(“Better late than never.”)
Dromallama? Camellama? Abdul or Fatima?
. . .has lived with us for 40 years. Sometimes outdoors, sometimes in, always a bit tipsy. It was born and created in Salé, Morocco.
OO lala, better late than never. December slipped away, and now January. But the rains have continued, and it is cause for rejoicing.
December 2016 slipped away from me, and so did that month’s edition of the Kasbah Chronicles. I can’t say I am fond of “forced down your throat” holiday cheer.
I met my goal of translating Mint Tea and Minarets into French, and decided upon the title: Le riad au bord de l’oued : souvenirs et saveurs de Dar Zitoun. (Merci, chers amis qui m’avez aidée.) And now begins the hard work of finding it a good home!
I spent the month of December making yak meatballs and blood orange marmalade with the fruit of my overladen blood orange tree, in between savoring Geraldine Brooks’ novels (Caleb’s Crossing, People of the Book, Year of Wonders, March (Pulitzer Prize), and Foreign Correspondence.
Tangerine marmalade bubbling in the pot
Thankfully, the RAIN IS STICKING AROUND!! Lovely, air-cleansing, soul-refreshing, life-giving RAIN. Olive, our scottie, refuses to get her feet wet, but I did my little rain dance, then rushed to the kitchen to make couscous for New Year’s Eve, my favorite comfort food. I overate, bien sur. It was worth every bite. I list The recipe for Couscous Beidoui, Casablanca style couscous with seven vegetables, my favorite comfort food, in all my Moroccan cookbooks. This year, I prepared a variation on the theme: Couscous with YAK meatballs! (though couscous with meatballs is Algerian, not Moroccan.)
My friend Tershia d’Elgin, who wrote The Man who Thought he owned Water, a memoir of her family ranch in Colorado shared a precious pound of ground YAK, raised in the US of A. The dark red lean meat reminded me of ostrich and kangaroo (yes, indeed, couscous with kangaroo is an Australian invention.)The recipe for the meatballs appears in Mint Tea and Minarets. I have to say, even made with yak, they tasted very Moroccan! Recipe on the website www.mintteaandminarets.com.
Moroccan Kefta (meatballs) of American YAK.
(how cosmopolitan can you get?!)
If yak is not available, stick with a combination of beef and lamb, as in my original recipe in Mint Tea and Minarets.
Links of interest:
News of Morocco:
Morocco’s seeing an auto boom. But will it bust? http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/your-next-car-could-be-made-in-africa/70241
Have you ever heard of cloud fishing? Well they do that in Morocco!
OZY.com is one of the most informative and entertaining news sites on the web. Quirky, up-to-date, and well written! (http://www.ozy.com/emailsignup)
Books for sale:
A Biblical Feast or Edible Flowers: A Kitchen Companion with Recipes, $15.95 plus shipping in the US only.
Mint Tea and Minarets: a banquet of Moroccan memories: only 200 hard copies left! $25.00 plus shipping in the US only.
Books from my shelf:
IN FRENCH: USD95.00
JOURS DE FETE AU MAROC
ACR EDITIONS, 2004
Ilham Ibrahimi and Moha Fedal. Photo Cecile Treal
Jean-Michel Ruiz
In a cardboard box. Brand new. Box is illustrated, and bears some shelf-wear (from my travelling!!) on upper corner. Never used in the kitchen. NEW. This book weighs around 8 lbs, therefore, shipping will be higher than usual even with media mail.
Enormous coffee table book which I hand-carried back from Marrakech. Written by MOHA, one of Marrakech’s top chefs (my group had a cooking lesson at his farm outside Marrakech in 2003 or 2004.) Beautifully illustrated with scenes of Moroccan celebrations and special foods. Recipes included. This is a book to treasure if you have been to Morocco. I have several like it, and do not need this one.
IN FRENCH: USD50.00
LE JARDIN DES COUSCOUS; RECETTES DE LA TRADITION JUIVE TUNISIENNE. by Simon Nizard. L’Aube, 1998. 160 pages. OUT OF PRINT. Paperback. A memoir with food about growing up Jewish in Tunis. I purchased this book in Casablanca about 10 years ago, and read it once. Sticker removed from inside back cover, otherwise like new. Recipes included.
IN FRENCH: CASABLANCA RETRO de 1889 à Nos Jours. $115.00. One of a kind. Numéro 509. 102 pages. ISBN-10: 9954019367 ISBN-13: 978-9954019368
Editions SERAR, Casablanca, 1988. Documents réunis par Flandrin. Edition en fac-simile. 45 planches, Photos Marcelin Flandrin, avec texte accompagnant chaque photo prise dans une année différente.
45 plates showing landscape on one date, then a few years later. Unique book filled with reproductions of historic photographs taken between 1890 and 1928 by Marcelin Flandrin, Morocco’s best known architectural and landscape photographer. Gives you an idea of what Casablanca looked like at the turn of the 20th century. Book has long been out of print. One page shows 2 photos and opposite has explanatory text. ONLY 900 copies produced. This is #509.
Until next time! Kitty
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