How To Cook Well In Morocco with Rory O'Connell - Season 1 Episode 3 -Fez
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00:00May your table always be full.
00:04Kerrygold, proud sponsor of How to Cook Well in Morocco.
00:30We're on our way from Shefshan to Fez, and we stopped in this spectacular hillside town of Moulet Idris Zaron.
00:58And just behind me is the mausoleum of Idris I, who founded Fez.
01:05Idris I was the great-great-great-grandson of the prophet Muhammad,
01:09and as you can see from the size of his mausoleum, he is a very significant figure.
01:15Moulet Idris is surrounded by fertile land where figs, almonds, olives, wheat and barley are grown.
01:23From the town you can see the ruins of Volubilis,
01:26established by the Romans in the first century AD as their regional capital here.
01:32It remained the capital of the region even after the fall of the Roman Empire,
01:36and 700 years later, while fleeing for his life,
01:40Idris I settled at Volubilis before founding the city of Fez
01:44and establishing the Moroccan state which his family ruled for over 200 years.
01:48Despite its proximity to the Roman ruins at Volubilis and the city of Fez,
01:55Moulet Idris is off the tourist beaten track which of course has its advantages.
01:59There are a few places to stay and I went to have lunch at one of them,
02:05a guest house called Dar Zaroon, owned by New Zealander Rose Button.
02:10One of the things you can't fail to notice when you arrive in this lovely town are the donkeys.
02:17Yes.
02:18Which look really healthy and robust.
02:21What are they used for in the town?
02:22So Moulet Idris is pedestrianised and on a hill.
02:25So the donkeys are used for transporting people, shopping, building supplies.
02:30We have brought everything to Dar Zaroon has been brought up by a donkey.
02:33The fridge, the washing machine, the beds, the mattresses.
02:36And I know that you're involved in and you have passion for their welfare.
02:41Yes. So we have the Dar Zaroon donkey project.
02:43So we provide free veterinary care that we bring the vets over once a month.
02:48They give them vaccinations, they give the medicine that they need.
02:51They sometimes do surgeries like in the car park or under a tree
02:54and we do it for Moulet Idris and the surrounding villages.
02:57Yes.
02:58And it's partly because the donkey men, like, they give so much.
03:01They're so cheerful and helpful and on time when we need them.
03:04And it's like, what can I do to give back to them?
03:06And we've been doing that since 2015.
03:09So nearly 10 years.
03:10And the other thing I know is that, am I right in saying,
03:12you just employ ladies in your guest house.
03:14Yes.
03:15Is there a particular reason for that or...?
03:17Yeah.
03:18So I only employ a woman at Dar Zaroon and then local woman from Moulet Idris.
03:21Yes.
03:22Because I feel as tourists that most, you get to see a lot of men in Morocco
03:26and people think it's quite men dominated.
03:28And women are just in the background cooking and cleaning.
03:30But the women in Morocco are incredible.
03:32Yes.
03:33Really incredible.
03:34They're very inspiring.
03:35They're full of life.
03:36They're very interesting.
03:37They're the great cooks as well.
03:38Yeah, the great cooks.
03:39They're very nurturing.
03:40They're very nourishing.
03:41So I have had...
03:42My staff have been with me for many years.
03:43They have their marriage with children.
03:45They've learnt English working with the tourists.
03:48Yes.
03:49And they have a different way of taking care of everything.
03:51And I've no doubt a different type of confidence and self-belief.
03:53Yes.
03:54And they flourish themselves personally.
03:56And they have managed all the building work in the house as well.
03:59Amazing.
04:00Yeah, they have, yeah.
04:01And you've laid a wonderful lunch out for us in the traditional Moroccan manner of great generosity.
04:08Abundance.
04:09Great abundance.
04:10And reflective of some of the things that we've seen growing as we've been whizzing our way here.
04:15This is really very special.
04:16Thank you so much for having us for lunch.
04:18I'm very delighted.
04:19Delighted to have you here.
04:21This is Fez.
04:24Founded by Mullah Idris in 789 AD.
04:27It is one of the most remarkable cities in the world.
04:30And in 1170, it was the world's largest city.
04:34I really don't have a great sense of direction, which may pose to be a problem.
04:38In the city of Fez, particularly when I get into the Medina.
04:43However, to get somewhat orientated, I've come to the South Borge, as it's called, in this fantastic elevated site.
04:50This is an old fortress.
04:52It mirrored across the city by the North Borge.
