Traditional Moroccan Cooking

Book excerpt: Moroccan cuisine is famous for its subtle blending of spices, herbs and honey with meat and vegetables. In Fez, the country's culinary centre, the cooking has numerous influences - Arab and Berber, with hints of Jewish, African and French. The country's classic dishes are the famous couscous, tagines or stews, and bistilla, an exquisite pie made with a flaky pastry. Capturing the atmosphere of Fez, cultural capital of the medieval Moorish world, Madame Guinaudeau takes us behind closed doors into the kitchens and dining rooms of the old city. She invites us to a banquet in a wealthy home, shopping in the spice market and to the potter's workshop; shares with us the secrets of preserving lemons for a tagine; shows us how to make Moroccan bread. Traditional Moroccan Cooking is the perfect introduction to a mouth-watering culinary heritage and a vivid description of an ancient and beautiful city. It offers a taste of the delights to be found in one of the world's great gastronomic centres.