Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I love Olives





Our esteemed host Karim and his family took us to the Grand  Souk Al Had
for a day of shopping. The vast rows and mountains of fresh food, spices, and handmade goods was enchanting. Families do their regular shopping here weekly and most of the food we saw arrived that day.
Karim purchased two live chickens which were cleaned right there. His wife Hanan served us these chickens roasted in her home with homemade olives, apple cake, saffron rice, bread, fresh fruit, and spiced coffee. Can you guess how long we lounged and ate for? If you thought 3 hours, you are wrong, closer to 3 1/2!  Moroccan hospitality is beyond reproach; gracious, giving, and so sincere.
 video of the Souk 
 Souk Al Had map


20 comments:

  1. Quite expansive! Did you buy anything? What is the currency and the exchange rate?

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  2. This relates to Spanish class and what we are learning because we learned food vocabulary and Mrs. Landry had lots of experience with food on her trip. This personally relates because I would love to go to Spain and experience the cultural food difference as Mrs. Landry did.

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  3. Wow! Talk about hospitality! This is common in many Spanish cultures as well. When a new friend is met, it is very likely they will be smothered in delicious loved filled food, warm hospitality, and cultural fun! It is wonderful that you got to experience that Mrs.Landry!-Hailey H.

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    1. Sometimes I worry that we are so busy rushing to the next task or event here in the U.S. that we forget to slow down and enjoy the company of our guests or the people that we care about. Sharing a meal does seem to be a way of building relationships in many different cultures.

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  4. 3 and a half hours to eat? I can never imagine eating for that long. My dinners only last about 30 minutes. That dinner you had is a lot bigger and healthier than the ones I have. Over time, I learned that Spanish countries have bigger meals and healthier food than Americans.

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  5. I don't usually go to open air markets, but they seem like a pretty fun event to go to. In Spanish, we have learned what to shop for and how to bargain at an open air market. The food sound great though!

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  6. I would like to try the different food. I'm always interested in looking at different food. In spanish we learned about shopping at different places so some of the words could help out.

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  7. The thing I pull away from this the most is how most of food had arrived that same day, indicating freshness. The U.S. is the second most obese country in the world, while Morocco is ranked #56. This is a stark difference and just shows that industrialization and fast food is not the way of the future. In fact, it is impeding our future and hurting our country. Morocco's fresh and healthy food does wonders to their population and allows them to live happy, healthy lives.

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  8. I have never been to a market like that but it seems very cool I'll have to try it some day. In our Spanish class, we learned shopping vocabulary to help us if we ever go shopping in a Spanish speaking country.

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  9. Wow! I haven't seen any market that expansive and diverse! I wonder if they are common in other parts of the world as well, like South America. Being so close to a Spanish speaking country, it is useful to know how to say the common items in Spanish. That is exactly why we learned them.

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  10. Wow! I haven't seen any market that expansive and diverse! I wonder if they are common in other parts of the world as well, like South America. Being so close to a Spanish speaking country, it is useful to know how to say the common items in Spanish. That is exactly why we learned them.

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  11. In Spanish class we learned about open-air markets and the things you can buy there. I have been able to visit markets like this when traveling with my family. My favorite thing from this kind of market is the food because it's fresh. It is different from going to a grocery store where most food is packaged.

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  12. I have been to a market like that up in Seattle called Pike's Market, it is a fish market but kind of the same deal. It is nice to know that eventually we will be using what we learn in our Spanish class someday while traveling. Eventually I do hope to be able to go to one of these markets and use what we are learning now in class in the market.

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  13. Wow! I can't believe it took over 3 hours to eat! Now that is making me look good when I was little. Sometimes when I was little my dad said I took around 30 minutes to eat a PB&J! I have gotten faster at eating due to short amounts of time to eat at lunch!

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  14. I can't imagine walking into Fry's and just buying a whole live chicken! It's so interesting to learn how food is viewed and dealt with around the world. Nowadays it's hard to tell if the chicken you're eating is even real chicken because it has been so processed and deep fried. It's weird to think that not everybody in the world has access to such a surplus of processed foods like we do.

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  15. I always love learning about new cultures that different countries have especially when it comes to the food. Although I have been to many open-air markets here in Phoenix, none of them are anything like the ones in Grand Souk Al Had. Hopefully one day I'll get the opportunity to go to a market such as this.

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  16. It's funny to see how different countries value hospitalilty around the world. Here in America, it is important, but not nearly as important as it seems to be in other places. This makes me want to travel the world and learn more about different cultures!

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  17. Although I have not been to many markets similar to the markets in Grand Souk Al Had, they seem to be a great place to get healthy, unprocessed food conveniently. It is excellent to have places like these where handmade goods and fresh food is the norm, as they are two things that aren't seen that often in the United States. In my Spanish class, we learn about some of the different foods that other countries eat and how they treat eating like there, as well as vocabulary to use while shopping. It is just very interesting to know the views of food in other countries in the world, as well as how they prepare all of the food for consumption.

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  18. The only way I've gotten food like that before is to home grow it. Unfortunately the conditions a lot of meat animals are raised in are not healthy and the fruit that we get in the stores are very rarely "fresh". I have yet to see fruit that was picked when ripe being sold in any kind of grocery store in the United States.

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  19. 3 hours to eat sounds like a lot, but in that time, you were able to eat, smell, and immerse yourself in their culture. Here in the US its not a normal thing to just go to the market and pick out live chickens and all of the other ingredients for a meal you are having that night. In Spanish we have learned about the types of food other countries eat, and how much sentimentally went along with their meals.

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