In My Kitchen with Paula

Journey Through Moroccan Flavours with Siham Lahmine

• Paula Mohammed • Episode 41

Share episode

Have you ever been invited to “eat from your triangle”? 

In this episode I sit down with Moroccan culinary expert and guide Siham Lahmine to explore the real Morocco—the one you taste and sit inside. From family kitchens in Fez to late-night medina vibes during Ramadan, Siham shares how hospitality, daily rhythms, and regional dishes reveal the country’s open-minded surprises and deep food heritage.

You'll hear about:

🏠 How Siham curates in-home culinary experiences with local women outside tourist areas.
☕ Everyday meal rhythms (including the beloved cascrot—“second breakfast”)
🔺Respectful visiting: modest dress tips, how to interact in souks, and “eat from your triangle” at shared plates
🌙 Ramadan travel rhythms (start early, pause late afternoon, then feel the city re-ignite at night)

I suggest you pair this episode with a comfy cushion, and a cup of mint tea.

HELPFUL LINKS

Siham’s company: moroccotravelorganizer.com
Email Siham: siham@moroccotravelorganizer.com
Instagram: @moroccotravelorganizer

Visit exploreinmykitchen.com for Siham's Chicken Tagine recipe

SUBSCRIBE, RATE & REVIEW

If you love this podcast and want to give me your support, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. This goes a long way in helping me get in front of other culinary adventurers like you.

Just open up the Apple Podcasts app and go to “In My Kitchen with Paula”. Or, in this episode, click on the 3 dots in the right corner and click on “Go To Show”. At the bottom of the show page, you can rate and review.

SAY HELLO

In My Kitchen creates connections one dish at a time, by exploring culture through food. I do this through unique culinary workshops, speaking engagements, and of course, this podcast.

I'd love to hear from you! Connect with me in one of three ways:

Paula:

Hi, I'm Paula Mohammed and welcome to In My Kitchen with Paula. This podcast is a gathering place for culinary adventures who love to travel. Every week, we'll come together with chefs, cookbook authors, talented home cooks, and everyone in between to talk about their story and their unique dish using food as the vehicle will take a ride into the ins and outs of their culture and country. Come on, let's get this party started. Hi friends, Paula here today. We're flying to Morocco, not the postcard version, the Morocco. You taste, sip, and sit inside. My guest is Siham Lahmine. She has spent years guiding people through Fez and Marakesh into the Medinas, the food souks, and my favorite part. Right into family kitchens. Siham has the gift for gently flipping stereotypes. You'll hear why evenings there feel electric, what respect looks like at the table, and how women are shaping what visitors experience. I love this conversation because it's exactly what In My Kitchen is about connection through food, the real stories behind the dishes, and that feeling of being welcomed in. So settle in. Let's wander the lanes of Fes together.

Siham:

Welcome to the show, Siham. Oh, thank you. Thank you Paula. Glad to be here.

Paula:

I'm so excited to have Siham Lahmine here and I'm gonna give a quick intro before we dive in. Siham is a leading Moroccan cuisine expert. She has an exceptional knowledge about Fosse and other local culinary traditions. Accumulated during 10 years of leading culinary adventures across Morocco and in Fez, Lahmine is a leader in the field of Morocco's culinary heritage by offering in-depth private guided culinary tours throughout Morocco's, imperial cities and countryside. Siham brings an ancient country's cultural traditions and stories to people. So this is just speaking my language. I can't wait to come and experience this with Siham. One day Siham takes Travelers on a historic food journey across the food souks of the historic Medinas Siham has hosted Chef Ainsley Harriet known for his BBC cooking game shows. Can't Cook, won't Cook, and Ready Steady Cook among other renowned chefs. By sharing her passion for local delicacies, Siham conveys broad based stories of Medina's food souks through up close engagement with local vendors who are the keepers of vast culinary traditions and a longstanding heritage of Moroccan cuisine. Some of the delicious offerings on our culinary tours are Malawi, which are crepes, basra, uh, Moroccan Fava Bean Soup and Stuffed Dates. Before we dive in Siham hear about your story, I wonder if you could provide the meaning of a couple of terms, which I think will help myself for sure, and, uh, my listeners just to get the most out of our conversation. Okay. Uh, what does Medina refer to?

Siham:

Yeah. Medina, it's an open, souk, or an open markets. Normally the Medina, it's the oldest parts within the city. So if we are speaking about Marrakesh, it's actually divided into two areas. New city, other neighborhood over here. And then the old Medina. The old Medina is where you can see the heritage people who have been living inside the Riad Dars, which is referring to home without a fountain and without a garden. So like in there where you can see the old world, like the old worlds and also like the old history of Morocco at the same time and over there where you can see monuments, important monuments.

Paula:

Got it. So a Medina can be in, in multiple cities. It's what you refer to as an area, the old area. Okay. And I think you kind of explained it just then, but what is asouk

Siham:

Yeah, a souk is an open market. So normally like when we're speaking about supermarkets, you go inside Car four or other areas, so that's like, it has different stalls. However, when you are entering inside the souk, everything is an open, there are little stalls and each stall has a different kind of like a thing. As an example, clothes one, a meat vendor. Uh, you'll find even like the vegetables, fruits, people who are displaying their items on the floor. So it's a combination or of a lot of stuff plus like smells, colors, it, make it exotic just to be inside of the souk.

Paula:

I think you actually just described the opposite of this, but what is a Riad?

Siham:

Yeah, A Riad is a place that, it has a fountain, it has a garden. So that's Riad. And like there are Riad that are normally five rooms, nine rooms, but Riad cannot be like a big chain hotel with a lot of rooms. Some Riad have swimming pools, some Riads don't. Some Riad have an elevator, which they added later on because when we're thinking about the past, there was no elevator. So they've tried to renovate in order to include an elevator inside. Others don't. So Aria is basically a home of a big family who were living there. And when people are going to Aria, then they're getting a feel of where Moroccans are be living

Paula:

I understand. Okay. It reminds me a little bit when the Japanese have referred to their onsens, which is a description of a certain specific type of environment with the, yeah. Okay. All right. Let's get to it. Now before I ask you about the cuisine and culture of Morocco, which we're definitely gonna spend a lot of time on, I am always curious about the person behind these experiences, and the person behind the dishes. would you mind sharing with us a little bit about your personal story, where you grew up, what life was like? Just give us a open up that kitchen door into your home for us.

Siham:

Let's do that.

Paula:

All right.

