Mohammedia Highlights

3 Favorite Things

I’ve been living in Mohammedia for five months now. As I never imagined living in Morocco before last spring, I am happy to say that I have found a routine that makes me feel comfortable and happy. There are still days when the grip of homesickness won’t shake loose, but I chalk those days up to the “travel bug” of living abroad.

Here are three of my favorite hometown highlights.

Highlight 1: Sunday Brunch Day

It’s a tradition that started after months of going to a local restaurant called Cups. We used to always go on Sundays because we didn’t have wifi, but we kept going even after we all got wifi.

A few weeks back, we decided that it might be cheaper (it isn’t), and more fun (it is), to choose different recipes each week and make them after our Sunday morning class.

This was one of the most delicious breakfast-for- lunch food occasions that we did. The strawberries were soaked in sparkling wine, which made them especially delicious!

On a side note, the strawberries were purchased for 20 dh per kilo (the rough equivalent of $2 but don’t ask me to convert kilo to lbs…) Yay for excellent prices!

Our only regret, not using a more buttery bread for our French toast. But we also weren’t trying to completely clog our arteries…oh the sacrifice!

Highlight 2: Produce! Produce! Produce!

So, I have absolutely fallen in love with both the produce AND produce prices here in Morocco. A couple of weeks back, I posted a photo on Instagram, highlighting this love, after a shopping trip left me feeling especially speechless, due to all the food I had purchased vs. the money I’d spent.

For example, I can make a BIG BATCH of my delicious salsa for under $4 (I can’t say the same about making salsa back in CA). Fun fact, when all I get is cilantro from our “produce guy” as we call him, it’s free! The recipe? Well, one has to get a little creative with the lime juice as there are still no limes to be seen (but we are always on the lookout). Instead, I use lemon juice, which I have to say is not a bad substitute. The rest…

4 large tomatoes, 1/2 a medium onion, 1/2 a lemon, and 1 medium jalapeno plus salt. (Thanks Mom!)

When I go to our “produce guy” I put what I want into a pink plastic bucket, which then gets weighed on a scale.  This is slightly different from if you go to the grocery store. At the store, you put the produce in separate brown paper bags, which are then weighed and given a sticker with the weight and price on it.

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Highlight 3: Eating in the Caspa: cheap and yummy

By now you can say that we have our “usual” places for lunch or dinner. The current challenge is branching out of our comfort zone to try new places. For example, we have a fabulous chicken place aka where the chicken is especially delicious.

The other day we ventured into the Caspa for fried fish, and needless to say, it was SUPER delicious. We got two fish platters, three bowls of lentil soup, lots of bread, dipping sauces, a Moroccan salad, french fries, and a large water bottle for a grand total of 170 dh (or $17, which was then split between three people).

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Well, there you have it. Three of my favorite things about my new hometown. Honorable mentions include our super sweet and kind hanoot guy, who always smiles when I say my usual “wahd mars afeck” (“1 mars bar please”). It’s become a post night class tradition…