A Month in Marrakesh: recipes from the Heart of Morroco

It’s been a full year since I have written and I am sorely remiss.

A move from Manhattan to Maine is my (reasonable) excuse and it has taken some time to adjust. Moving to Maine in the late fall can be a bleak experience. After a long winter, spring has finally arrived and it’s been a pleasant surprise to find peonies, tulips and azaleas bursting from the ground. Among the new greens is a large patch of mint, which inspired me to dig up one of the last cookbooks I purchased in NYC before the move up.

The book, A Month in Marrakesh: Recipes from the Heart of Morocco (Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne),  is a great love letter to Marrakesh by Andy Harris. Harris travelled there annually for ten years to visit an expat friend living in Marrakesh. Said friend lived in a riad, the traditional style house with an attached courtyard (who wouldn’t want to visit?), and they spent much time eating and drinking their way through the town and its surroundings. Another friend, David Loftus, supplied many of the candid location photographs in the book and their photojournalist qualities are a great complement to the more staid and staged food shots. The recipes start with breakfast and winds through street foods, tagines and desserts.

I specifically bought the cookbook for the mint tea gelatin recipe. It looked refreshing and simple. I am told that mint is a very overbearing plant and readily takes over a garden plot—  with this recipe in hand, I say, “Mint, bring it on”.

Mint Tea Jelly (adapted from A Month in Marrakesh)

20g gelatin (or enough to set approximately 3 cups of liquid)

300 ml cold water

2 mint tea bags

1 bunch of fresh mint

500 ml boiling water

20g caster (superfine) sugar

Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until it dissolves — do not let it boil. Place in tea bags and the mint in a large teapot and add the boiling water. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes and then strain tea into a jug. Stir in the sugar then add gelatin mixture. Pour into a 8″ square baking dish and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

To serve, cut int jelly into small cubes and spoon into glasses or bowls and garnish with mint springs. Serves 4.