Siham:

So normally, like when I was, I would say a little girl, all of my family were anticipating for me to become a teacher. That was like the main goal. Siham will be a teacher. Even my parents, that's what they were seeing in me. I've got my BA in English linguistic, and then after that I tried to teach and I went and I've actually been a language and culture facilitator with Peace Corps. So I've worked with them for almost a year. And after that, when I returned, that's when my mind opened up. I was thinking, if I'm gonna do teaching, it's gonna be the same thing, like doing it over and over. So it's gonna be like a routine for me. My personality, it's about being open, going in different areas. So I was thinking, no, this is not the career that I want. This is what I try, like this is what I started to shift. I've met actually Susanna Clark, and she wrote a book about Fes. As part of the American Language Center in Fes My city, where I grown up. And then she told me, she even told me the same thing. She said, well, I'm not seeing you in teaching. I'm seeing you in tourism the most. Tourism was not even a word in my head by then. I wasn't even thinking about being part of tourism. So I said to let me know, what are you thinking about and how are you seeing me part of this? And then she said, look, I'm gonna introduce you to a company, like they're doing different kind of things. Why not give it a go? And I said, why? Well, why not? So I've been part of that company for seven years. I've done so many things like hosting food, tour hosting, farm to table, cooking classes, cooking classes, sometimes morning, afternoon, and almost like every day. So by then I decided, well, I mean it is time for me to do something of my own. And I was like trying to do it on different occasion, but I just couldn't because there were so many travelers who are booking and knowing me by name. So my responsibility was not just to leave and do something like, just like that. Out of a sudden when COVID hits, that's when I decided, okay, this is the good opportunity, but I'm not just gonna say it immediately. I'm gonna wait a few months to see, like, to assess or value the situation. And then I'm gonna take this path after like three or four months. Then when I inform my company that I wanna leave. And even though at that time, honestly I didn't know how the tourism will even pick up again because everybody was thinking about literally dying. The world is closed, we cannot go outside. There were so many thoughts, but I just like wanted to take that risk anyway, after four months, I just saw them look, I wanna like leave the company and then I ended it. I ended it on a good term and after finishing it off, I've like, I've start thinking if I started my company right now, nobody knows how the tourism will go. So how about offering my services on freelance basis? So I start giving my services on freelance basis until I start seeing people coming in. Then I open my company and that was the journey from like I would say an employee to a founder. And this is like a lead by passion. It's not just a business for me. I enjoy hosting and I, I like enjoy hosting myself. So I take people personally on food tour, infest and Marrakesh, like both cities, farm to table, cooking classes in both cities, sometimes in the countryside. That's something that I'm opening up slowly at it. And also like even cooking classes, inviting them of what is behind the doors. So when you say open the doors, yes, this is what it is it's an open invitation. And while actually some travelers like decide on the Medina doing a cooking class inside the Medina, I start doing it from a different perspective. I start taking them to this neighborhood. Where there are no travelers footstep, so basically you are just being immersed with the locals. It's not like a touristy area, and you are within the locals like hospitality. So this is the vision and this is what I'm trying to apply in the future as well. Thank

Paula:

Oh my gosh. You're speaking my language. I love, I love that. I love that you made that leap. You were hosting cooking classes when you worked for the other company, you were teaching how people, how to cook.

Siham:

No, actually it's not this case. I was going and looking for families and normally when I look for families, I look for families who has nothing to do with tourism. That's the main perspective for me. So I look for women who wanna do a job or who wanna do something with their life and they don't know how to. And then I ask about reputation of the family. How many kids do they have? Are they open to do this? It's all of this little question. Then I go there and I sit with them and I explain, this is what we are doing. It's gonna be five hours cooking class. Starting from shopping from the market to taking it to inside your home. Cooking together, me, facilitating during the experience like the guest needs to have their hands on. Because if you are thinking about Moroccan culture, this is something when we have guests coming to our home, it's about not letting them do anything, literally anything. We're just saying to them, no, you are a guest. You cannot do anything. But like this is the explanation. They need to come and their hands need to be on. It's a different concept and you need to allow it. So it's a conversation. So like just way them started, like to allow in doing that, it takes a process, but it's happening after all, which is great. And then we do bread, we take it to the local bakery or the of the neighborhood. And then after that we go and pick it up once the, like the bread or hos. That's the name of it of the region is ready then back to the family. Then we all sit and they eat the fruit of their work alongside, with the family home. But the idea is not just about cooking, the idea is about exchanging culture and there are so many questions that rising within the cooking class, including like, do you spend three hours cooking? That's one of the question, how many time do you cook a day? That's another question that I get when female hangouts, how female are living their life in Morocco. So there are tons and tons of questions that are great because they are curious and they start seeing it because if they were outside of these walls, they wouldn't even consider of what's going on inside the family home, when the man is coming, what are the working hours? How do you find a job? I mean, it's all of these questions that really, like I would say to the point.

Paula:

You and I, have the same passion and desire to create that cross-cultural, that space where people can feel comfortable asking those questions. That was everything why I did In My Kitchen and was to be able to, have these conversations. People gain a better understanding of each other, and the stereotypes kind of get pushed to the sides, and you can just talk and, and food provides that vehicle I wanna come back to your business more and, and, um, and talk more about how you found your hosts. But first I wanna go, uh, back to Siham as a little girl, growing up in Morocco, what would your day-to-day life be like? What was your childhood kitchen like? I always find it interesting, the daily flow of meals in, uh, in somebody's home, what that looks like.

Siham:

Yeah, so normally we eat four meals during the day. It's breakfast, lunch, and then there is another meal that it's called cascrot, which is a French word around six or 7:00 PM And normally I'm calling it the second breakfast because what we are eating in your breakfast and Cascrot 6:00 PM meal will be tea or coffee along like with different types of breads. Harcha made with hard semolina Msemen that we were talking about. It's a crep with layover inside. So it's all of this Baghrir It's similar to crumpets in Australia, so it's this kind of food that we are eating along with the Breakfast and cascrot Then dinner always served late and there is a reason behind it because not everybody is working for the government. That's one of the thing. Also, we waiting our parents to come back after the last prayer. So like dinner, it's like a shared meal. Everybody's sitting together and eating dinner, and that's at 10:00 PM So imagine from 2:00 PM lunch to 10:00 PM dinner. That's a long time not to eat. That's why we break it with like a little meal around 6:00 PM. And we call it cascrot. My daily life with my family, this is actually gonna be different. In fact, like my mom, she, she wanted me like just to study. That was her main focus. So I wasn't going near the kitchen, but I was seeing her, what she's doing, making bread every day, making food, cooking every meal. And then just by seeing, I start to learn how things are done. And when I've been like doing these cooking classes, I was learning more. Right now, I'm not allowed to go inside the kitchen of my mom. So I'm trying to sneak in in other kitchen and cook. That's where I can do my passion more. Or when I am with the guest, like I feel, oh my God, this is me. But when I am with my mom, she say no. I'm like, I want you to achieve what I couldn't achieve. I want you to study. I want you to get your degree. I want you to get a job. I want my dreams to be in. So that's how, when my mom is seeing me, but my dream is within food. That's what it is.

Paula:

How does your mom feel about your chosen, uh, path?

Siham:

She doesn't understand it.

Paula:

She works so hard to get you out of the kitchen and you're, you're right in there.

