How To Cook Well In Morocco with Rory O'Connell Season 1 Episode 1
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:01May your table always be full.
00:05Kerrygold, proud sponsor of How to Cook Well in Morocco.
00:10We've just left Europe, specifically from Tarifa and the south of Spain,
00:14and we're on a short voyage to Morocco in the north of Africa,
00:19specifically today to the city of Tangier, one of my favourite places in the world.
00:24So leaving behind the familiar sights and smells of Europe
00:28has a somewhat unfamiliar but wonderful exotic atmosphere,
00:33people, foods, sights, visions of North Africa.
00:37It's so exciting.
00:40And over the next seven episodes, I'll be travelling throughout Morocco,
00:44starting, as I've said today, in Tangier,
00:47an exciting cultural melting pot and trading hub with a slightly rakish vibe.
00:52And who knows who sat in this chair before me? Jack Kerouac?
00:56Maybe our own Samuel Beckett?
00:58Then it's on to Chefchaun, famous for its gorgeous blue buildings,
01:02tucked under the mountains which gave it protection from the waves of marauding invaders.
01:07Now it's a peaceful place of great beauty.
01:10The atmosphere is immense.
01:13Next I go to Fez, founded in 789 AD and still regarded by some as being the spiritual capital of Morocco.
01:22It is the world's largest car-free urban area.
01:26It's a full-on assault on the senses, completely wonderful.
01:29The smell has to be experienced, had to be believed.
01:33Then we go to Marrakesh, an intoxicating blend of ancient and modern,
01:38where there's so much to see and do and experience, so much incredible food, marvellous people.
01:43Definitely my new best friends.
01:45From the hustle of Marrakesh to the beauty of the Atlas Mountains,
01:49cooking in a barber house and learning about the world's most expensive spice, saffron.
01:54What tells me that this is not a fake?
01:57My journey ends in Essawira, on the Atlantic coast, a trading centre for centuries,
02:03steeped in history, lots of bartering and unbelievably good, freshly grilled fish.
02:08It's going to be an amazing trip.
02:10Let's face it, this isn't a white glove situation, but I could not be happier.
02:15I love it to be on dry land in Tangier.
02:24Behind me is a very significant view or place in Tangier.
02:28It's the Bab Casbah.
02:30Bab meaning gate, Casbah meaning the old fort.
02:33And this was built in 1684 by the Moroccans themselves.
02:37So many other nations had come to Morocco, the Phoenicians, the French, the British, the Portuguese, the Spanish,
02:45some Middle Eastern caliphs, in an attempt to colonise.
02:48So protecting yourself was very important.
02:50And this leads into the old city, which is exactly where I'm now about to go.
02:58The word Medina means old city, and there are several gates into Tangier's Medina.
03:04This part of the Medina is at the top of a hill, and I've come here to get a sense of the place.
03:10And the best way to do that is from the roof of a Riyadh, such as this one, La Maison Blanche.
03:20Oh my goodness!
03:21I was promised a view.
03:23This I did not expect.
03:24This astonishing 360 degree view of the city of Tangier.
03:29It started off as a town, and this, where we are now, feels like a town.
03:33And then spreading out right the way, and all the way, you can see the beach over there,
03:38you can see mosques, you can see the spires of churches, all of the landmarks of Tangier,
03:43which is completely wonderful.
03:44So from, you know, the small town into a big, thriving hub of commerce, activity, arts, food, and so on.
03:52This is so special.
03:53But in this spot here, in the centre of town, up here, I feel like I've sort of landed in a beautiful bird's nest,
04:00where I can perch and see everything that's going on.
04:06As you'd expect, given its location on the Moroccan coast with the Atlantic to the west,
04:11the Mediterranean to the east, Tangier has a thriving fish market,
04:15certainly the busiest I've ever been to.
04:17We're at this amazing fish stall.
04:21And there are some things that I definitely recognise, and some things that I don't.
04:26I mean, I know that this is a monkfish here, but I've no idea what this is.
04:31What is this called, Suda?
