My Favorite Food In The World...Not Kidding

    One of the reasons I wanted to write this blog is to try to get people to not only get excited about food and travel, but to also get them to try new foods and travel to new places that they may have never tried before. I mean, you can't always eat eat Italian food or travel to Mexico or Canada. Fun sometimes, sure, but are they interesting if that's the only other cultures you try, hell no! With that in mind welcome to Morocco!! I know, I can already hear some of you saying "c'mon Brad, Morocco????" And as my title says, it really is my favorite everyday, meat and potatoes kind of food. Not only is the food AWESOME, but it's a really unique, exciting and hospitable country.
    First thing's first, since it's my favorite food I guess I'll have to explain why. The essence of moroccan cooking is SLOW and well spiced. The base of the food is a tiny durum wheat pasta called cous cous. Now cous cous has become pretty popular in America because it's easy and takes about 5 minutes to prepare. The only problem is that real moroccan cous cous takes about 3 hours to prepare and puts the ready to eat stuff here to shame. The real stuff is wonderfully prepared, fairly dense without being heavy, and can take on any spice you care to pair with it. The second thing the moroccans do well is lamb. they cook this lamb on the bone and in their slow cooker called a tagine. you can actually buy these in the U.S. at most stores. It looks like a big upside down ceramic ice cream cone on top of a heavy plate. It allows the meat and veggies to cook low and slow so that they are more tender than you think they could possibly get. If you are a veggie person you'll be in heaven, and if you're a meat person like me you'll become a vegetarian. Not kidding. I ate cous cous with seven vegetables (the name of the dish on EVERY menu) at least once a day, crazy good everywhere I ate it. A third thing that was a nice surprise were the oranges. They grow freaking everywhere. There are orange trees in the cities, train stations, restaurants, streets, everywhere. Usually the dessert at the restaurants consist of these oranges. I ate a half dozen a day and never got tired of them.
    Where should you go you ask? Well, my favorite places were Marrakech and Fez. Casablanca is famous, but it's really just another European type city that's kinda dangerous and pretty boring. Marrakech gives you a big city with old world Arab flair. The souks (markets where you can buy anything) are enormous, the food is outta control and you won't run out of places to see and experience. In the middle of the city is the square called the Jemma al Fna. It has open markets a few restaurants, but the coolest parts are the fact that you can see al around the city just by standing in the middle of the square, and while you're standing there you can see some old world entertainment like snake charmers and sword swallowers. Fez is basically a smaller Marrakech, but with no cars or motorbikes in the city. it's all walking in the city proper, but after the cars and motorcycles in Marrakech it feels wonderful. Fez is the traditional culinary and religious center of Morocco, and between 800 and 1100 AD it was the culinary and religious center of Islam. Pretty cool.
    Now, about hotels. Morocco offers something that you won't really find anywhere else in the world. Most places you go you stay in hotels, B&B's, hostels, cottages, etc. but in Morocco you can stay in riads. A riad is a really nice home, often formally owned by the wealthy or nobility. Unlike wealthy homes elsewhere though, lies in where these homes are located. Streets in Marrakech, Fez and other cities in Morocco are often narrow, tan and nondescript, and the doorways are no different. The door of a riad may just be a metal door that looks like any other run-down metal door, but when you open in it and go in you're greeted by marble floors, fountains, pillows and couches and every other item that reminds you of Arabian Nights or Aladdin. It's incredible. Here and here are a few websites of some Riads I've researched. Check them out on your own too. I recommend Tripadvisor.
    Please Please Please do yourself a favor and do your best to see new cultures. I know travel is expensive, and oversees travel is even more expensive, but you won't regret one minute of this vacation. It's a truly remarkable country and unfortunately I haven't even scratched the surface here. Check it out and see if it's for you! But, because no one is going there tonight, I'll leave you all with one of my (and my wife's) favorite at home moroccan meals - moroccan spiced chicken and cranberry cous cous. This is a meal you can do in under 30 minutes and it's as easy as it gets. The only hard part is getting the spice rub for the chicken, but you can find it in most speciality spice stores (or the internet. Gotta love that internet!). Sidenote - If you like skin-on chicken, use that, and if you want to substitute lamb or any other meat, knock yourself out. This is less a recipe and more an idea and plea to try something new.

Moroccan Spiced Chicken - serves 4
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2-3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp cumin
Ras al Hanout - this is the moroccan spice mixture I spoke of, it's the essence of moroccan cooking and smells wonderful

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub the olive oil on the chicken first, then season them with the salt, pepper and cumin. The reason I didn't give you a measurement of the Ras al Hanout is that the idea is to cover the chicken with the mixture, so just sprinkle until it's covered.  Then just take the chicken and put it in a baking dish or even just a cookie sheet and then cover with aluminum foil and put in the oven. bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through.

Cranberry Cous Cous.- serves 4
1 1/2 cup store bought dried cous cous
1 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock (recommend Swanson) - I know the package says water, but trust me use the stock
butter and salt - just use what the package says
1 cup (or your preference) dried cranberries

This one's easy. Just prepare it like the package says, but use the stock in place of water. Some store bought cous cous calls for olive oil, so if it does then use it, but most don't. For those of you who have never made this pasta, just boil the stock along with the tablespoon or so of butter in a small to medium size saucepot. Because you're using stock you can probably forego the salt. Once the stock is simmering turn off the heat, add cous cous and cranberries and stir quickly to blend all ingredients, and then cover the pot and let sit for five minutes or until the stock is absorbed. Then take a fork and "fluff" or stir and mix it up so that it gets light and fluffy. then serve and munch!