Siham:

To the kitchen. Yeah. But Tamil, like I would say recently, because she's so involved with me and what I am doing, she's actually like accompanying me in this journey, and that's what I love about it. She start to grasp a little bit my passion because I've hosted guests in my family home. And the reason why, they came in Ramadan, that's the fasting month, and they wanted to do a food tour. And during Ramadan, I cannot do a food tour because everybody is fasting, even though other companies do it. But to be respectful of the culture that the others are fasting, I'm trying to offer two different experiences, which is either come and break the fast with the family. Here the call of the prayer. Help them at the table eat together, and then get an understanding of what Ramadan values art truly are. And also I do actually like tasting tours inside the home. So basically everything that it, they tastes in the Medina, it's actually cooked at home and I go step by step and then I share the stories while they're tasting and my mom accompany me in this experience. Then she start to understand, she start seeing how travelers actually feel that they are enjoying, they are engaged. They start asking her question, and then she start to get my passion where this passion is coming from and why I am doing it.

Paula:

that was one of the things I wanted to ask you about was traveling in Morocco during Ramadan. I was gonna bring it up at the end, but this is a perfect segue. For my listeners, there's a great, uh, article on Siham's website, which we'll put the link to the website in the show notes that Forbes did, and it's interviewing Siham and talking about traveling in Morocco during Ramadan. I thought it was very interesting, we don't have to get into the whole article, but just a little bit about some of the things to be mindful of if you are traveling and, and generally when, uh, Ramadan falls. So I think it's, uh, February to March, right?

Siham:

Ramadan changing, pending, like on the lMedfoMedfoMedfounar calendar. So right now it was like March last year. This year, next year it's gonna be within February, March. Between February and March. So each year it's changing. That's why we ask travelers to reach out to us in order to let them know whether there are festivals by then, where there are like any ceremonies that they need to consider or any like Muslim holidays that they need to consider. At the same time, alongside these periods, we know how to tailor make the, like their tour. So during Ramadan, the tips that I'm always sharing is that start your Medina early. You're meeting at early, let's say around 9:00 AM instead of 10:00 AM and then finish around 4:00 PM by 4:00 PM That's the time where the food stores start to close because they need to go to their home and get ready for that meal, like the breaking of the fast meal. And at that time they can go back to their accommodation, chill, relax. Then after eight or 9:00 PM after the last like call of the prayer, the Medina start to revive again. And even the new city, it's the whole city start to revive again. Because what happened, everybody has has eaten. That's one of the things. Everybody has prayed and people has been inside their home fasting, so they need to go outside and chill. They chill until 2:00 AM or 3:00 AM. The streets are packed with the locals and that's a good time to actually be outside and just witness how life is like by then, women are sitting together and they're like talking or gossiping, they're chilling. At that time, men are walking aside. So like every, like the whole place is so vibrant. Everybody is outside compared to the morning and compared to the afternoon. Because what's happened behind the doors, women who do not work, they're like preparing meals so they cannot go outside. By then they prepare meal for the breaking of the fast meal, and then after that, that's their time that they're going and enjoying their time. Also, we recommend people to dress modestly, not to show a lot of like flesh because everybody is fasting. So I mean, it's good just like to wear a t-shirt instead of wearing something like this and a dress that it's beyond the knees. We're not asking them to cover with scarf like their hair is. That's like even Moroccan women or Moroccan girls, they don't wear scarves. Not everyone is wearing scarf here. Morocco is an open-minded country more than what people or guests can ever imagine until they come here and then they get surprised. We didn't expect this. We didn't expect that. Also, monuments like close at a certain time, so we actually like do the Medina tour alongside with the monument opening time and in terms of food, we recommend guests to eat inside and not outside in the street. Even with them eating outside, they might feel intimidated because they know everybody is fasting. So like in indoors, restaurants are highly recommended compared to outdoor restaurants and they can drink water in the street no problem because we know like that there are travelers. They're not fasting and there is a huge acceptance of that. We just don't want someone to feel intimidated because when guests are traveling like they wanna feel that they are part of the place and in order to be like to feel this way, these are the top recommendation that we're sharing with them.

Paula:

Those are great, great tips. So let's talk a little bit about what you said. Morocco's more open-minded than most people think. It's a Muslim country, That's why we were talking about Ramadan and, uh, scarves covering the hair. But just maybe tell us a little bit more about the open-mindedness you, obviously you've interacted with lots of tourists. What are some of the stereotypes that, that, they have that you dispel for them?

Siham:

Yeah, well, I mean the first stereotype is that women cannot work and then they meet me. And that's something that change, change their thinking even like before they come to Morocco, when they find the local women working that's also, that already changed their perspective. Women cannot drive, women do drive actually in Morocco, so they are allowed to drive. And in fact in Morocco you might see more women driving right now than men driving. Women cannot finish their studies. In fact, if you go to university, you'll find a lot of women in their, compared to. So there is a different, like I would say, a different movement. And this movement started 10 years ago, but it wasn't I would say an easy movement. It was something that was done gradually. I'm gonna just choose myself as a model because I am with you as a living example. So when I started like 11 or 12 years ago in the Medina, there was a huge talk about me hosting, food tours and men were saying. Who, who she thinks she is, that she's even taking this guest in the Medina. And I was hearing this in my in dialect and just ignoring it because I was offering a service with the guests and I need them not to feel what's going on behind the scene. But it was done like gradually until this acceptance started. It's the same for every single woman in other industry. I'm not saying I am the first woman who started working as a food guide in the Medina, like as a guide, not as a food guide, as a guide in the Medina. But there are other women who was doing guided tours. But I am the first one who started as a food guide in the Medina. The concept of food was different and the concept of a female doing this was different. So two in one. But I mean luckily like it, that acceptance started and I built a nice relationship with the food vendors that I'm working with. And right now, like a lot of people know me by name inside the Medina. Other women, I would say I'm not gonna say when teaching, because teaching that was an allowed actually feel for women to work even like before 10 years ago. But let's say like in manufac factories or in business, or in a lot of places, of course there was a lot of opposing, women are feeling sensitive, women cry, women are dramatic, women are this. It's all of these things, but women fought their way in order like to make their marks here in Morocco. So when people are coming here, what they will see, they will see women as business owners, women as drivers, women as leading their homes with compassion, a love, and raising their kids. And there is nothing wrong with that because everyone is given a role, like into their country. Uh, women are farmers. I mean, there are so many things that you can see women are doing here, compared like a alongside with men. I'm not, I'm not gonna say compare to men. So like it's a journey right now. It's like a journey alongside women and men together.

Paula:

The idea of women being oppressed, a feeling of oppression, you feel like you have, the opportunities are there for you if you want them. Would that be correct?

Siham:

If you want them and if you fight for them. There is a reason I want them. Yes. They're not easy to access, but I will fight for them, then I will access them. There are some women, I would say maybe in other areas, will feel like, not having the freedom of speaking, not having the freedom of doing what they want. I'm not gonna say that they, like there aren't, or that's it. We have moved from this. We haven't yet. But I mean like the more they're gonna speak up, the more like change it's gonna happen. It's all starting from us. No man will allow you to do what you want. That's a fact. But like when you are trying to speak and it's not being rebellion, it's not like the case when you are trying to speak up what you want, what you wanna do in your life. And before even taking that marriage step, I mean it's a discussion. This is what I want, this is how I see myself. Are you okay with that? If they're not, then they're not a good fit for you. It's this kind of decision that the women need to take. While others might sometimes say, oh no, I'm gonna change their mentality and that's not gonna happen.

