow casserole
- Add the chicken pieces and cook on all sides until golden
- Lift the chicken out with tongs or a draining spoon and add the onion, you can also add some more olive oil if it is getting low
- Cook the onions until the are golden, then add the saffron, turmeric and olives
- Cook over a medium head for 2 minutes and then return the chicken to the pan
- Pour over the juice of 1.5 – 2 lemons and 400ml of cold water
- Slice the remaining lemon and add to the pan
- Bring to the boil and, cover with a lid and let it simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 15 minutes
- The liquid should be reduced to a nice thick sauce giving a few generous spoonful per serving. If the sauce is too thin, boil it hard to reduce it down
- Now check the seasoning, you may need to add a pinch of salt depending on how salty the olives are
- Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over and rice
Speak Moroccan Arabic: Food
If you’re visiting Morocco soon, there are many phrases that could come in handy. Among the most important are types of food, so you can ask for exactly what you want and be sure of what you’re getting.
That’s why in our series of Moroccan Arabic phrases, this week we look at food and drink.
Coffee – qhwa
Tea – atây
Milk – 7lîb
Sugar – skkar
Juice – 3aSîr
Vegetables – khDra
Salad – shlâDa
Meat – l7m
Fish – Fish
Cheese - frmâj
Bread – khobz
Cake – 7lwa
Banana – banân
Apple – tffâ7
Watermelon – dllâ7
Tomatoes – maTîsha
Lettuce – khss
Celery – krâfS
Aubergine – dnjân
For a full list of Moroccan Arabic food phrases and other useful phrases for your travels, visit Speak Moroccan.com, a comprehenisve language resource.