Souk a Traditional Market
About an hour outside of Marrakech is the area of Ourika. On Monday (Tnin) there is a huge market or souk. First we walked through the tools and animal section.
Olive Oil and Spices and People
Many did not want their pictures taken, so you had to be fast to snap a shot.
Tagine Cooking
In the market people can buy the veggies and meats and take them to a booth that will cook them in a tagine. The cone traps steam during the cooking and really makes a moist, flavorful dish. They can be used on a stovetop or over charcoal. We have had tagine meals throughout this trip.
Barber/Dentist
Veggies/Fruits
Tea Ritual
Hussan, a local guide that lives in this village showed us how to make tea. He did this in a home just outside of town. It was a beautiful place, with a view of the mountainside.
The person making the tea should not be the owner of the home, they should be a guest who knows how the ceremony works. Hand washing is important and they use a teapot that the home owner pours over their hands and it drains into a bowl below. Then another teapot is filled with water and placed on a propane flame to heat. A little hot water is poured into the actual brewing pot and moved around and dumped out in order to make sure the pot is clean. Next the tea is measured by hand into the pot. A small amount of hot water is added and after a few minutes this water is dumped out and the clean tea is left in the pot. Now hot water is added and the mint and other herbs. They know just how long to steep and then add a lot of sugar. When poured into the glass it is done from high in the air.
After the tea ceremony we traveled up the mountain to a hotel for lunch. The stark contrast between the countryside going up and the hotel at the tip was unbelievable.
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