Paula:

Never. No,

Siham:

we, yeah, we agree with that.

Paula:

I've learned that.

Siham:

Yeah, On the different examples. I'm actually seeing that and like I was telling my friends don't even expect that you're gonna change the man like personality. Because the moment, like the moment they start having birth, then the man is telling them all night, now you are with a baby and you're working. You need to look after him. So there are so many things. That are happening and still happening, for sure.

Paula:

So when I come to travel to Morocco, let's just say I'm 50 plus a woman and I'm coming to Morocco, and, maybe I'm traveling on my own there. When I go traveling, I wanna be, as you said, feeling as much a part of the the experience, the environment as I can. What can I do to, be respectful? Should I keep my arms covered and shoulders covered at all times? Dress modestly at all times, not just during Ramadan. Any tips along those lines? Is it okay to share a meal with a man? I don't know,

Siham:

yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna share like tips alongside that. I mean, first of all, Paula in Morocco, you are already an attraction. The reason why, because you are different from how Moroccans look, but I mean how I'm like, how I'm sharing my tips with the women, don't make yourself more attractive. And that means by revealing so many flesh. So like you can wear something like this just over here.

Paula:

sleeve.

Siham:

Yeah. Yeah. And then like something beyond the knees, but not above the knees. And I'm not gonna say all over, like your foot, it just be on the knees slightly. That's all. Like, like you can eat a meal with a man. No problem with that. And if somebody come and say to you oh, come and have a look at this. Don't be worried or afraid because they're not gonna attack you. They're just trying to show you an item politely. You can turn and say, no thank you, and they're gonna leave. But the more you ignore them, the more you are giving them actually a chance to keep talking to you.

Paula:

Oh,

Siham:

they feeling, yeah, because they're feeling that there is still a chance for them to convince you. That's how they're feeling. So it's a technique of sales. If I'm gonna say, oh, and then keep moving, they're gonna keep like following you because they wanna sell you something. But if you turn and say, no, thank you, I'm not interested, then they're gonna leave your way. That's all. That's all what it takes. Also, like I'm not gonna recommend, it's depending on each area where you are. If you are in Marakesh, I'm gonna stay. I'm gonna say still until 11:00 PM or say stay until like midnight because the Medina is vibrant by then. But when we are speaking about Fes, that's a different type of city. 10:00 PM and that's it. You need to go back to your accommodation. It doesn't mean that something wrong will happen to you. I'm not talking about safety here. I'm talking just about there is nothing much to do by that time. That's all what I'm referring to. Like Morocco is pretty safe as a country for solo, for parents, for multi-generation family, for honeymoons, for everyone coming to experiences. There are just ways of time how to play with it because we don't want people to waste their time just like scrolling around while everything is closed, because that's not gonna give you any experience. That's all. Yeah.

Paula:

is really good information. That's, um, thank you. I'm gonna definitely, um, come and look you up when I come, when I come.

Siham:

You comfortable?

Paula:

I, you know, there's so much I wanna talk about, and I've got some notes here, but I wanna move into exploring,, Morroccan and culture through cuisine now, and then we may come back to some of these other things. I still have questions about Siham the entrepreneur as well.

Siham:

Yeah, definitely.

Paula:

Tell us a little bit, um, about, the diversity of culinary heritage in Morocco.

Siham:

Yeah, I'm always like sharing this, and this is my starting explanation. Whenever I meet someone on the food tour, I'm always saying Morocco is a diverse country, and it is, and each city has its own signed or heritage, like the food or dish. As an example, when we're talking about the Sahara desserts, their main food is Medfouna. And Medfouna. Just the word Medfouna in Arabic means in English, they buried. And the reason why, because that pie has been originally buried under the sun and cooked for hours. Right now, you actually cook it in the oven. So it's a different like type of it. So like it's a pie that it's made with meat, onion, and spices from the desert, and it's so delicious. But I mean, you cannot eat it anywhere except in the Sahara Desert. So that's the differences of the food. When speaking about Fes, because I'm coming from Fes, so I'm gonna use my signature dish is pastilla. pastilla, it's a pie and it's filled with chicken onion like almond, that it's like grounded and then we add cinnamon into it. There is a lot of things inside and it takes six hours to prepare it. That's how much it

Paula:

wow.

Siham:

And it actually cooked inside the oven and it's up with phylo dough. So there is so much process going on with the pastilla but I mean pastilla first it was introduced with the pigeon by demolish and because pigeon are too tiny and also, believe it or not, they're expensive. Here in Morocco,

Paula:

You are, sorry, Siham. You're saying pigeon the bird. Ah, okay. Yeah.

Siham:

That was how it was introduced by the Moorish and because like the pigeon are too tiny and expensive, we substitute it with chicken. So we have infest chicken pastilla, we have vegetable pastilla for vegetarians because we cater to dietary requirements as well. We have also fish pastilla, which is salty and it's different, so it's all this kind of pastilla that. We have in Fes in Marrakesh, they have a specific dish that, it's called Tangia. Tangia is a clay pot normally that it's surround and it's big, and the main ingredients is meat with different kind of spices, and it's cooked into the hot ashes. For four hours and how we know that it's ready. The person who is looking after the tangia and who is cooking it into the hot ashes, he's carrying the tange and then shake it. If he hear the bone kicking, that means that it's ready. If the bone is still soaking into the water, that mean that it's still, it's still need more time like to actually cook. Then they pour it again until it's cooked, and once the pouring it over, the meat is so tender. And then like actually the sauce is so thick. If you see a Tangia with so many, so much sauce that it's liquidy, that means that it didn't take its time in terms of cooking. So that's the Tangia. And when we're speaking further north, let's say Chefchaouen Tangiers, they're known of actually Moroccan pastries that are double sized than ours. And they're known also of a juice that, it's called Zza, but it's a heavy juice that it's made with avocado nuts. And they're like, you can see even chocolate inside different components. And that's zza is related to the further north of Morocco. So this is the differences from one place. And there are other dishes and other dishes that I'm not even gonna finish today if I'm gonna start like explaining about them.

Paula:

You were saying Tangina, I always pronounce it Tagine, but that's good to know. It's tagina, so that's

Siham:

actually like a p tagina is different from the tagine.

Paula:

Oh, okay.

Siham:

Yeah. tagine is triangle, like the mountain apart, and then you have a triangle lead that it's closing. tangina, it's different. It's a shape like this. It's round actually with like just yeah, round and has like an open, I would say round space from the top. That's, we close it when we're preparing it. tangina is Marrakesh. tagine is everywhere in Morocco, but Taji is from the am. That's the origin from it.

Paula:

And the tagine is the dish that you're sharing the recipe for, is that correct? Yeah. So tell us just a little bit about what we would find in your tagine, which ingredient?

