Cooking

طبخ

Ommar , head chef of the Kasbah, is wearing a dirty red and white chequered apron and a deep burgundy chef’s jacket. He sprouts a little moustache above his decaying front teeth and has sparkling eyes that at the age of 46 still reveal a playful inner child.

Tonight the Kasbah dinner menu promises a typical Moroccan oven plate of chicken with kofta, carrots, potatoes, courgettes and eggplant.

As an old woman in bright pink Nike tracksuit, with colour-matching hijab, starts baking khobz in the corner of the kitchen, Ommar goes to task with the confident skill of a true kitchen veteran. And he allows me to share some secrets…

-       Wash and dice carrots. Stew them on a low fire, add pepper and paprika spice. Add water to boil, followed by cumin to flavour.

-       Peel, wash and dice potatoes. Boil them in salted water until they are tender.

Outside a little vertical ventilation window, the mighty Atlas peaks appear within arm’s reach. “My grandfather used to be a guide in these mountains, and my father farmed the rugged valley lands below. From the age of 14 I went up into the mountains myself. I had a pack mule and took people up there, sometimes for twenty days at a time.”

-       Peel courgettes, removing the tips and the stems. Heat them up briefly, then add water to boil. Add cumin for flavour.

-       Slice eggplants. Fry in oil until they sizzle. Add salt.

In an adjacent room, visible through a small divider window, a young boy is washing dishes. “I have five children. Three sons. A kitchen-aid here at the Kasbah, a student, and my oldest son, who is also a mountain guide. In fact, he should be reaching the peak of Mount Toubkal as we speak. I also have two daughters who are married.”

-       For the chicken spice-mix: Cut and dice onions into an oven tray. Squeeze lemon juice on top. Dice garlic and add to the onion. Add pepper, saffron, and a little dash of mustard. Mix by hand. Add fresh parsley.

“I speak four languages. A lot of people here do. I speak Tachelhit, one of the three Berber languages spoken in Morocco. I also speak Arabic, English and French. But mostly, I speak the language of culinary delights.”

-       Gut the chicken. Slice off fat and tendons. Cut small grooves into the meat. Wash the chicken thoroughly. Rub spice mix onto the pieces of chicken, filling the grooves. Bake briefly on skillet. Put the chicken in the oven tray with the remainder of the spice mix. Bake in the oven for 90 minutes.

Chicken livers shines dark reddish-brown on the green cutting board. The offal is kept aside. “This is the cats’ dinner,” Ommar laughs. Outside the kitchen door, in the Kasbah courtyard, a mother cat and her kittens await patiently, laying in the cool shade of the warm late afternoon sun.

-       Lay out your ground beef. Add cumin, pepper and paprika spice. Add olive oil. Grind it all together manually and roll the mix into little meatballs. Put into the oven for 90 minutes.

Azan softly drifts in through the open window. Ommar washes his hands, removes his dirtied apron and leaves the Kasbah, passing through the courtyard rich with the scent of lavender and rosemary and sage. He walks through the gates, down some stairs, up some stairs, and enters the men’s entrance of a little mosque. He leaves his shoes on the steps, where a young barefoot boy leans against the doorframe, rubbing a walnut over his red cheeks. Behind, a row of barefoot soles.

The dinner is served and the guests eagerly dig in. From the kitchen reverberate the gentle tunes of a happily singing Ommar.

The fried eggplant has a deep savoury crunch. The flavour of its fried skins titillates the edges of the tongue, while its flesh melts inside the mouth like a marmalade.

The carrots are tender and juicy and fill the mouth with an aromatic injection of soft herbal flavours.

Arousing the roof of the mouth, the courgette pieces are superbly crispy on the outside, succulent and fleshy within. Upon biting, they burst with juicy explosions of delicate taste.

Perfectly counterbalancing the luscious vegetables, the chicken is soft and tender. Its texture somewhat velvety, and the herbs that have been cooked deep into the meat arouse the senses like a warm evening stroll through the Kasbah’s courtyard herb garden.

Breaking apart into potent little chunks of beef and spice and herb that trigger all taste buds—from the tip of the tongue to the back of the mouth—the kefta meatballs are juicy yet with a deliciously granular texture.

Dipping the fresh khobz bread into the rich juices at the bottom of the clay plate, elevates the meal into the heavenly, with the whole dish leaving your mouth reeling from the sensations, the different textures, and flavours. All complementing and enhancing one another. Marvellously delicious. Compliments to the chef!