04:32Well, this one, local people call it sumta.
04:34How would you cook this?
04:36Well, people actually like to cut it as fillets and fry it.
04:41Yeah.
04:42It's astonishing-looking.
04:43And then this kind of fabulous-looking thing here is called a melon.
04:48Yes, exactly.
04:49Like a melon.
04:50Melon, amazing, yeah.
04:51Fantastic.
04:52Big, fat Dublin Bay prawn, the likes of which I haven't seen for a long time.
04:56There's like a mini lobster.
04:58And also, it's interesting, the gentleman here working on the stall has been going along,
05:02picking up little individual fish and placing them in to stand them up to make them look so beautiful.
05:08Yeah, yeah.
05:09So they take great pride in what they have.
05:10Exactly.
05:11What they have for sale.
05:12And the other thing that I'm amazed you can buy, you can buy your shrimp peeled.
05:17Yes.
05:18And there are chops here, peeling shrimps, as quick as lightning.
05:21Yes.
05:22Isn't that fascinating?
05:23That's a real luxury.
05:25This is the most wonderful place.
05:27I could stay here forever.
05:28Yeah.
05:29We need to get ourselves going and get cooking.
05:31Yeah, let's go.
05:32Okay.
05:36I'm on my way to the Blue Door, a cookery school with an all-female team set up in 2018 with
05:43a mission to promote cultural exchange through food.
05:46We'll hear the word tagine a lot in these programmes.
05:50It is used to describe both the food and the vessel in which the food is cooked.
05:56So, because we're in Tangier, we must make a fish tagine.
05:59Exactly.
06:00Yeah.
06:01So, how are we going to start?
06:02So, first thing first, we uncover our tagine.
06:05Yes, which I love this tagine.
06:07To start off, the dish is prepared by placing some sliced vegetables at the bottom of the tagine.
06:14Tomatoes, red onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, red and green peppers.
06:22We're going to prepare what we call sharmoula.
06:25And coriander is an important herb, isn't it?
06:27Or cilantro.
06:28Cilantro.
06:29Yeah.
06:30And parsley, of course.
06:31It's one of the building blocks, isn't it?
06:32Exactly.
06:33Of North African cooking.
06:34Yeah.
06:35We're going to crush the garlic that we have.
06:36The choppers was really finely chopped.
06:38Then we're going to split it into two halves.
06:41One is going to go into this bowl to prepare the marination for the fish.
06:45Yes.
06:46And we're going to leave one out till later we're going to put it on the veggies.
06:50To make the marinade, one teaspoon of cumin is added to the charmoula, then paprika, salt,
06:59olive oil and a lighter vegetable oil such as the sunflower oil.
07:04Finally, a squeeze of lemon juice.
07:06This is all mixed together and placed into the cavity of the fish as well as into small
07:11cuts which have been made in the flesh on either side of the fish.
07:16The remainder of the charmoula, the chopped parsley, coriander and garlic
07:21is mixed with the same ingredients that were used to make the marinade
07:24but this time water is added and is poured over the sliced vegetables.
07:30The steam coming from this mixture will cook the fish.
07:33Slices of lemon are added.
07:35The lid goes on and the cooking begins.
07:41While the fish is cooking, Nuhela fries some slices of squid
07:44adding some more charmoula and the whole shrimps get the same treatments.
07:49These are added to the fish when it is served.
07:53You grab the food like that?
07:55Yes, be careful.
07:59That is so delicious.
08:00And you feel the flavour is slightly different when you eat it like that
08:03rather than using a knife and fork.
08:04OK.
08:05This has been completely wonderful.
08:07I've learned so much.
08:08It's delicious.
08:09I can't wait to make a tagine when I go home to Ireland.
08:12I'm not sure I'll be quite so authentic.
08:14But I will try and make it as well as you did.
08:16This has been really a treat.
08:19Thank you so much.
08:20Pin Affleck is an Australian friend of mine who, like so many people, came to Tangier
08:29and was bewitched by the place.
08:31Now she's made it her home.