Siham:

Well, I mean when you are preparing a tagine, there are different things, but I try to choose today, especially for your show and for the listeners, something that you can cook even at your home, even if you don't have a tagine, because you can cook it in a pan. And that's also like, that's also like doable.

Paula:

This is Paula jumping in during edits. If you want to jump ahead, go to 37 minutes and 40 seconds. I was going to take out this part where Siham talks in detail about how to make the tagine because Tagine recipes at explore In My Kitchen dot com. But there's actually amazing insider tips here, so if you're making tagine listen to this part. Otherwise, feel free to jump ahead to 37 minutes and 40 seconds.

Siham:

So we are taking the tagine and you are pour olive oil first we're chop the onion, we're putting it, that's the first layer with the chicken. Before putting the chicken in the tagine. Normally this is one of the tips or one of the secrets, how we cook Morocco. Our chicken, first of all, it's top, top fresh that we actually like take it for on the day with butcher on the day. Once we take it home, we. Afternoon or for an overnight in either preserved lemon juice or salt and water and vinegar. And the reason why, because we want the meat to get tenderer in the morning. In the morning, we wash it well from all that soaking ingredients. Then we add into it spices and the and before we add spices, we stab it like with the knife in the chest. Part two stabs. The reason why we stab it, because we want the charmoula to give deep inside the chicken. That's the reason why. So what we do, we take the chicken, we add into it olive oil, vegetable oil, salt, ginger, turmeric, a little bit of black pepper, just just to flavor it. Parsley, coriander, and garlic. Everything. That's our charmoula, everything inside. Then we wrap the chicken with the charm and we leave it for two hours because the more you leave your chicken in charmoula, the bitter taste it gets. After that, once it's done, then we're back to the Tarin where we started with the olive oil and we chop the onion, then we put the chicken, we close the lid, we add a little bit of water, and we close the lid for 40 minutes. Because we need the chicken to evaporate. That's what we needed. After 40 minutes, we open the lid of the tagine and we see whether we need to add more water. If yes, then you add more water and you are welcome to add a little bit of oil as well. So like we're saying, our eyes is our way. That's how we cook. In more Morocco, we don't have, oh, like half days, like a, tablespoon of this. That's not the case in Morocco. After that, we close the lid of the tag and then we leave it to cook, leave it for one hour, one hour and 20 minutes, depending on the chicken. And we're like, after one hour we open the lid and we take a fork and we touch the chicken just to see, to see whether it start to cook or not. And how we know by the chest, because the chest is the difficult part to cook inside the tagine. Once the chest gets softer, then we know that it's ready. After that. Right now it's the decoration parts. We get the olives. And normally in Morocco we have different types of olives and like our preferred olives are the one that it's looked purple or dark red. Those are the ones that we decorate our tagine with and preserved lemon. We use preserved lemon, not the one from the stores, but preserved lemon from our homes So we take the preserved lemon skin, we cut it into stripes, and then we decorate. We cut the chicken like chest thigh and we put on the top as an example of a chest, like two preserved lemon along with olives. And then the other one two preserved lemon pieces along with olives. So we try to put it in a nice decoration and this is how we serve our tagine.

Paula:

I've made tagine before, but I didn't realize you put your whole chicken in the tagine and then cut it after it's cooked.

Siham:

Yeah, you can do it either way and it's fine. Some of them cut it and then cook it. But some like we prefer to keep the chicken all together inside like the tagine. Sometimes we even serve it as a whole piece We just keep preserved lemon and olives on the side, and then we ask, which part do you want? And we cut it for them. So that's how it is. There are two ways, depending on what you want.

Paula:

And when you refer to charmoula, that sounds to me like a masala. Is that the spice mix?

Siham:

That's the spice mix. Exactly. And personally, how I see, like women doing it in the Medina, they take a bowl and then they put the olive oil along with the spices that I was explaining and parsley, coriander. And then they sear it and they leave it again aside. This is for the, for everything like to combine together for the food of each other. That's how I would say it.

Paula:

That recipe for everybody will be at Explore In My Kitchen dot com and, um, I look forward to, to making your tag. Thanks for sharing that. It reminds me how when you decorate, it reminds me so much of how, somebody would do a paella

Siham:

How you decorated. Exactly. Yeah.

Paula:

I find we can learn so much about a place about the culture, through an understanding of the daily meals, like we talked about before. But also learning about the dishes that surround celebration. We were talking about, um, Ramadan earlier and breaking the Fast, and I believe that's called the Iftar meal. Can you tell us what that meal might look like and does it change each night?

Siham:

I would say this way because Morocco is a diverse country. It, each region has its own way of serving. The Iftar meal, and I'm gonna share like just two because there are tons and tons and tons actually. I would say at a family home, like inside the Medina or Fes, the way how they're serving it, they're serving it. Not just Iftar, Iftar and dinner at the same time. So it's a different concept. So they're like, they're making msemen the cribs that you have presented like before, and then it would be Chebakia. Chebakia. It's like a flower shape and it's made from a filo dough. It's fried, dipped into the ator. Then we add sesame on the top of it. So that is, that's Chebakia. We have Briouat That's a different type of pastry. So Chebakia and Briouat cannot leave our table. In fact, women before Ramadan, two months, you will find them making Chebakia and Briouat And in the Medina you will find women with buckets buying. Like the one who cannot make it at their home buying like, and that I'm talking about Briouat is a triangle shape. So like you take a filo dough like this, like long and then almond, like we roll it, paste, and we put it and we start wrap it, fold it a triangle shape, and we close it later on with either like white flour and water or butter, depending on what you want. Then we fried it, we dipped it into the honey at the same time. Those are two, as I said, cannot leave our table. Again. We have Sellou, that's a dish that it served only during Ramadan and also we give it into boxes, like into little boxes as a gift when people come and celebrate. For us, having a new baby. So that's a special dish actually. And Sellou, it's made with white flour, Arabic gum, sesame almond, peanuts, butter, oil, like uh, cinnamon, all sorts of things. And like they're all like corrupt together and they formulate this, like this dish that we are serving in Ramadan. And also there will be like, that's similar like to Australia that I was sharing. An TA would be Amit tag with potatoes and like beans if it's on season. Because there is a fact about Morocco. We eat everything during the season. So when it's the season of a vegetable, we eat it. And until we say we're full, we're gonna wait for it until next year. If it is the artichoke season, then we'll eat in artichokes by then. It'll be just a tagine with artichokes and beans or peas, depending on what it's available. If it is an example okra, then we're gonna cook okra at that time.

Paula:

love it.

