Lest you think this involves chasing cattle with knife and fork in hand, it only means a walking tour at dinner time, with stops at a number of small restaurants and stalls in the streets and souks near Marrakech’s huge square, the Jemaa el-Fnaa, with knowledgeable guide, Mehdi. That’s him, at one of our stops.
Food tours are almost always fun, but one that involves new foods and a really enthusiastic and friendly guide are the best. We were on the tour about a week and a half into our Morocco trip, and had sampled quite a bit of food, but on the tour we met more, and learned more about some we’d already tried.
We started with Msemen Amer, a traditional Moroccan pancake that we had eaten at breakfast; this time they came stuffed with a fruity filling. It’s a good thing we’d had a light lunch, because that was only the start of a beautiful filling.
At the next stop, in a back corner of one of the souks we had a true pairing of sweet and savory. The soup is Harira, made with a tomato base and legumes, flavored with fragrant spices including cumin and ginger. It was paired with Chebakia, dough formed into flower shapes, deep-fried until crispy and then coated with a syrup of honey and orange-blossom water. By this point, I was ready to abandon my attempt to avoid over-eating.
Which is a good thing, because the next stop brought us to a stall where we were served Makkla bel Kefta, eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic with kefta, or spiced minced meat.
We didn’t stop for olives… but they were tempting. In 17 days in Morocco I probably ate more olives than I normally would in a couple of years, and they were among the best I’ve had.
As if we hadn’t already had treats that could qualify as dessert, we had dessert. Specifically, Sfenj, which are small donuts, surprisingly light and airy. After that, we made a brief stop where we could see into a basement where a man was stoking wood fires to warm water for the Hamam above—and roasting sheep heads in the ashes for the restaurant next door. Since we only had small bites of the meat from the roasted sheep head, I’m offering a menu of the various dishes on offer… note that most include udder as well as head.
While we only had small tastes of the sheep head, we were destined for more meat at a stand selling Chwa—all kinds of seasoned grilled meat on skewers, including beef, turkey and liver. I’m usually a fan only of chicken liver, but this was delicious.
Winding back through the souk, we tasted a smoothie of fresh seasonal fruits, and then out into the Jemaa el-Fnaa for a final taste of Khoudenjal. Mehdi later gave us a description of it: “A hot herbal infusion with eucalyptus, perfect for clearing your senses and aiding digestion.” Before we tried it, he only told us that it was very hot, which it was, and wonderful—which, my opinion, it was not. To be honest, it reminded me of what I imagine it would be like to drink boiling Vicks VapoRub. But then, as they say, “à chacun son gout.”
In all, a very pleasant and easy evening and dinner! Mehdi is from One Life Tours; we booked the tour through Viator which offers many variations of similar, but if you look for One Life under ‘local operator’ you can find it.
