A new section for this new year… Imaginary, culinary, sensory or cultural journeys… We portray the landscape, the character, the context… it’s up to you to dream and imagine what’s next…

Amir is a cook on the big market of Had-Draâ, about thirty kilometres from Essaouira. The market of Had-Draâ is a very big market, mainly frequented by men. Here you can find everything. That is to say that one can buy here as well a cow, a camel, tools, spices or of course fruits and vegetables. A real pleasure for the eyes!

Every Sunday the crowds arrive from the surrounding towns and villages, it’s a real feast. All along the road that leads to Had-Draâ, we cross all kinds of means of transport and near the market we can find small taxis, as well as big taxis in which many people pile up for a very modest sum, buses, mopeds, and of course people who move on foot or on donkeys.

Here you can shop and cook while you enjoy tea and coffee and talk about business and the world in the company of your neighbours. You can take advantage of the cooking time to go to the hairdresser or barber. Amir is in charge of the kitchen and supervises the cooking with a trained eye. You’ll never eat a couscous you missed on the market!

And at the end of the morning, after having chatted, experimented, exchanged, admired, one can finally taste, sitting on the ground under the shelter of a large tent, a tajine, a couscous, see if the weather gets cold a good bissara whose recipe is delivered to you at the end of this post.

For a moment, sit down in the tent, close your eyes, then admire the sky through the holes in the tent, and finally take the time to enjoy the delicious split pea soup.

Recipe for Amir’s Bissara :

6 garlic cloves – 500 g split peas – cumin, fenugreek, peppers according to your taste, olive oil.

In a thick-bottomed stewpot, sauté the spices, crushed garlic cloves and split peas in two spoonfuls of olive oil. Add a large quantity of water – at least three times the volume of the split peas. Simmer over medium heat, watching from time to time, just long enough to perfume your kitchen with the good smell of the spices, about an hour. Blend and sprinkle with paprika. Prepare some croutons or toast to accompany the tasting…

Enjoy a few minutes in Amir’s tent at Had-Draâ market. Warmth, well-being and change of scenery guaranteed.

Par Nathalie

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)