Siham:

we know like sweet potatoes, we have it on a specific season. So whenever it's available in the market and how we know, because we see it's repetitive in a lot of vendors. So we know that it's not frozen. So we eat sweet potatoes at that time until it's done. Then we change to what is the different vegetable that is coming next. So that's the food, how we eat it. So this is one table, Ramadan and also Jira soup. Jira. It's important, I would say in every single table during Ramadan, because like during Ramadan, we're fasting and we don't drink. We don't eat from sunrise to sunset. Nothings go to your body. Even people who smoke, they don't smoke. So this is what Ramadan is about. So during sunset time and the call of the prayer, that's the time that we eat and we regain our energy. We drink water, but not a lot of water because we need to leave some space for food. So there are ways how we do it and the first thing that we're breaking fast with is dates. Dates are important. And we eat only odd numbers. We don't eat even numbers. So it's either 3, 1, 3, 5, or seven. And this is how it's advised for us to eat it, even from a religion perspective. So if you are hosting a Muslim family and then you are serving them dates and like they get one and then you say, please have more, and you see them get two more. Not because they want to, but because they have to. That's what it is.

Paula:

Oh, that's so interesting. I wonder what the significance of that is. Even

Siham:

I mean like I've been trying to look into different significance. There are some studies, but I'm not sure how I would say relevant they are, but I'm sharing this always. They're saying when you are eating 1, 3, 5 dates do not become sugar. You benefit from, it's like potassium iron, every, I would say, uh, healthy Ben Health benefits that it contains. But when you are getting 2, 4, 6, it's like you're eating sugar. They're becoming like sugar. So two,

Paula:

The ratio.

Siham:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. The formula of 1 3 5 lets you benefit from the health benefit that the dates contain. And even though we don't know whether this is accurate or not, but we like doing it this way since it has been advised for us to do it this way. But I mean, this is the only explanation that I have.

Paula:

So there you have it. Everybody eat your dates in odd numbers.

Siham:

Not even numbers.

Paula:

would never find that tip anywhere else.

Siham:

Thank you for.

Paula:

Thanks for sharing that.

Siham:

Oh yeah, you're welcome. And also like for the harira, harira, as I said, cannot like leave our table. harira is a soup, but it's made with different ingredients including like white flour, tomatoes, chickpeas, spices, I would say noodle inside. You can add lettuce if you want. Some people rice, I mean it depending on each family, how they're preparing it and that. soup also give us our energy back. This is like one table of Ramadan, another table of Ramadan that I'm gonna share. And this is one of the shocks that happened to me, even as a local. I was invited to a family, like from the middle Atlas Mountain. And normally I'm a person who eats only like Malawi with tea or coffee. They eat like the food that I was speaking about only in Ramadan. And when celebrating a new baby like Abe, the past is. But when I was hosted in the middle Atlas Mountain family. I was served be fava bean soup and fish, grilled nothing else.

Paula:

Oh,

Siham:

the table of Ramadan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There is nothing else. This is how they fast.

Paula:

Very different.

Siham:

they make the fast. Yeah. It's very different. So those are two tables shared from different regions?

Paula:

Even you were taken, by surprise. By that.

Siham:

Yeah. I mean like. I would say we live in one Morocco, but the moment we travel the, the more we travel, the more we learn. It doesn't mean just abroad. Of course abroad like it's great. But even within Morocco, what gets noticed, it's the different heritages that Morocco contains. Speaking about tea, this is the simple drink that you can have. However, like there are different types of tea in Morocco, like you would have mint tea. Min tea is, I would say the big title that's mint tea all over Morocco. But if you come to Fes I'm taking like people to a tea man that's having add like additional flavors and I would say that would be absinthe Verbina, sage, and mint. Then you are formulating this fabulous tea that you are tasting. I mean, the taste is wonderful. As an example, if you wanna go to bed, when I'm hosting it, in the evening, I'm recommending guests to take verbina along with mint because verbina is a relaxing like herb. So they get their body relaxed and that's at the end actually of the food tour. So it makes the perfect sense to have it at that time. If you go to the High Atlas Mountain, there is as an example, a herb that is called timijan. There is no translation of it in English. Even how like hard I'm trying to find it. And timijan is just related like to a herb that grows by the rivers, by long rivers. So that's why they have it the most. When I go to the High Atlas Mountain, I order specifically Timijan tea because that's a tea that I cannot get anywhere in Morocco except there or except in small areas that you need to ask for it and know whether they have it or not. But in Fes we don't, so that's why I ask for it. Also, if you go to the Sahara Dessert, their tea is kind of black. It's different than our tea. Our tea is red. And this is the things that I would like guests to experience because are coming here, they're thinking, oh, Morocco is mint tea. Well, it's not. Morocco is just couscous and tagine, which is not because once you are traveling, with someone who knows and have the knowledge of the culinary heritage of Morocco, then you truly delve on all of these diversities and being part of it as well. And it depends on how you prefer to be part of it. Whether you wanna go deeper or you wanna take a taste or a bite. both are okay.

Paula:

Exactly. Just being open to experiencing it. Hearing you talk has made me realize that when I come to Morocco, I want to go to Fez Marakesh and the High Atlas Mountains. That's my trip.

Siham:

Also like the Sahara deserts.

Paula:

Oh, and the Sahara, of course. Yeah. And the

Siham:

Sahara deserts for one reason and only if you have a longer time. That's also like, that's what people sometimes don't get. Travelers don't get, they think that Morocco is so small that they can do it within a seven days, but if you do it within a seven days and you try to include so much, you end up being tired and just spending more time in the vehicle rather than in the space itself. The Sahara desert the road is so scenic, so scenic. It's a once in a lifetime experience. That's how I'm calling it. So if Paula decide to come tomorrow, Morocco, first time, I'm gonna say take the Sahara desert off the list. Second time experience the north and the south at ease, because that's like when you soak the most. But combining everything within a short, limited time, that means that you are actually missing out a lot because you are gonna end up arriving late, waking up early. Maybe doing two hours instead of six hours or having one day to soak in the region in the place with the people and then you are gonna end up missing. It's gonna be tick of the box like trip and this is not the trip that we want guests to have. It's not about, oh, I've seen this in Instagram and I wanna do it. No, it's about the real thing. Come and see the real morocco.

Paula:

I totally understand what you're saying. Like savor the moments and remember it because, if I wanna do all of it together, what do you think is the ideal amount of time? Within reason? Obviously, I, I've got a life and responsibilities here too.

Siham:

I would say maybe if you can only if you can 15 days. If you cannot, then 13 to 12 days. And also like we speak with our guests, I always speak with the guest, honestly. What do you want? How do you want it? That's important for me and this is what this region is. Do you feel that you have to do it this time? That's also an important question because the more they're seeing the option and what could be done, they might decide to skip something and keep something because that's something become much more important than what they think. Or the other thing was important because they just looking into Google or like as an example, searching in blogs, even though that's good, but I mean, it doesn't give you the real access door to what is really there.

Paula:

I read a quote from you, I think it was from you, or it was in, somebody wrote it about you. It was secret to Morocco's. Magic isn't in the guidebooks. It is in the cuisine. And, uh, I love this quote. And, it makes me wanna learn a little bit more about the in-home culinary experiences that your company offers and that you curate. Uh, and also because that's how I used to do In My Kitchen. So I'm, I'm curious for my own personal, background there too, but could you just describe one or two of what those in-home experiences look like. I love that you talked about, you find women who are not in the touristy areas, so maybe you could just share with us what those dishes might look like, what we could expect from a couple of those.

