Tourism & Hospitality | Tuesday 15 March, 2016 8:50 am |

Elaf Jeddah Hotel-Red Sea Mall hosts the high-spirited Moroccan Food Festival featuring the best of Moroccan cuisine and pastries prepared by two celebrated Moroccan chefs who came all the way to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate their skills in preparing Morocco’s gastronomic delights. And the entire food array will not be complete without the much sought-after Moroccan mint tea.

According to Hussain Rauff, General Manager, Elaf Jeddah Hotel, the festival is aimed not only to increase the sales, but basically to enhance the marketing programs of the hotel and further expand the presence of the brand in the travel and tourism industry.

The Moroccan food is known for its remarkable flavors influenced by Morocco’s interactions and exchanges with other cultures and nations over the centuries. The olives, lemons and oranges are very often used to prepare dishes.

According to the Moroccan manning the tea counter at the ongoing food festival at Elaf Jeddah Hotel, the tea is served hot or cold to quench the thirst in any season.

Moroccan cuisine is very diverse and use many spices, vegetables and nuts.

Spices are used abundantly. Cinnamon, cumin, ginger, sesame, turmeric and black pepper are just a few examples.

One of the most typical dishes of Moroccan cuisine is couscous – tiny, rice type balls of semolina. Boiled or steamed can be accompanied with vegetables, meat or fish.

Moroccan tagine, the named derived from the pot made of clay used,  is a typical Moroccan dish that is cooked, steamed and stewed. Because they are made on a medium heat they have very distinct flavors.

Vegetables are widely used in Moroccan cuisine – steamed in salads or as a complement – and one of the most used is the eggplant.

Most commonly used meat is chicken, lamb, poultry and even camel.

The meat can be stewed or steamed or served on skewers, called here ‘brochetes’, selling on the streets. Pieces are always very tasty, well marked by spices aromas.

Also very popular in Moroccan cuisine is Pastilla. It is a thin crusty pastry stuffed with sour or sweet filling that vary depending on what you want to add to the dish. You may have meat (chicken or sheep, for example), dried fruits and vegetables filling. Just choose.

And finally Moroccan very rich soups have to cap them all.

Often, simply eating a soup can be enough to stay content. A typical Moroccan soup called harira is made with lentils, chickpeas, lamb, tomato and assorted vegetables. A bowl of this soup would often times gives a full relish, guaranteed to satisfy and last.

There is also Bissara, another traditional soup made of green peas or fava beans, served with olive oil and often seasoned with spices.

And for the desserts, the honey is often used, hence  it is common to find honey cakes, crepes, feqqas (almond cookies) and ghoriba (almond or coconut cookie with sesame oils), to name a few.

The festival is open at 7.30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. The one-week food festival will wind up on March 19. So, hurry and savor the aroma and taste of the splendid Moroccan gastronomy.