Moroccan food will always feel a bit dangerous to me because I almost died in Morocco. At least that’s how it felt.
A few years ago, after a plane ride, several trains, and a multi-hour bus ride through the back woods of Morocco, I found myself in the middle of the city of Fez with my sister. After a sleepless week filled with a mazed of a walled city, a ride through Middle Atlas with a Moroccan drug dealer, wild monkeys, and dimly lit back rooms in rug factories, it was time to head back to Spain. The night before the long bus ride back to the ferry dock, it made sense to find the bus station, a dry run to see how far of a walk it was, sans backpacks, to give ourselves enough time the next morning.
After a longer than anticipate walk, we found ourselves at the dusty entrance to a dilapidated bus terminal that would be the exit door to a traumatic but eye opening trip. Just before dusk we start to walk back to our hotel, instinctively walking faster as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Trying to remain strong for the other, each of us tried to lighten the mood with jokes and small talk but an old Peugeot hatch back fill with Moroccan men broke all pretense that was possible.
We ran. They followed. Driving onto sidewalks, down alleys, cat calls and Arabic slang floating out the windows. The darkness that had fallen echoed the feeling of panic rising inside me as I tried to remember the route back to the hotel. Just get back to the hotel, inside the doors, just get back. But I was lost. I had no idea where we were, nothing looked familiar.
As we rounded a corner, too small for the little car to make, the four men abandoned their vehicle and began to chase on foot. I turned down the nearest alley, only to see two other men, their backs to us. They had machine guns. We stopped dead, frozen.
As they slowly turned towards us, I could feel our hunters stop as well, a few yards behind us. That moment, which was probably only mere seconds, seemed to last forever. The Peugeot Crew behind us, the Machine Gun Two in front. Either they save us, or they kill is. This either works out fine, or it’s about to get really bad. Frozen, silently begging them to help, willing them to be good.
The Machine Gun Two yelled in Arabic, shooing the men back into their car. The sound of the Peugeot driving away came just seconds later. "We are police. We will help you." A relief, mixed with the reality that we weren’t safe yet, came over me. They knew exactly where our hotel was, just a few blocks away.
As we began the walk back to our temporary sanctuary, the Moroccan cops began a friendly chat that ended with,"You girls are very pretty. Can we show you the town?" Lucky for us, they were gentleman, taking the rejection in stride as they deposited us at the door of our hotel. Kindly waving goodbye as we disappeared inside.
Later that night, after we’d decompressed, we braved the streets for a nearby cafe. A literal hole in the wall that had been carved out a century earlier to include a clay oven that made the most incredible chicken. For just the equivalent of 4 American dollars total, we each had a metal plate with roasted Moroccan chicken and saffron rice. It very well may have been the intensity of the situation, but that was the best damn chicken I’ve ever had. Now Moroccan chicken just tastes incredible, especially when it doesn’t come after seeing machine guns.
Want to know what happened next? Read about what happened on the boat ride out of Morocco.
Moroccan Stout Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup flour plus 2 tbs, divided
- 6 chicken thighs
- 2 large shallots chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup stout
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- pinch cayenne
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tbs lemon juice
- ½ lb medjool dates pitted (about 12)
- ¼ cup almonds
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- rice or couscous for serving
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper and ¼ cup flour, set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot by not smoking.
- Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour mixture, sear in the hot pan until browned on all sides. Remove from pan (the chicken will not be cooked through at this time).
- Add the shallots, cooking until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
- Stir in the chicken broth, stout, ginger, cayenne, cumin, brown sugar and lemon juice.
- Return the chicken to the pan, reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover loosely and cook until the chicken is cooked through and registers 160F on a cooking thermometer.
- Transfer chicken to a serving platter.
- Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons flour over the sauce, whisking to combine. Add pitted dates.
- Increase heat to a strong simmer and allow to cook, stirring occasionally until reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes.
- Serve chicken over rice or couscous with dates and sauce, sprinkled with parsley and almonds.