by ELLA BANKA
To sit around a table and share a tajine with a Moroccan family is to take a journey through generations of gatherings, festivities and recipes. The secret to such rich, sumptuous dishes is the oodles of spices and dried herbs that every woman hoards in her kitchen cupboards.
“Nothing tastes better than Moroccan cuisine,” declares Mohammed Hmidi, a young man who works at a nameless spice store in the souk. For over 70 years, his family has proudly served the community in the old medina of Rabat. Western products line the stalls of the open-air market while the essence of traditional Maghreb lingers in the pungent aroma wafting through the air; shawarma…snails…sheep’s head.
