Wait, No Hummus?!
After a conversation with Andrew on AIM yesterday, I realized I should probably talk a little bit more about some misconceptions about Moroccan food. First off, I have yet to find hummus or falafel here. None. Pita bread is similarly scarce - I can purchase it in the supermarket, but I have yet to find it on the street or anything. You're much more likely to find either pain rond or baguettes. Normally, when Moroccans serve bread here in Rabat, you'll get a pain rond and some sort of tomato-based dipping sauce. Often, the bread functions as the silverware - you'll use a piece of bread like a pincer to grab food from a communal plate, such as one used for tajine or couscous.
Another thing. Couscous is really only served on fridays. Everybody loves it, etc, but it's a special dish for friday, which is a Muslim holy day (people often pray for several hours, or something along those lines). Additionally, it's normally at lunchtime, not dinner, which becomes the big meal of the day.
It's pretty common to find pizza, sandwiches, burgers, rotisserie chicken, chickpeas, tajine, and stuff along those lines in most sidewalk restaurants. The most common accessory is french fries - which I eat about twice a day... Most sandwiches come with a sack of french fries, or a street vendor will just throw them on top of the sandwich before he wraps it up. I think this is largely a remnant of french colonization, as are the ubiquitous sidewalk cafes.
I literally go to a cafe here every morning. It's not uncommon to find as many as two on one block, all with basically the same schtick: old guys outside sipping cafe noir, cafe au lait, or misc cold drinks. Inside, there's normally one or two overworked waiters, who sell various drinks and juices and normally a small selection of largely french pastries - croissants, pain au chocolat, apple tarts, and other local stuff. It's totally french, and I love it. The only annoying part for me is that it's hard to separate Morocco from France in that regard. While these cafe goings-on are uniquely Moroccan, I almost feel like I'm in some random French city.
Another thing. Couscous is really only served on fridays. Everybody loves it, etc, but it's a special dish for friday, which is a Muslim holy day (people often pray for several hours, or something along those lines). Additionally, it's normally at lunchtime, not dinner, which becomes the big meal of the day.
It's pretty common to find pizza, sandwiches, burgers, rotisserie chicken, chickpeas, tajine, and stuff along those lines in most sidewalk restaurants. The most common accessory is french fries - which I eat about twice a day... Most sandwiches come with a sack of french fries, or a street vendor will just throw them on top of the sandwich before he wraps it up. I think this is largely a remnant of french colonization, as are the ubiquitous sidewalk cafes.
I literally go to a cafe here every morning. It's not uncommon to find as many as two on one block, all with basically the same schtick: old guys outside sipping cafe noir, cafe au lait, or misc cold drinks. Inside, there's normally one or two overworked waiters, who sell various drinks and juices and normally a small selection of largely french pastries - croissants, pain au chocolat, apple tarts, and other local stuff. It's totally french, and I love it. The only annoying part for me is that it's hard to separate Morocco from France in that regard. While these cafe goings-on are uniquely Moroccan, I almost feel like I'm in some random French city.
posted by Isaac at 7:01 AM
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