#marrakechworkshop part 2 - Atlas Mountains cooking school
One of the cool things about a styling photography workshop is that one can plan to do plenty of cooking. I thought it might be nice to learn something about Moroccan cooking before we started styling and photographing it. Besides the Atlas Mountains are such a gorgeous location, and there would be many great photo ops...right? Well when we pulled up the Richard Branson's Kasbah Tamadot, it took our breath away. The cooking school was located on a terrace and the tiny kitchen was fully equipped and worked perfectly for our class. The chef was delightful and spoke perfect English; he was organized and a great teacher.We started with Moroccan Mint Tea, which I must admit was very addicting, so I was happy to learn how to make it. The recipe is below.After we enjoyed our tea, our lesson began.The Menu:- Harira Soup- Traditional Vegatable Tagine- Spinach and Ricotta Briouattes- thin pastry filled and folded into a triangle, served with the soup- Mhalbea- Rice puddingIt was the most glorious sunny day, too! Our lesson was 3 hours, and then we all dined on our creations on the terrace of the hotel, over-looking the mountains and pool at the resort. After lunch we wandered the property and found a stable filled with a menagerie of the cutest camels and goats. We stopped by the Berber shop, that supports the village artisans which was set up by Richard Branson's mom who lives on site. As a matter of fact, my husband Frank and Deborah's hubby Jim had a lovely conversation with her while we were all cooking. Cool, huh? What can I say? Everything was yummy, and it was the perfect way to start the workshop week: getting to know everyone and cooking.If you want to come along next year, I will have dates and information on the site coming soon. In the meantime, for more photos of our workshop in Marrakech look for #marrakechworkshop and follow me on instagram. If you can't wait until next year to join us, sign up for our #italianrivieraworkshop coming in June.xx
Moroccan Mint Tea
makes 2 liters
You will need:
- 1.5 teaspoons green tea leaves
- Boiling water
- Sugar to taste
- 4 springs of fresh mint
- Teapot- 4-6 Moroccan tea glasses ( these are available in the states, at World Market
Preparation:
Boil the water in the teapot.To the pot add the tea leaves, and pour 1 cup of water into the pot. Leave for 30 seconds, pour off the liquid into a glass and retain it (this is the aroma of the tea you're retaining in the glass; it should be a golden color).Now add a second glass of water to the pot and mix the tea. Pour off the water and discard (this is the dirty water, and has the tannins and impurities from the tea).Put the first golden cup back into the pot, fill the pot with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add your mint and sugar, and leave to steep for 5 minutes.Pour the tea into a glass then pour it back into the pot 3 times to mix the tea. Moroccan's like to pour from some height. Pour tea into glasses and enjoy.
tea photo: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn