Couscous

Couscous is the most popular dish that characterizes Morocco. Moroccans usually eat it on Fridays for lunch when the family is all together. Couscous can be considered as the toughest Moroccan dish you can make. Women do better with making it, because it took lots of time and needs lots of patience. This meal contains lots of ingredients like carrots, potatoes, zucchini, pumpkin, cabbage, turnips, chickpeas, chicken or meat, looots of spices.... And we add caramelized onions and raisins for decoration.

Eating couscous on Fridays is a Moroccan tradition and since a long time Moroccans eat this meal on those when they all go to some member's house and usually it's granny's.

And if you want to give it a try, here are the steps you should follow to have a good Moroccan couscous:

First, you should steam the couscous (there's pre-packed couscous which facilitates this step and it's available in supermarkets). It should be steamed 3 or 4 times!

At the same time, you cook the vegetables and the chicken or meat, in another pan. Then it's the caramelized raisins and onions turn! Mix the sliced onions, raisins, spices, sugar or honey in a sauce pan, add some water, cover it, and leave it cook for approximately half an hour over low heat.

After finishing cooking... It's serving time! Empty the steamed couscous into a dish that Moroccans call "Gasaa". Next put the vegetables and the chicken or meat on the top of the couscous. Finally, we put the caramelized onions and raisins (the "Tefaya") on the very top.

Here in Morocco, the way we eat it is much different than the one you do in America or anyplace in the world. We eat couscous in the same big dish and we usually use our hands. The older members are professionals; they make balls so it gets easier to hold and to eat.

So good appetite, and enjoy eating the most popular and delicious meal ever!!

Written by Mahdi, Khalil, and Hamza

Bastela

Morocco is very famous by its delicious dishes. One of them is "Bastela", we cook it in the weddings. If you want to cook it here are the ingredients and the way also:

-Sheets of pastry made by water, salt, and flour
-Almonds, fried and ground with sugar
-Chicken fried and torn apart into pieces

We take 4 sheets of bastela pastry, we spread them with oil and butter. We take chicken, add parsley, add spices, then we add 4 other sheets of pastry. We follow the same steps, then we add almonds mixed with sugar and cinnamon, then we put 4 other sheets of pastry, then we close it with our hands and we add oil, eggs (the yolk), we put it in the oven in very low fire. Finally, we decorate it with powdered sugar.

Enjoy eating. It's really the best taste (it's a mix between salty and sweet) that you will ever try.

Written by Hajar, Jihan, Chaimae, Marouane, Yassine, U-sef

Moroccan Weddings

A Moroccan wedding is one of the most popular marriages in all parts in the world. It takes approximately 3 days:

- The first day is devoted to "Henna" which is a reddish-brown dye that is made form the leaves of a shrub. It's used especially for coloring hair and skin. We always put it on the bride's hand with the assistance of all the guests who are often relatives of the couple.

- The second day is the major day when they celebrate this greatest event. The "Negafa" (a woman) takes a big part in the wedding. She's responsible for changing the bride's dresses especially to traditional clothes such as "Fassi" (from Fes), "Tamazight" (Berber), and "Rabati" (from Rabat) styles during the ceremony. The band starts playing different kings of Arabic music without forgetting "dkaykya" who performs a wonderful show, accompanied with "youyou" (ululations) that informs the coming of the couple in the middle of the marriage. The dinner is served, it focuses on traditional food that which reflects the generosity of Moroccan people. At the end, the groom takes the bride's hand and they leave while the guests keep dancing all night.

- In the morning on the third day, the bride's family takes the breakfast to the groom's home, and they eat lunch together in order to show they have become one family.

Written by Salwa, Samah, and Basma