08:33In 2020, Pin founded the Tangier Bureau, a textile company which produces her own contemporary
08:40designs using traditional hand weaving methods.
08:43So a two metre loom is typically three men and then they all sit together.
08:50The guy on this end of the loom and the guy on this end of the loom are responsible for
08:54shuttling and the one in the middle keeps it moving in a wonderful rhythm.
08:58So it's quite beautiful to watch.
09:00They then cut off the loom and this end, which ends up being these beautiful fringes,
09:06they come off in a raw state and they're sent to Mohammed and he'll prepare each fringe
09:12she twists them and then hand ties them.
09:15And puts a little knot.
09:16And puts a little knot.
09:17And that therefore secures that raw edge.
09:22So what was traditionally women's wear, the height that they wrap around themselves.
09:26This is the same concept, it's just with pins, different coloured candy stripes introduced.
09:33And I suppose that's the thing really, because you have taken your taste, your aesthetic,
09:38your clients and brought that to this atelier, which is essentially very traditional.
09:44Isn't that right?
09:45Exactly.
09:46And it's just, it's an age old craft and using very contemporary colours and concepts
09:51to suit, you know, today's market.
09:53What the guys are doing here is not about speed, it's about quality.
09:56Yeah, absolutely.
09:57There is no, there's no point in saying I need this done by tomorrow morning because that won't work.
10:02We have to consider food, prayer, family, illness, all these different things and the conversations that come.
10:08So I learnt very quickly in Morocco, there's no, we'll have a quick chat about this.
10:12We have to have a cup of tea and we need to talk it out.
10:15And then the next set of hands, we'll talk it out even more.
10:17That's really wonderful, isn't it?
10:18It is.
10:19It's a process.
10:20Building up that sort of relationship and friendship.
10:21It's a real process.
10:22Look, I understand a great deal more than I did a few months ago.
10:26I'm standing in the Grand Zocco, the lights started to go down when the centre of Tangier
10:38is the time of the evening when everybody comes out for a walk.
10:41Mothers, fathers, daughters, children, grandchildren, the whole shooting match.
10:45They may, as I am, be in search of some street food for which Tangier is famous.
10:50And that's the objective right now.
10:52So this gentleman is serving what's called caliente, which he's made a chickpea paste with
11:02some eggs in it, a little bit of oil.
11:04And then he takes it in these pans to the community oven to bake it.
11:09And he brings it back here and he's got a couple of little different flavourings.
11:13He's got salt mixed with cumin seeds, ground, and he's got some hot chilli.
11:18But he's doing a roaring trade.
11:21Lovely.
11:22Lovely.
11:23OK.
11:24Fantastic.
11:25Brilliant.
11:27Here it goes.
11:28It's still hot to the touch.
11:29And it's kind of slightly wobbly like that.
11:30And this is a...
11:31Thank you so much.
11:32This is a particular speciality of the north of Morocco, of Tangier.
11:36It's delicious.
11:37And this gentleman has cooked chickpeas, I'd say pretty simply, and also dried fava beans,
11:45or what you call dried broad beans.
11:47He's putting them into a little paper cone, which he makes very expertly.
11:51And again, seasons are incredibly simply with a little bit of cumin salt.
11:55Oh, I have to give it a little mix.
11:56Thank you so much.
11:58Wonderful.
11:59Fantastic.
12:00I love it.
12:07Carygold.
12:08Proud sponsor of How To Cook Well In Morocco.
12:14Carygold.
12:15Proud sponsor of How To Cook Well In Morocco.
