FoodiesUnleashed

Garry and I were excited to take a cooking lesson to indulge our senses and increase our international repertoire. Our class had folks from Britain, Ireland, and Korea. On the menu was a blended vegetable soup with kale, salted cod (bacalhau) with vegetables, baby clams, and chorizo in a tangy broth, whole chicken rendered to pieces by Garry (his efficiency had everyone wondering if he was a chef) with onions and garlic over Portuguese rice, and to finish a simple dolce de leche with egg white chilled. With Garry in fine social form, not to mention the wine flowing like a tap, it wasn't long before your Canadian correspondents made friends with everyone. Even the typically stuffy Brits were saying they were definitely at the fun end of the table. Portuguese cooking is simple and tasty ... read more

It is true that I have gotten a little distracted by the events and the travel and not given enough attention to the food aspect of this trip. I mean that is the name of the blog "Foodies Unleashed". So here is the first of two blogs about the food One of the highlights this far on this trip has been the Moroccan cooking lesson I took in Marrakech. It is called Souk Cuisine. Souk of course is the name for the marketplace, and thus this course was focused on cooking what comes from the market that day. There are no supermarkets in the souk, little imported foodstuffs and refrigerators are tiny so the custom is that the person of the house responsible for the cooking buys what looks best/freshest from the market that day and ... read more

I arrived safely this morn after a non eventful and non productive (sleep wise) flight over the Atlantic. Lisbon is classic European with narrow cobblestone streets lined with 4 story buildings and churches abutted to each other. It's been 7 years since last being in Europe although I feel a calm sense of belonging. Missing are the skyscrapers, heavy traffic, box stores, and rush to be somewhere. Not to mention the cold (it was 15° today - sorry had to rub it in). Gained are the numerous pedestrian streets, large plazas with fountains and statues where people meet or just hang out, as well as numerous sidewalk cafes where people sip coffee or vinho and watch leisurely as life passes by. Now I realize many of you have witnessed this way of life and it tough ... read more

Like most heavily touristed cities in the world, Marrakesh, is relatively safe. The police keep a close eye on any goings-on that might have a visitor to their country return home with a report damaging the inflow of foreign money. Bad for the economy. Morocco is no different in this regard. Petty crime (theft, short changing money exchange, purse snatching, etc.) does happen but it’s rare to even hear of violent crime here. However there were several occasions where I felt my wellbeing was in serious danger. In each instance it was due to the swaggering egos of Moroccan youth and unregulated traffic of the souk alleyways. In the souk the tiny closet sized retail stalls spill out into the ancient alleyways that they line. It is an easy way to expand their space and be ... read more

For me even the name "The Marrakech Express" elicits excitement. Perhaps it was hearing the songs by the rock bands of the 60's/70's that waxed poetically about Morocco or this famous train. Perhaps it was the exoticism of Paul Bowles books of the same period. The net result is that for me Morocco has always been the pinnacle of strange/weird/different places to be and the Marrakech Express was the icing on the cake. So to take this train trip was very special for me. The train trip from Marrakech to Fes presented a great opportunity to see the Moroccan countryside. It was pre-dawn when I boarded at the beautiful Marrakech station. The train was modern, clean and comfortable. The fare for 1st class for the 7 hour trip to Fes was about $29 cdn, so it ... read more