Siham:

Yeah. So normally like when I'm hosting guests inside the family home, we have a menu and even though we're having this menu, like the M is an example, but I mean, the real thing is about what you are gonna see fresh today in the market. That's the real shopping. That's how we formulate like the meal and what could be done. Once we go outside, then they shop for like the ingredients we go inside the home. And here is one thing people start to realize. Moroccan families have more salons and salon, it's a big space with furniture. Them like more rooms. So privacy, we don't have that much privacy. And that's something that guests start to understand like that we are a country that we are expecting always. We will have guests inside our home. So we need a big space for them. Where to sleep? I might have a small kitchen, but I, we need a big space for where the guest needs to sleep because that's much more important for me. That's like how it is. So guests start to realize this immediately, once they go inside, because I was saying, oh, here is the salon. Here is the salon, and here is like the bedroom, one bedroom. And then they're saying, oh, how many family members here? Oh, they have three kids, four kids? Where did they sleep in the salon? Why? They don't have their rooms. Oh, because. That's the reason why if they have their own, then we won't have space for the guests where to sleep. The more they are inside, one of the thing, like I like guests when they're doing the Medina, like tour first, then second they're doing this culinary experience. They sit and then they feel, oh, we are right now outside of the Medina. It's our relaxed time, it's our private time. We can really soak in the moment and help. They start learning the secrets of the cooking. And when I mean the secrets, because even though we have cutting board, we don't want people to use cutting board. We want people to do it the traditional way. How to shop a garlic in a traditional way. How to shop an onion in that traditional way, like how tomatoes is peeled. Oh, you're peeling your tomatoes. You're not soaking it in hot water. And that will be easy to take the pills off. No, we don't wanna waste the vitamins. We wanna peel it and then keep the inside still hold and still in that sense.

Paula:

I love it.

Siham:

yeah, all of these questions start to formulate and you really start to know what are the secrets, how people are living, how is their daily life, how they are cooking. Like cuisine is not just food. I'm sharing this with them. We eat for me during the day that will all already let you know how food is important in our culture, how you are already invited in our culture. You start to know the men cook who take the bread, the local bakery, why women take it, like our women getting engaged through the local bakery. I mean there are so many things, so many things, so many things that happened during that experience that they are outside. They're saying we learned more than when we were like with our guide. Because even though when they are with the guide and it is recommended, because you are seeing the Medina, you start to get a sense of it. The Medina, it's not something that, it's systematic. Like how to navigate it, how to exit it. That's something that you're getting it from the guide, but inside the family home. That's where you are getting the real culture of Morocco. How do you do your wedding? How you do your ceremonies? Like are you having a wedding happening soon? It's these kind of things. What is Hannah? I mean, it's a lot. It's just a lot I would say.

Paula:

Uh, I think it's great. And hopefully your, your hosts, the women who are leading these groups, feel as comfortable to ask the guests questions as well. So they can, they must learn so much. They must love it.

Siham:

yeah. And one of the thing like that, it's important. They don't just like ask a guide or ask me, even though we are both locals, but they ask a family home that they know I need to translate what they are saying. So they're getting like directly from the family home. How is their vision about life? Because I have my own vision. The male guide has his own vision and I like people to see this different vision, meet a male while you are traveling, meet a female while you are traveling, and then meet a family and have someone translate and ask them direct question because by then you are gathering different like perspective. Even though we're living in one Morocco, everyone have a different experience of how they're living in Morocco.

Paula:

if I was one of your, guests in one of these homes, what are some, things that I can do that would help me be as respectful as possible in the family home in Morocco.

Siham:

yeah. Well, I mean, one of the things I'm gonna say, when you see carpet, I'm always asking the guests to take their shoes off. That's important because the carpet is for us to go bare feet on it, but not with our shoes on top of it. Another thing is, is uh, try to use your right hand as much as possible, but if you are left-handed, no problem. Like, just tell your host in order to tell the family. So they know, and because we have left-hand people in Morocco, but we're just telling them, oh, they are left-handed beforehand. Also, here is an important, important tip that I'm gonna share and I'm always sharing it with the guests, especially when eating, like when you eat, eat from the triangle that it's in front of you, but not from everywhere. This is my triangle, so I'm eating from my triangle. You can either use the fork, the knife, or the bread, but we always encourage guests to use the like the bread because that's the traditional way. If they can't, then there no problem. Forks and knives are okay, but I mean like once you are eating in front of your triangle, you don't need to worry that you're gonna finish your triangle and then you cannot eat anything else. The one who is sitting next to you is gonna push the food to your triangle because this is how the movement happen and the more word that you're gonna hear and that you need to remember is kol, kol, which is eat. Eat. Because we wanna make sure that our guests are feeling fed and are feeling like happy. Their stomach is happy. If their stomach is not happy, then we need to serve them more food.

Paula:

tell me a little bit more about, the role of hospitality in Moroccan culture.'cause it sounds like it's highly, highly valued. Uh.

Siham:

So like. Hospitality is an important thing in Morocco, of course, like I'm gonna share this with you and then I'm gonna share the day-to-day life If when I was in Marrakesh and I was going and then trying to formulate the, like the food tour over there. So I was speak with Marashi people and I was asking them question and they were saying, oh, you are from Fes Yes, you are welcome to go inside my home immediately. It's not just because you are a traveler like that. You are a foreign traveler. Any traveler from Morocco or abroad from Morocco, they're gonna be welcomed inside the family home because they want you to feel that you are in your home. You're not a stranger like that. You are part of the space. That's the important thing. It's not about money, it's not about anything at all. It's something that is in the nature of the people that's like what it is about. That's the main core of it. women always like go to other women's home because they gather in an afternoon and that's where women are. This is a question that I'm receiving a lot. when guests come into Fes and they're like touring the Medina, which is the old parts of the city, then they're saying, oh, we're seeing a lot of men more than women. Where can we find women? I'm telling them there are three ways to find women, so I'm taking them to a souk of vegetables and fruits. Because women are shopping from there, or women in the afternoon, like gathering together, having a snack, having a tea, and then discussing or inside public hammam. That's another thing, like public hammam. I'm just gonna give you this duration and it's gonna give you a more insight. Public hammam for women is open from 8:00 AM until 11:00 PM man. It's from 11:00 PM until midnight.

Paula:

what is a hamam for

Siham:

Hamam is the public baths. That's what it is. So this is where women are going and then like washing themselves and all of that. And it doesn't mean that we don't have our own baths inside home, but we prefer to go to a public hammam because that's the time when we gossip and spend a lot of time. So it takes three hours to six hours. There is no clock inside. It's just you and the, and the women. the hospitality, it's about having different food in your, like in your home and in your kitchen. That's for a fact because you don't know or you don't expect when people are coming. Hospitality is in our wedding, when we are inviting 100, we're expecting 300 and it's fine. We don't have invitation by name. We have just an open whole ceremony and people are welcome. So let's say like that, I was invited. Then a family member came to my home. I will call them and say, look, I may not come because I'm having my family here. They would say, no, bring them and come, because I just don't want to take them randomly. But I want them to know. If they say to them, if they say to me, bring them and come, then I will take them with me. So people are welcome. It's not just by invitation. There is always an extra food. For who is coming to your home or who is coming to your celebration and being part of your celebration. That's how it is. Sometimes guests are saying, oh, we like, I'm not sure I'm gonna go to this home and I'm not sure what they're gonna serve in me. I'm gonna trouble in them. You are not gonna trouble in them. I like, they're gonna prepare tea. There are always Moroccan pastries somewhere hidden from the kids in each family home and from the adults also including myself with my mom. And then there's, we're serving those Moroccan pastries with tea. And if we might buy something outside, if we cannot, make it quickly and here it is. You are making your table for the people because we want people to feel relaxed and that they are feeling welcome. That's important.