12:16Sponsor of how to cook well in Morocco
12:29This is wonderful, we've left the business
12:33The delicious atmosphere of the center of Tangier and we're now outside one of the hills
12:38outside of the town the city in Donaba Botanical Gardens, which are the creation of Paul Belvoir and Malika el-Alawi
12:46This is a sort of a haven like greenness a calm place full of teaching learning delicious food
12:53It's really a treasure in this wonderful place
12:57I'm here to have lunch and specifically the traditional Moroccan soup Pereira with the founders of the garden Malika el-Alawi and her husband Paul Belvoir
13:07But first I'm going to be shown how to make a flatbread to serve with the soup
13:12So we've got our flowers in here, which is the finely ground semolina and they plain flour and then in here
13:19We have this stone ground wholemeal flour quite fine
13:23And then the topping here, which is another little bit of flour and some rolled oats and some linseed seeds and some nigella seeds
13:31Dry yeast oil salt warm water. We're ready to go
13:35On y va? On y va
13:36On y va
13:37Salt for flavour
13:38Dried yeast
13:40Adding in some of the warm water
13:42The warm water is important because it helps to sort of activate the yeast to give the yeast the conditions it likes
13:48If the water was cold it would happen eventually but we'd be here for a couple of days perhaps
13:52A little bit of oil, lovely, on the surface
13:56So oil on the hand so it doesn't stick
13:58Kneeling a little bit more
14:00Hmm?
14:01I'll let her repose
14:02So we're going to leave this to rest now
14:04Pour combien de temps?
14:05You can't let her 15 minutes
14:0715 minutes?
14:08On en latte
14:09So 15 minutes in summer and about half an hour in winter
14:13I wonder how that translates to Irish weather
14:15There's something so wonderful about watching somebody's hands who
14:22With a craft like making bread like this which is the hands are so sort of skilled and wonderful
14:27It's very it's very exciting to watch
14:30We're going to cook the bread in the wood-fried oven which is made from earth under the ground that we're standing
14:36So I mean, you know sustainability. How are you?
14:38Fabulous
14:39I mean it's great skill
14:41In working an oven like this this isn't an on-off switch
14:44There isn't any thermostat on this oven
14:46Like that?
14:47Yes
14:481, 2, 3, yes
14:491, 2, 3, yes
14:50Voilà, c'est bon?
14:51Voilà
14:52There you are
14:53Ok
14:541, 2, 3
14:56And that's going in
14:58Combien de temps le pain reste au four?
15:0120 or 30 minutes
15:03So 20 or 30 minutes
15:04Fantastic
15:05Wonderful
15:06Ça c'est merveille
15:08Vraiment merveille
15:09Merci beaucoup
15:12So Malika, Herrera soup which we're about to make now is one of the most significant dishes in Moroccan cuisine
15:18Yes, indeed
15:19It's a classic soup that we usually have in the holy months of Ramadan
15:23Ok
15:24So it's a nice soup, it's not very expensive to make
15:27That's why you see it everywhere on the streets
15:29Yes, yeah
15:30And look at the brazier and the coals and the pots
15:33I mean, I'm just in heaven here
15:36Ok, the beef has just gone into the hot oil in the pot
15:40So what else, what happens next now?
15:42Well next we have the onions
15:44So a little bit of colour on the beef
15:47And then the onions are going in
15:49So some chopped tomatoes and they look like they were peeled, were they?
15:53Yep
15:54So skins, yeah
15:55Beautiful tomatoes from your own garden
15:56From the garden, from Donnabo Gardens
15:58Our organic tomatoes
15:59Yeah, yeah
16:00Little bit of salt going in, lovely essential salt
16:02Now we're starting with all the spices
16:04Spices, the black pepper
16:05Yes
16:06And that's dried ginger, is it?
16:07Yeah
16:08The dried ginger
16:09Which is a very important, dried ginger is a very important spice in Moroccan cooking isn't it?