04:55Built, of course, to help with the protection of the city.
04:58From here, you can see many of the key sites.
05:00The Karawin Madrasa, reputed to be the first university in the world.
05:05The Shawara Tanneries, and so on.
05:07The mystery, the intensity of the situation should be extraordinary.
05:12This is a world heritage site.
05:14The largest pedestrianized zone in the world.
05:17If I don't get lost, it will be a miracle.
05:20Behind me is the Blue Gate, one of 13 similar entrances to the Medina, where inside 150,000 people live in almost medieval circumstance.
05:37From now on, no cars or trucks, just donkeys, ponies, humans, to take in and to bring out the incredible array of goods, foods, all manner of things that are part of what goes on in the centre of commerce and trade and life in the historic city of Fez.
05:56Rather wonderfully, the other side of the Blue Gate is green, the colour most identified with Islam.
06:04The Medina is an assault on the senses.
06:07Sights, sounds, smells, all so different to what I'm used to.
06:12All manner of people buying, bargaining and browsing, cats staring up hungrily at a butcher's counter, animals and humans somehow managing to avoid bumping into each other as they go about their business.
06:25I'm going to Cafe Tloc, popular with tourists and locals, offering free Wi-Fi, traditional music and the famous Camel Burger.
06:34But that's not what I'm here for.
06:36Sue, it's great to be in your kitchen and thank you very much indeed.
06:41And you're going to teach me how to make a classic, really, I would say, Moroccan lamb tagine.
06:46And we have lovely ingredients all laid out here ready to go.
06:49Yeah.
06:50So lots of lovely lamb. Is this local lamb?
06:52Yeah, it's local lamb.
06:53And what about the vegetables?
06:55Like as a veggie tagine, always we choose seasoned veggies.
07:00Yes.
07:01Okra is very special in summertime because it is very lean veggie, you know?
07:06OK, the first thing what we do, Rory, is we use some olive oil.
07:10Yes.
07:11So we put some olive oil on our tagine and then, Rory, we can get our onion.
07:18So nice hot oil to get going.
07:20Yeah.
07:21Yes, yeah.
07:22Little start.
07:23Yeah.
07:24Yes, yeah.
07:25Now, it's right now.
07:26Together we can help each other to make marinade.
07:28OK, good.
07:29The first thing we have, lovely grind ginger, dry grind ginger.
07:34Dry ginger.
07:35We don't use fresh ginger, Rory, in our cooking, Moroccan cooking.
07:37OK.
07:38Two teaspoons.
07:39Two teaspoons.
07:40Yes, exactly.
07:41Yeah.
07:42Yes.
07:43And then we go for black pepper, like just half because it's very...
07:47Yeah, lovely.
07:48Yeah.
07:49And then we go for yum turmeric.
07:53We love turmeric in our yard cooking.
07:56And then we don't forget the garlic.
08:00It's a finely chopped garlic.
08:02Yeah, chopped garlic.
08:03And then we can use salt.
08:05We're getting lovely chopped parsley and cilantro.
08:09Yeah.
08:10A nice cut.
08:10I mean, it already looks so good, doesn't it?
08:12Yeah.
08:12So we can add olive oil and then up some water.
08:16Always I use hand.
08:20Please, always.
08:21They're an incredibly clever piece of equipment, don't you think?
08:24Exactly.
08:25We feel in our food.
08:27We get, like, from our plate is lovely pieces with the fat and meat, of course.
08:34So then we go ahead like that.
08:36How long would this sit in the marinade?
08:38It doesn't matter the time.
08:40The marinade here is we're making sure all our meat gets some spices.
08:45Oh, so the purpose of the marinade is to make sure everything is completely and properly covered.
08:51Exactly.
08:51Rather than a long time to get a different flavor in.
08:55Okay, that's, again, that's quite new to me.
08:58And nicely, I layer my lamb.
09:02Okay, Rory, it's like we leave our lamb to cook for ten minutes, then we come back.
09:08Fantastic.
09:09And then we cover our tajine.
09:14Okay, Rory.
09:16Yeah, it's bubbling away nicely.
09:18Yeah.
09:19Coloring already.
09:20And right now, I get my onion to get marinated.
09:24And then, I take my pot directly to my tajine.
09:30Yes, yeah.
09:31I spray all my onion here on top of lamb.
09:35Then we start by carrots also.
09:37Again, carrots.
09:39So the zucchini are slightly bigger than the carrots.
09:41So they'll all cook in more or less at the same time.