Paula:

Uh, it sounds like such a happy, environment, a happy culture. are, people generally, positive and happy?

Siham:

People like are really positive and they are happy because uh, uh, life is not complicated. That's one of the thing. And also we're still related to the community. Community is a big thing in Morocco. Everybody is keeping a eye on everyone. I might be just going in the Medina and then I might see a kid who he is like somewhere playing with boys that I don't like. And I will ask him to go to his neighborhood because if he doesn't go to his neighborhood, I'm gonna tell his parents that you need to keep an eye on him and that's for his good benefit. everybody is keeping on my, on everybody, with good terms and with good like, uh, with good condition and with an open heart and smile and all of that. I have the guest who told me that I thought that you are a celebrity. Everybody saying hi to you and I'm celebrity. And even like other people who are going inside, it's the same. You're going and you're greeting because you know every single person there. So greeting is important. Salam, Salam, that's peace. we're always saying peace. Peace. And then how are you doing even shopping? That's something that I'm always speaking with guests about, like when we're shopping, it's not about. I need this, I need that. And that's it. It's about Salaam, how are you doing? How is your family? And then like they will ask me, oh, what are you thinking of cooking today? And I will share with them what is my meal? Then they're saying, oh, we have this, we have that. And then we're shopping the things that goes to our meal. And then we're asking him to keep it for us until we come back, because we still have more shopping to do. And then we shop. We shop and we come back to find our shopping still there, and then we take our bag and go home. So it's a community within a community that's like how it is.

Paula:

I love that perspective about, putting the person first siham, I'm always curious, uh, especially before I go to a place to get a better understanding about how, the community, the culture communicates there. So in Morocco, would you say it's like direct, or is it more indirect where it's what's not said might have quite a bit of meaning? Does, does that make sense what I'm

Siham:

It does make sense and I'm gonna choose both depending on the situation actually. So if you are, if you wanna get something that you're making a statement, then like of course you're speaking direct. You don't need like to go around and send the message in an indirect way. But let's say if you are, as an example, shy to ask about something, then this is where we use the indirect, I might say Or I like as an example, getting this because it make me this and this and this. And then the family who I am with know that I like I'm, I'm meaning that I want this, so they're serving me this. They say, oh no, no, we have it. You don't need to go outside and get it. We're gonna like bring it to you so you can see it. So I would say just both depending on the situation. But I mean mainly in terms of emotions, things like that. We're speaking indirect more than direct. As an example, with Paula, if I haven't seen you for ages, I'm not gonna use or I love you or as an example, I, it's been, I might use it, I will use it has been a while, which means that I miss you, but I'm not gonna use the word, oh, I miss you. Like expressing this emotion. But what I will use as a direct language actually, and this is something that you will like because it's tolerate with both our concept and what the listeners are listening now to is serving you food. Like food speaks about our emotion. Mm-hmm. So when people are coming to fast, we serve them pastilla and because pastilla takes six hours, they know we are being valued. That's how they know. Oh. Like they really miss us. We are dear to their hearts because they're serving us this special dish that we cannot find anywhere except homes and in restaurants, specific restaurants.

Paula:

That's a great place to end our conversation. Thanks for sharing that. This been, just such invaluable insight and uh, I think you have so much to offer to anybody coming to visit Morocco. I wanna make sure everybody knows how to find you and we'll put these in the links. But could you tell us again, the name of your company, where you are on Instagram and your website, if you don't mind.

Siham:

Yes, absolutely. the name of my company is Morocco Travel Organizer. The website, it's H TTPs and then double do slash slash uh, www.moroccotravelorganizer.com. Like Instagram, I have the Morocco travel organizer Instagram and I have my own Instagram Siham Lahmine also. And I try to include different perspective in both Instagrams and on LinkedIn. I'm gonna use LinkedIn because I'm much more active in my personal LinkedIn compared to the company LinkedIn. So Siham Lahmine. And it's easy to find me. I am the one with the pot of the tea, pour it it, and with the scarf deal, yellow scarf. So that's how you can find me. email wise. I'm always encouraged guests to speak to me directly, which is siham@moroccotravelorganizer.com. We also answer within 24 hours timeframe. So if you don't hear from us. Just make sure that your, your email has not been received, so please feel free to send it again. Otherwise, give us a call or WhatsApp message and you'll find everything on WhatsApp and of course with Paula Insights like in the show. And thank you.

Paula:

Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much, Siham. I I so appreciate your generosity and how much information you shared with us and your, your personal perspective. That was

Siham:

you, Paula. Thank you. Thank you. It has been wonderful just doing the show with you and really speaking about our both passion, not just my passion. This is both of us speaking from different kind of doors, but here are the doors open now.

Paula:

You're right. It's a passion and sharing that with somebody and I, um, you understand my enthusiasm and I understand yours.

Siham:

Yeah, exactly. And I truly enjoyed how relaxed it was. I truly enjoyed like the, like our show today. So thank you.

Paula:

Oh, I really enjoyed chatting to you. It makes, I wish I could do this in person, but this is, uh, the next best thing. So it's been wonderful.'Cause you now have, it's time for your second breakfast, I think, isn't it?

Siham:

Yeah. Well, it's time for my second breakfast Indeed.

Paula:

Are you at your mom's house or your home right now?

Siham:

Oh no. Right now I am at my uncle home because I needed a place that it's quiet. Later on I'm gonna go downstairs, like to be with my mom and my family.

Paula:

lovely. Well, please thank them for sharing you with us for uh, this last hour, if we really appreciate it.

Siham:

I will do that. Thank you, Paula.

Paula:

Holy dynamite. That was such a great conversation with Siham What an amazing individual she is. I am actually racing to get this out live, uh, as soon as I can because I have a friend who's hopping on a plane tonight to go mountain biking in the high Atlas Mountains of Morocco. So a shout out to Cheryl. Have a fabulous trip. I hope she gets a chance to listen to this before she arrives'cause it's full of great nuggets of information, especially for us female travelers. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Don't forget to explore In My Kitchen dot com. You'll be asked to provide your email address, once you get in there, there's no charges. all of our podcasts live there. Newsletters and the recipes from each of the shows. Thanks again for listening. I really appreciate it, and happy travels. Happy cooking.

People on this episode

Contributor

Paula Mohammed

Host