A Culinary Tour of the Maghreb

When I turned seventeen, as part of having successfully finished my end of school exam, one of my uncle took me to Tunisia for a week of R&R. That same uncle had taken me to Senegal a few years earlier, and my encounter with an elephant foot was part of a What's For Dinner diary a few weeks ago.

Tunisia made a huge impact on me with its rich history, the constant explosions of colors, the sparkling Mediterranean sea, the ruins of Carthage and beyond Tunis, its capital, the road leading to the beautiful sea-side village of Sidi Bou Said lined with olive groves, citrus orchards and endless vineyards, its remarkable architecture, beige sun baked bricks set in geometric patterns, Moorish arches and high vaulted ceilings, the throngs of shops offering locally woven carpets, Berber jewelry and ornaments...and the smells, and the food, the glorious food!

Let me tell you about my North African adventure as seen through the eyes of an excitable youth with a ravenous appetite. I hope you will enjoy this Sunday diary, a nice break from my usual grim news diaries about food & water shortages.

Upon finishing his business in Tunis a week later, my uncle decided to fly to Algiers to visit some of his clients before going back home to France. To cut a story short, after two days in Algiers, we were to fly back together but I had better ideas and wanted to hitchhike to Morocco where my best  friend was summering with his parents. My uncle at first refused, reminding me of the recent Algerian war of independence and the horrors inflicted by our own troops to the insurgents. I had met a few young Arabs, got on very well with them (everyone speaks French in North Africa) and to me, a few days spent on the road presented no danger at all. It took me three days to cross, met numerous people and at no time I felt my presence was resented, in fact, quite the contrary, and it is a tribute to these folks, they made me feel so welcome that to this day I remember being overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity.

And so, the culinary & history tour starts here.

The countries of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, because of their indigenous people, history, and unique geographical position, have a culinary tradition quite different from the rest of the African continent. These three countries are known as the Maghreb from the Arabic for "the land farthest west." It's worth noting that some two thousand years ago the three countries were one.

Cooking in the Maghreb has been influenced by the Persians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, Spanish, British, and French. Spices from the Far East and Middle East passed across this region, and there was a brisk exchange of produce between Europe and North Africa. The Romans made this region the "breadbasket" of its empire, and the Maghreb supplied the empire with more than 60 percent of the wheat and other grains it needed to feed its people and its armies. The Moors brought citrus and olives back to North Africa from Spain, forever leaving a Mediterranean imprint on the cuisines of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. Dried sausages were introduced to the northern Coast of Africa by the Phoenicians (this drying technique was used to preserve meats for long sea journeys). The Carthaginians are thought to have introduced durum wheat in the form of semolina (though I have found no direct link to this suggestion), which became the staple of the region, couscous. When the Romans expelled the Carthaginians, they named the region Mauretania Tingitana (it is from this name that the term "Moors" comes from).

The most lasting effect on the region came in the year 683, when Morocco was invaded by the Arabs. The Arabs brought their religion and the culture of the Middle East to a people known as the Berbers, an indigenous Caucasian tribe, possibly of Nordic descent (?)

The Arabs were the world’s spice merchants for many centuries and they introduced cinnamon, saffron, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg to North Africa. The Arabs went on to conquer Spain in 711. Known as the Moors, they kept North Africa connected to Spain for centuries. This helped to fuse the ingredients of the Mediterranean with those of the Maghreb. When the Spanish Moors and Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many chose to settle in Morocco, and they brought their cuisines with them. The Ottoman Turks were repelled from ever crossing into Moroccan territory, and so the Ottoman Empire did not have as much influence on the cuisine of Morocco as it did elsewhere. Portuguese and Spanish influence in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries introduced the region to the New World. Chiles and tomatoes had a powerful impact on the tastes of the Maghreb. Tunisian cuisine became the spiciest of the three countries (harissa is the fiery chile condiment for which Tunisia has become famous). France had annexed Algeria in 1834, and at the beginning of the twentieth century Britain struck a sorry deal with France: the French could keep control over Morocco in exchange for British control in Egypt. We all know how badly this folly ended, a harbinger of things to come out of Iraq, someday.

Tunisia was an important wheat-growing region from the time of the Roman Empire. Because of this early history, dishes based on couscous are extremely popular, and Tunisian bakeries produce the best breads outside France, IMO.
Mediterranean crops such as oranges, lemons, figs, grapes, and pomegranates flourish in the rich soil and balmy climate of the northern lands. The history of Tunisia is similar to that of the rest of the region, with one exception. The Phoenicians established Carthage in an area now known as Tunis. The Carthaginian Empire ruled the Iberian Peninsula and parts of Sicily and Sardinia intermittently until the Punic Wars (149 to 146 B.C.) Tunisian cuisine is by far the spiciest of the countries of North Africa. Cumin, black peppercorns, and caraway are the spices most often encountered, and olive oils produced in Tunisia are world class (as are their table olives). Eggs are used in abundance, and lamb, beef, and poultry are popular meats.

There is a Maghrebi proverb (but don't be telling them!) to the effect that Algeria is the man, Tunisia is the woman, and Morocco is the lion. The food of Morocco certainly lives up to this analogy. Moroccan cuisine is both assertive and aggressive, with liberal use of a multitude of spices. To my mind, only India can compare in its copious use of multiple-spice combinations. It is their generous use of spices that characterizes Moroccan food. Brought to Morocco from India and elsewhere were ginger, turmeric, saffron, black peppercorns, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, and garlic. A surprising spice to be found in the region is caraway, normally associated with foods of northern Europe. Moroccan cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine, with reliance on lemons (you should try their preserved lemons), olives, olive oil, and garlic. Persian influence can be seen in Morocco’s taste for meats combined with fruits and the use of "sweet" spices in savory dishes. Flaky pastries (b’stilla), filled with meat and spices are often dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Sweet dates and raisins are combined with lamb and chicken. See pic below.
                         

The staple in Morocco (and indeed across the region) is couscous, a unique pasta made from durum wheat. It may be flavored with olive oil, spices, vegetables, and meats, even fish. It can be served alone or accompanied by a rich tagine. Tagines are wonderfully flavorful stews, slowly cooked in a special ceramic cooking vessel. Couscous is often steamed by placing it over a simmering tagine, with the flavors of the stew infused into the small pasta kernels. Favorite meats include lamb, beef, and poultry, with a fondness for pigeon or squab. With a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, fish is very popular. Sardines & mackerels are found throughout the Maghreb. Pic of tagines below.

                       

Algeria is one of the largest countries in Africa, yet 90 percent of the land lies in the Sahara Desert. At the same time, 90 percent of the population lives along the Mediterranean, in what is known as the Tell region. These northern regions have suffered from deforestation, overgrazing, and erosion. Because of its long association with France, modern Algerian cuisine is most like the French in its care of presentation and preparation. Algerian cuisine can be seen as the intermediary between the highly aromatic and fruit-filled dishes of Morocco and the use of fiery chiles (as harisa) in Tunisia. Algerians have a fondness for salads that surpasses the other countries of the Maghreb. Unusual vegetables such as artichokes, fennel, and cardoons are eaten along with the more common carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes. Flat-leaf parsley is added to most dishes and lamb is the most common meat, since sheep can thrive in semiarid conditions. Pic of a typical couscous dish below.