09:44Yeah.
09:44We go for the okra.
09:45Yes.
09:46Mm-hmm.
09:47Okay.
09:47Okay, so you cook that just briefly in boiling water.
09:50Yeah, just like boiling water in two minutes, and I take it out in cold water.
09:55And that's the secret.
09:56And to keep lovely green colour.
09:58Lovely.
09:59So then we add, like, a chilli.
10:01Yes, lovely.
10:02Top.
10:04Okay, lid on, and we leave our tajine to cook for one hour.
10:09Okay, great.
10:10And you have one already cooked?
10:12Yes, of course.
10:14Oh, that looks absolutely amazing, doesn't it?
10:17So I need to get a little bit of the lamb.
10:20Mmm.
10:25I think.
10:27This is really wonderful.
10:28It tastes completely authentic.
10:30Well, of course it would.
10:31We're in the kitchen, on a rooftop, in Fez.
10:33Of course it does.
10:34Now I understand.
10:35Yeah, you understand.
10:36Thank you so much.
10:36You are very welcome, Rory.
10:43Kerrygold.
10:44Proud sponsor of How to Cook Well in Morocco.
10:47Kerrygold.
10:51Proud sponsor of How to Cook Well in Morocco.
10:54How to Cook Well in Morocco.
11:09So I'm here in the Medina in Fez with Bahija, lovely to meet you, Bahija, who's making
11:31Roca, which is this sort of legendary, very, very thin pastry that's used in so many of
11:38the finest Moroccan dishes, both sweet and savoury.
11:43So Bahija has made a dough with flour and water, just simply mixing flour and water together.
11:49And she says she adds the water in in increments to the point where it's elasticy.
11:54I mean, I know if I did it, it'd be lumpy and everything.
11:55She's got this beautiful sort of singular layer of the lightest, finest pastry.
12:00I suppose if you had to compare it to something, you might say filo pastry, but this is so much
12:05more refined.
12:06And note, she cooked it on one side, and I feel very complimented because I'm allowed
12:10to administer the oil.
12:12So I think we're pals, OK?
12:14So just a little oil.
12:16That is to prevent the layers of pastry sticking together.
12:18I hope I'm doing this right because it'll be a fiasco.
12:21Is that good?
12:22Yeah?
12:22Yeah.
12:23I think she approves.
12:25So just cooking it on one side, one off the other.
12:28Layer, I mean, imagine the tens, hundreds of thousands, perhaps, of sheets of warka, if
12:34that's the right expression.
12:35And she layers them up.
12:36And then people will put in orders that come and they'll ask for 100 grams or a kilo if
12:40you're having a big party.
12:41You might be making a Moroccan sort of gazelle, gazelle's horns, which is one of the legendary
12:48Moroccan pastries, obviously often filled with almonds.
12:52Or you might be filling it with layering it with pigeon for a pastilla, as it's called.
12:56But it's completely wonderful.
12:57I've wanted to see this all my life.
12:59I'm blessed.
13:08I've spotted what I want.
13:11So I've just seen the wonderful woman making the warka.
13:13And these are very famous, traditional little Moroccan pastries in English known as gazelle's
13:20horns.
13:20And it's a little pastry which is filled with a lovely almond mixture and then sort of lightly
13:25fried or sometimes actually just baked.
13:27So I want one of these just to see exactly what the authentic experience is going to be
13:31like.
13:32Hi, can I have one of these, please?
13:33Ah, that's so lovely.
13:34Look, he's given it to me in a little bit of paper like this.
13:37A lot of honey going on in this stall, piece of the honey and all that.
13:44Mmm.
13:45Very good.
13:46It's like marzipan inside.
13:49A little bit of rose water.
13:51Delicious.
13:52Perfect little sugar hit when it's needed.
13:54After a morning in the Medina, it's a relief, to be honest, to come to the calmer environment
14:11offered by this grand hotel, a former palace which offers great views from its rooftop terrace.
14:18I'm here at the Pali Faraj.
14:20I'm being joined by Ashwal Mohammed, who's the chef.
14:23And we're going to talk about a very important course, if you like, in Moroccan food, which
14:28is the first course often in many meals, or the course of salads.
14:32Some of the presentations and the salads are recognisable to me easily.
14:36Some of them are a little bit nuanced, and it's the nuance that I'm interested in, because
14:40that's the joy of travelling and the joy of discovering food in other countries made
14:45by the cooks of that country.
