Moroccan domestic life
DOMESTIC LIFE
Just as it is impossible to make sweeping generalizations about the 200
distinctive Berber groups, so is it impossible to speak of the average
Moroccan home. The great gap between rich and poor defies comparisons. How
can one even speak in the same breath of the lifestyle of a nomadic Berber
tribe of goat herders and a palatial servant-filled home of a Moroccan
family serving a thirty-plate diffa (banquet)? Yet both are valid
examples of Moroccan life.
But some things are the same. Everywhere, it is the women who cook.
Everywhere, classic Arabian hospitality climaxes in the philosophy of
shaban: abundance of satisfaction characterized by heaping plates of
the best the household can offer. For even the lowliest of peasants
shaban can be achieved if one has sufficient kimia. The
Moroccan legends of endless exotic dishes preceded by long flowery
speeches may not seem so lavish if one remembers that the arts of speech
and the arts of the Moroccan cuisine have been carefully cultivated for
centuries and just as carefully handed down from mother to daughter.
It also helps to bear in mind that many of these culinary wonders are
actually prepared from the simplest and least expensive ingredients. They
require, however, the agility of many knowing hands of which there is no
shortage in Morocco.
Food preparation begins with the daily shopping for the freshest available
ingredients found in the souks (marketplaces) or sold by vendors,
sometimes from house to house. Everyone has a favorite source of fine
spices, fresh vegetables, and fruits.
Despite the incredible quantity and endless variety of Moroccan food, the
utensils needed in the kitchen are few. They include the mortar and pestle
for grinding and pounding seasonings, a couscousiere (a two-layered
pot for cooking stew in the bottom and the couscous in the perforated
top), several pots and pans of universal design, earthenware tagine
slaouis (their conical tops may be heaped with charcoal embers to
simulate baking or for long slow simmering), shiny copper taouas
(casseroles), a range of knives, and a small charcoal stove. If large
amounts of food are to be prepared, neighborhood ovens are used.
Not evident in Moroccan kitchens are measuring utensils and electrical
appliances. Like loving dedicated cooks throughout the world (only maybe
more so in Morocco) amounts of ingredients are measured by experience,
tasted knowingly, and seasoned deftly with shakes of this and pinches of
that. Small wonder that Moroccan girls begin their training in the
culinary arts very early. Electrical power is being increasingly produced
from the country's many rivers but is still considered a luxury and is not
widely available. For this reason as well as the enjoyment of the freshest
foods, perishables are bought daily rather than stored.
The accomplished Moroccan cook will also have the following utensils for
specialty dishes:
Gdra Dil Trid: earthenware dome used to stretch the thin pastry for
Trid (similar to Bisteeya);
Gsaa: large wooden or earthenware kneading trough for bread dough
(easier than a board);
M'ghazel: silver or brass skewers for meat and vegetable tidbits or
meatballs (Kefta);
Tobsil: similar to Gdra Dil Trid, except this utensil is
placed over heat or over boiling water and is used to make the Warka
(paper-thin pastry for Bisteeya).
Included also would be a variety of brass, copper or silver trays for
serving, ornate teapot and sets of glasses for tea serving, and small
decorated kettles and basins for pouring perfumed waters in the hand
washing ritual.
For rural Berber women, the arts of cookery are somewhat simplified. Both
breads and main dishes are cooked over open fires with few utensils. Yet
the serving of foods, though not as elaborate as a diffa, may be
nonetheless gracious. Low tables are placed before the diners and the
customary heaped platters are eaten with three fingers of the right hand,
while the frequent trays of sweet tea or spiced coffee are just as much
enjoyed as in the palatial city homes.