16:12Yes
16:13And then some turmeric
16:14Some turmeric
16:15Dried turmeric
16:16For colour and for flavour also
16:18Yes, yeah
16:19Now a little stir, stir as it goes
16:21Live back on for a minute
16:23Ok, so now we're going to add the cinnamon
16:25A stick one
16:26A stick of cinnamon
16:27That will come out later on when we're serving it
16:29Yes
16:30Exactly, yeah
16:31A little bit of saffron
16:32And this is Moroccan saffron
16:33That's Moroccan saffron
16:34Exactly
16:35And this is the world's most expensive spice
16:38Now we have other lovely, more robust ingredients going in now
16:41Little lentils, yes
16:42I mean, it's just so new
16:44Little bow
16:45Little lentils
16:46Yeah, I love Arir
16:47Chickpeas have just been soaked overnight in cold water
16:50Then drained
16:51And they go in like that
16:52So they're going to cook
16:53Peeled
16:54Oh, they've been peeled
16:55Alright
16:56That's the rub
16:57Exactly
16:58So after you've soaked the chickpeas overnight
17:00You give the bowl a shake
17:02And the skins right to the surface
17:03Exactly
17:04And you've got to peel off the skins
17:05That'll test your commitment now
17:06To get a really beautiful Harira
17:09Beautiful
17:10For four litres of water for the soup
17:12You need half a kilo of celery
17:15Right, ok
17:16Yes
17:17So loads and loads
17:18Loads and loads
17:19Ok
17:20And the parsley and the coriander
17:21With 300 grams you're fine
17:23Ok, yes
17:24So celery is the thing
17:25Is the main
17:26Ok
17:27The herbs going in
17:28And then the liquid
17:31And then the liquid
17:32Always water
17:33Water
17:34What up, this simmers now for a little while
17:35Yes
17:36So we're getting close now
17:38There's one ingredient
17:40Which I have read about
17:42But I've never tasted
17:43Which is a very important part
17:45Of the Moroccan larder
17:47Smen?
17:48Smen
17:49Smen, ok
17:50S-M-E-N
17:51S-M-E-N
17:52It's a rancid batter
17:53So it's a natural batter
17:55Made with cow milk
17:57And you preserve it in salt
17:59For at least two months
18:02Right, ok
18:03This one has one year
18:04One year, ok
18:05You can smell it already
18:06It's a very strong
18:08It's hardcore
18:09Yes
18:10So are we putting a little of that in?
18:11Yes, we're putting a little bit
18:12Yeah
18:13That just gets melted in
18:14Yeah
18:15And then we still have some
18:17The vermicelli to go in
18:20When is that?
18:21That's a little bit later
18:22Yeah, that really goes at the end
18:24Just before serving the soup
18:26So we just have to be a little bit patient now
18:27And just wait
18:28While it's bubble, bubble, bubble away
18:29Bubble, bubble, bubble
18:30Wonderful
18:31So Paul, you use the word botanical
18:35In terms of the gardens here
18:36And that's a special significance
18:38Yes
18:39So a botanical garden is a garden
18:40That specifically educates people
18:42When they visit
18:43So it's not just about having great plant collections
18:46And things
18:47It has to be educational
18:48Yes
18:49And that's core to what you do here
18:50And this little sort of treasure
18:51That you've set up
18:52And that was a vision
18:53Your vision
18:54Your father's vision
18:55Well yes
18:56I think it was a family vision
18:57Yes
18:58When we moved to this part of Tangier
18:59In the late 70s
19:00I just felt in love with the place
19:03And I
19:05It's a way to share what I was lucky to get
19:09From this area of Tangier
19:11Of this neighbourhood
19:12Yeah
19:13And to protect it
19:14It's a way also to transmit
19:15To the new generations
19:17The upcoming generations
19:19That we have a treasure in Tangier
19:21Yes
19:22And when you say protect
19:23That's really the word
19:24Because this is like a reserve
19:25Isn't it?
19:26It's a nature reserve
19:27It's a reserve for biodiversity
19:29It's incredibly rich
19:31In terms of the plants that you've chosen
19:33The plants that you've grown
19:34And then the people who you bring in
19:36Who come to visit what you're doing here
19:38It's a very marvellous
19:40And it's a very special place
19:41Thank you
19:42And this soup is remarkable
19:43Well thank you both so much
19:44This is so special
19:45I note that the name Donabo is significant
19:48You were saying comes from a Latin
19:50The Latin word to give
19:51Donar
19:52Is that correct?