14:47And I'm going to start with an obvious one here, which are lovely little okra, and this
14:50is the okra season, and these have been cooked with a little bit of tomato, a little bit
14:54of spice, and a lovely little bit of preserved lemon.
14:57So they would have been started off being boiled.
15:00We've got a little diced beetroot, beetroot simply cooked, and diced, and again, very good
15:06Moroccan olive oil, local olive oil.
15:09Then we have another little carrot salad.
15:11What is the name of this salad, please?
15:13It's a carrot marinate, it's a charamel in Arabic.
15:17Carrot charamel.
15:19Yes, yes, with cumin, paprika, olive oil, sel-poivre, citron.
15:25Lovely.
15:26So cumin being the defining spice here, sugar, salt, a little bit of olive oil and lemon,
15:32very fresh tasting.
15:34Oh yes, we've got this lovely aubergine, zarouk.
15:38This is a very famous salad with sort of mashed aubergine, qu'est-ce-que-est le saveur
15:43dedans?
15:44Le saveur, le saveur, c'est paprika, sel, poivre, cumin, coriander, persil, citron confit.
15:51Ok, so again, our preserved lemon, parsley, coriander, paprika, I hope I haven't forgotten
15:57anything.
15:58But that is a lovely soft texture, and many of these salads are perfect for breaking a
16:01little bit of bread.
16:02And if you have the skill of using the three fingers and the way that Moroccans like to eat
16:06the food, and you sort of use the combination of the bread and your fingers to eat, hopefully
16:10without dribbling it all over yourself, in my case.
16:13Two things here that really intrigue me, there are these aubergines here, aubergine confit.
16:18Yeah, confit au miel.
16:19So it's like a confit aubergine.
16:20So he's been explaining to me, he starts off by cooking the aubergines with a little bit
16:24of water and lemon to tenderize them.
16:26The lemon helps to preserve the color.
16:28Yes.
16:29Yes.
16:30So then add sugar and honey, and it seems to me they're cooked really, really slowly.
16:38And then he's served them today with some of the lovely remaining sugary honey juices, cooking
16:45juices.
16:46And also in this case, today there's some lovely chopped walnuts, and you see walnuts everywhere
16:50in the markets here.
16:51This has really been wonderful, and few things say as much about Moroccan food and the hospitality
16:59of Moroccan food as a selection of salads like this.
17:03Hey, how are you?
17:08How are you?
17:10I believe this is essential.
17:13Thank you very much indeed.
17:23Nothing, absolutely nothing prepares you for the heightened senses in all sorts of ways
17:30that you get when you arrive at the Shwara tanneries.
17:33It's relatively straightforward on the way in.
17:35You come through miles of shops selling fabulous leather goods of all different colors, shapes
17:40and sizes, things you can wear, things you can sit on, things you can put on your head.
17:44However, you know you're getting close to here, maybe 100 meters away, because the smell
17:50has to be experienced, to be believed.
17:54To that end, the very kind gentleman in the shops that you walk through, getting close to
17:59the tanneries, give you a large sprig of mint that you're supposed to gently hold to
18:04your nose to try and deaden the smell.
18:07It's semi-successful, I'm going to say, and you can see my mint has worked very hard and
18:13is running out of power at this stage.
18:15Around the walls are hides of animals that have already been prepared.
18:21The hides arrived here already sorted.
18:23Then they go through the process of cleaning, which is long and arduous, as you can imagine,
18:29because all of the dirt is removed, the hair has to be removed.
18:32And then they go through processes which involve softening the hides.
18:37And the end game is really beautiful soft leather, which is famously used in the leather goods
18:43of Fez.
18:44And of course, some of the finer leathers are sent to fashion houses and so on all around
18:48the world to be made into very, very beautiful things.
18:52But what is definite is that it's astonishing, really, truly astonishing, to the point that
18:58after a while, I'm so mesmerized by the whole thing that I've almost forgotten about the smell,
19:04nearly.
19:05I've only been able to give you the briefest of introductions to this extraordinary city,
19:11which was the capital of Morocco until 1925.
19:15It has to be experienced to be believed, a universe away from my kitchen in East Cork.
19:21It was so exciting to be able to see the warka being made in the market at Fez.
19:28So we don't really have the facilities in our own homes at home to do that.
19:32So what I'm going to use today to make what is affectionately known in this part of the
19:37world as a Moroccan snake, I'm going to use some filo pastry, which makes a really, really
19:43delicious result.
19:45So you start off with some ground almonds, and quite a quantity of them here.
