Spice, Sand, and Stars: An Authentic Moroccan Journey
Some of the other smells that are forever linked to my travels in Morocco are cedar wood, diesel, cumin, mint, Fairy soap (it was the only soap available in the village market), rose water, musk, and donkey manure (not a great association I will admit!).
A mental souvenir from that first trip is of sharing an old battered Mercedes Grande Taxi with six other passengers and a twenty kilo hessian sack of fresh mint leaves for five hours of bumpy mountain roads. By the roads end you could have dunked us in a giant pot of water like tea bags and we’d have created a passable Atay B’nanna (Mint Tea)
One of the most memorable and yet simple dishes I had during that first six month stint in Morocco, was a spicy, smoky, sweet, nutty mix, blended together, served with cardamom coffee. I think we were only supposed to have a spoon or two of this mix, but it was so moreish that I ate an espresso cup serving. Twenty minutes later I was buzzing like a kid who’s had a litre of coke with a giant bag of skittles.
That dish is the inspiration for the spiced almond brittle and the starting point for this dessert. The other elements came together fairly easily. I tend to associate specific ingredients with countries and dried fruits like dates and figs will always remind me of the Atlas mountains and the image of fruit drying on the roofs of village houses. Dried figs have a great flavour but I prefer to use them in savoury stews and Tajines, whereas fresh figs have such a short season and smell so much of late summer so they had to be a part of this dessert.
Ingredients (serves 4)