19:53Donar, I see
19:54Well this is such a giving place in every way
19:55It's a delicious soup
19:56You're a wonderful team of people who work here
19:58Thank you so much
19:59Thank you
20:00It's been really a treat
20:01Thank you
20:02And I've come to the Café de Paris
20:10One of the most storied of Tangier's Cafés
20:13And that's saying something
20:14Because this is café society
20:16The streets and boulevards are lined with cafés
20:19And from early in the morning until late in the evening
20:22There are people sitting having a glass of orange juice
20:25A coffee, a water
20:27And who knows who sat in this chair before me
20:29Jack Kerouac
20:30Maybe our own Samuel Beckett
20:32Tennessee Williams
20:33Many of the literary giants came and worked
20:36And found inspiration in Tangier
20:38And it's a place that inspired me
20:40This relatively simple interior
20:42Some of the details dating back to nearly a hundred years ago
20:45When the café was first opened
20:47I love coming here
20:48Really, really wonderful
20:57I think the fish market in Tangier is a must
21:02Truly one of the great sights of Tangier really
21:05With the activity, the colour, the commerce
21:08And of course the fish
21:10We associate sardines strongly with Tangier
21:13And the dish I'm going to cook with these is called
21:15Sardines Tangier Style
21:18So cut off the head
21:20That could go to the cat if you wish
21:22And then to remove the bones
21:25You basically start loosening
21:28Around the top of the backbone
21:30So the backbone runs down through the middle
21:32And you literally just put in your fingers like that
21:36And just start pushing the flesh away from the bone
21:41You see where I'm going?
21:43All the way down as far as the tail
21:45And then I just pinch that off
21:48And I've taken pretty much all of the bones out
21:51Then what I like to do is give them a little dry
21:54Like that
21:55And then I'm putting them into my dish here
21:57Where I'm going to marinate them
21:59Now I'm going to marinate them in a mixture
22:01Which is called chermoula
22:03And you come across this all over Morocco
22:05Quite often with oily fish
22:07But sometimes with meats and poultry
22:09It is a brilliant mixture to be able to make
22:12So in here I'm going to put plenty of parsley
22:15Could be a mixture of parsley and coriander
22:18Then some roasted and ground cumin seeds
22:21Some lemon juice for some lovely sharpness
22:25Plenty of garlic which we're going to whizz very very finely
22:30Hot chilli flakes
22:32And then some sweet paprika
22:34Lovely
22:35And we're going to whizz that until we get a paste
22:37Look at that
22:45It's a lovely deep colour
22:47The aroma is really fantastic
22:49The smell coming from it
22:50So all of that goes in here
22:52And then I'm going to smear that onto our sardines
22:56Our sardines have been marinating for an hour or so
23:00So now all you do is just dip the sardines in a little flour
23:05Like that
23:08And then pop them into your oil
23:10So whenever you're frying in a quantity of oil
23:12And I've got about not even an inch of oil here
23:15So I've heated my oil to 180 degrees
23:18And I've checked it with my thermometer
23:19Just to make sure to maintain it at the correct temperature
23:22That's very important
23:24If the oil is too cold
23:26The fish will just simmer
23:28And sulk
23:29And not be deliciously crispy
23:31And if it's too hot
23:32They get cooked on the outside too crispy too quickly
23:35And also it's just not safe
23:37And these are very skinny
23:39So they cook really really quickly
23:41And I'm popping them out
23:43Onto a little kitchen paper there
23:45Or absorbent paper
23:46To drain off the excess
23:48Now
23:49Transfer your cooked sardines
23:52I have a nice hot serving dish here
23:55Last few
23:56A few little lemon wedges
23:59A little parsley
24:00A little coriander
24:01Absolutely delicious
24:02I think a good expression of the city of Tangier
24:07Perched in that beautiful way
24:09On the top of North Africa
24:11Just across from the Straits of Gibraltar
24:13You can see it from Spain
24:14A wonderful place
24:15And hopefully doing justice
24:17To the fishermen
24:19Of that area
24:20And everybody works
24:21In that magical fish market
24:22Magical fish markets
24:52May your table always be full.
25:02Kerrygold, proud sponsor of How to Cook Well in Morocco.