Aaaammmmlloouuuu

 One of the most delicious things I have eaten here so far is amlou, a peanut-butter like paste made with nuts, sugar or honey, and argan oil (see this post on my other blog to read more about the argan tree and argan oil!). Amlou is thin enough to drizzle over bread with a spoon, and the flavor is rich, lightly sweet, toasty, and nutty.

Argan oil comes from the argan tree, which grows only in the Southwest region of Morocco. It is similar to olive oil in appearance, with a slightly reddish tinge and a nutty, toasted flavor.

My favorite way to eat it is with baghrir, a fluffy, crepe-like bread that soaks it up perfectly, and jben, fresh, tangy Moroccan cheese. You can have it like this at one of the nicer cafés for less than two Euros, and for about 80¢ at the tiny bakery stands!

It's also delicious on bread with strawberries!

It's easy to make, too! It is traditionally made with the nuts of the argan tree, but it's often made with peanuts or almonds. I recommend toasted almonds for the most similar flavor.

Here's how to make it:

Grind 2 cups toasted almonds in a food processor until they form a powder and start to stick together.

Slowly pour in 1/2 cup mild oil, such as sunflower or canola (or argan oil if you can find it!). To try to replicate the flavor of argan oil, you can also do a mixture of half and half olive oil and a milder oil, adding a dash of culinary oils like toasted walnut for extra flavor if you have some on hand.

Add more oil as necessary to form a runny paste, 1/4 to 1/3 cup

Add sugar or honey to taste - I'd recommend 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Blend until the amlou is as smooth as possible

To replicate the combination of baghrir, jben, and amlou, serve your homemade version with crepes or popovers and cream cheese, goat cheese, or quark. Any bread will be delicious though! Try it as a dip for a thick, crusty French bread, or spread on whole-grain toast.

Update

The past few weeks have been filled with wandering around the city, trying new food, hanging out with new friends, and baking!

I still can't believe how beautiful this city is!

See the small doorway underneath the palm tree? It has an incredible view of the sea, and our house is a two-minute walk from it.

One of our best friends came to visit last week! We had an awesome time showing her around the city. For lunch one day we went to our favorite Moroccan restaurant that serves traditional food like lubia (beans), lentils, bisara (split pea soup with olive oil and cumin), tagines, and kebabs.

She tried poulet frites - fall-off-the-bone tender chicken cooked with spices and raisins and served with fries. Pretty much no matter what you order, it will come with a giant basket of bread to soak up the juice.

 Some kinds of bread, though, are fabulous on their own. A few weeks ago, I tried one of the flat fried breads from our favorite soup stand. It was amazing - crispy on the outside, rich, warm, and soft on the inside. I couldn't figure out what they had done to make it so savory and flavorful! I recently learned the secret when I was talking with the owner in Spanish: grasa de cordero - sheep fat! In the past, I would have been distraught over this accidental transgression of my vegetarian diet, but over the past year I've realized that purism doesn't solve anything. So I went back and got some more.

I've been incredibly lucky to meet such wonderful people here! Last week we went to watch the sunset at a beautiful spot on the sea.

Moroccans have a great sense of humor and love to have fun. I think we were laughing the entire time while we watched the sun melt into the water.

In return for their kindness and unending hospitality, I bake! Last week I made swirled white and dark chocolate brownies - very well received.

Yesterday I made almond cookies inspired by the pastries I've tried here. They are super easy to make! Here's how:

Ingredients:
200g blanched almonds
125g powdered sugar
2 eggs, separated into whites and yolks
1 tbsp orange flower water (or 1 tsp vanilla, or zest of one lemon)
slivered almonds, for garnish

Preheat the over to 325. In a food processor, grind the almonds with the orange flower water until they form a thick, crumbly paste. Mix in the two egg yolks and set aside. In a bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy and doubled in size. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Pour this mixture into the food processor and blend until thoroughly combined. Scoop the dough in 1-2 tsp amounts on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until the edges are golden brown, about ten minutes. Then give them to your new friends and watch in delighted amazement as they eat ten in a row.

Moroccan Food

If you have not already heard me say it, the food here is amaaaazing!! One of my favorite things is the abundance of cheap, fresh, delicious fruit. Our favorite vendor is about a three minute walk from our house, and we buy a kilo of strawberries from him on a daily basis - for the equivalent of one Euro! 

Another tasty thing to buy from the vendors is Moroccan fresh cheese. It is a little firmer than cream cheese, with a similar flavor.

People often eat it on bread with honey for breakfast, or crumble it with olive oil, salt, garlic, and parsley and eat it with bread. Both ways are delicious!

Moroccans love sweets in all forms, and one of my favorites is nougat, which you can get with peanuts, almonds, or even flaxseeds!

The man I bought it from had about ten kinds arranged in his cart, giant blocks that he chopped up with a very intense-looking meat cleaver. There are also tons of pastries, and it seems that there is a bakery around every corner.

I think there is some French influence in the types that they make here, but the Moroccan style is clear. They use lots of nuts - peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts - and the sweet, thick pastes made by grinding them with sugar. While you can find croissants and other airy confections, a lot of the traditional Moroccan cookies are dense and rich. Many types are scented with orange blossom water, especially ones with almond paste filling. Another popular type is various forms of dough, either a plain batter-like dough or phyllo sheets filled with nuts, fried and then soaked in honey. Yet another type is cakes made from semolina (think couscous baked into a cake), then soaked with orange-scented honey. (Note to family: I am learning how to make some. There will be deliciousness upon my return.)

This kind is made from thin, crispy pastry dough filled with a mixture of ground almonds, honey, spices, and orange blossom water. It goes perfectly with a glass of hot mint tea.

We are incredibly lucky to have a lovely cleaning woman who also cooks when she comes over! This time she made stewed cauliflower with tomatoes and spices and a parsley onion relish. It was so full of flavor, I honestly do not understand how she does it. I'll have to watch next time she is here!

Fish is very popular here, given the proximity to the ocean. We stopped at our favorite soup place to pick up dinner the other night, and arrived just as a couple of pieces of fried fish emerged from the pan.

The owner of the stand poured some soup into bags, then pointed to the fish, wondering if we wanted to try some. I shook my head, prompting an enthusiastic but unintelligible response in a mixture of French, Spanish, and Arabic. It was accompanied by the display and repeated waving around of the still-raw filets lying next to it, as well as delicious smells wafting from the pan. His excitement won us over and we added a paper-wrapped fish to our bag of bread and soup. And he was right - so good! We happily dug in to the mild, tender white fish with crispy breading, still hot from the pan when we got back to our house.