19:50So just run your fingers through them like that, just to break up any little lumps.
19:55And then we add a somewhat terrifying amount of sugar.
19:58But this is authentic, and this is the way they like it.
20:01You could put in a little bit less sugar there if you wanted to.
20:05Cinnamon, very important spice in both sweet and savory cooking in Morocco.
20:11So beautiful quality cinnamon going in there.
20:14And I like to mix the dry ingredients like that before I mix in the liquid, which is going
20:21to bind them together.
20:23And the liquid is orange blossom water.
20:25So I'm going to add in slightly less than I've measured out here in my jug, and just bring
20:31it together.
20:32So the smell of the orange blossom water and the cinnamon is completely evocative.
20:37Now, you'll feel it coming together on your hands, and once you're able to bring it into
20:41a little lump like that, which will hold a recognizable and workable shape, then you're
20:46getting there.
20:47Lovely.
20:48That's it.
20:49Okay, what I'm going to do is take pieces, like a good big fistful of the almond mixture
20:55there, like that.
20:57Press it together, and then I'm going to just get myself organized here, and just gently
21:02press.
21:03I want about one and a half centimeter thickness to the sausages.
21:08If it starts to come apart like that, just take control of the situation.
21:15Can't really do this in a hurry.
21:17This just takes time.
21:18But that will do us nicely.
21:20So I'm going to continue on making some more rolls like that.
21:24Now, here we go.
21:26Scraping every little bit of that precious and expensive almond mixture, it has to be
21:31said, out of there.
21:33Now, that's it.
21:34Okay, hands a little wash, and then we're ready to get snaking.
21:39I'm all set to assemble.
21:41I've got an oven tray here, which I've lined with a little parchment paper.
21:45I've got some butter, which I've melted, and this is cool to room temperature.
21:50Perfect like that.
21:51And I've got a nice wide pastry brush.
21:54If you don't butter it, the pastry will split.
21:56And also the butter is what brings, gives the lovely flavor.
22:03Great.
22:04Okay, that's that.
22:05Okay.
22:06Then, what I'm going to do is to turn this sideways, like that.
22:12Pick up a piece of my phyllo, and hey-ho.
22:18Off we go.
22:20Pick up a piece of my phyllo, like that.
22:25Then, we just manipulate this into a little sort of a coil.
22:33May split slightly.
22:35And put that on there, and we keep going, adding one piece on to the other.
22:41Lovely.
22:42Again, as seamlessly as possible.
22:47Okay, lovely.
22:48Now, this is nearly ready for the oven.
22:51But before it goes into the oven, I'm going to brush it with a little beaten egg.
22:55And then a little bit of melted butter.
22:57We've come this far.
22:59There's no point holding back on the butter at this stage.
23:02Okay, lovely.
23:04Stop.
23:05Have a little look.
23:06See that you're happy.
23:07Are we happy?
23:08Yes, we are.
23:09Into our oven.
23:10180 degrees for 30 minutes.
23:15So, our snake is cooked.
23:17We've got a lovely golden color on the pastry.
23:21Phyllo, that is.
23:22And it's lovely and crisp.
23:24You could let that sit for a little while to relax, but I just can't quite save myself.
23:28So, I'm going to just slide it onto a serving dish.
23:34Like that.
23:36Lovely.
23:37Okay.
23:38But what I can't quite resist is putting on some little strips of candied peel,
23:44which could be carefully placed to hide any little imperfections.
23:49Now, some little dates, which I've stoned and just cut into little slivers.
23:55Like that.
23:58A couple of little bay leaves.
24:00Just to give a little hint of green.
24:04So, that's the Moroccan snake, filled with that rich, delicious almond filling.
24:10Flavored with cinnamon.
24:11Crispy, buttery pastry.
24:13I hope that my Moroccan friends would be happy that I'd made a pretty good shot at that.
24:25The cottcan snake.
24:26The (#.
24:27I think it's also theãn.
24:29Right?
24:30So, I'm going to see you in the next.
24:31Theınız or Mrs. O'Neill,
24:33The one thing in the next is the end.
24:34It's just a town of 16-1300.
24:36It's too much.
24:37It's a town of 16-1300.
24:40It's been a town of 17-1300.
24:41It's been a town of 17-1300.
24:43It's been a town of 16-1700.
24:44It's been a town of 17-1700.
24:45May your table always be full.
24:58Kerrygold, proud sponsor of How to Cook Well in Morocco.