Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from My Morroccan Kitchen

by Kitty Morse, Laurie Smith (Photographer)

Moroccan food features the delicious flavors and health benefits of other Mediterranean cuisines, but tantalizes the senses with its own unique combinations of spices and simple ingredients. Grilled meats, vegetable or fruit tagines (stews), delicately spiced salads, couscous, and sweet or savory pastries are its hallmarks. Kitty Morse, who grew up in Casablanca, brings to this new book fascinating details about life and food in Morocco. Her approach to this exotic culinary tradition is surprisingly accessible yet authentic. With Morse's easy, step-by-step recipes and time-saving tips, any cook can create exquisite Moroccan flavors. On-location photos taken by the author's husband together with Laurie Smith's luscious stills create a beautiful insider's look at an intriguing cuisine and culture.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Morocco, Reference, Food

156 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Part history, part memoir, part cookbook, Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet, is the telling of a family's journey through WWII, from three perspectives: A tale of discovery of the author's great-grandfather's diary, written in occupied France in 1940 and the genealogical archival research it engendered; entries from the author's great-grandfather, Dr. Prosper Levy's, daily journal detailing the Nazi occupation of northern France; and heirloom recipes from his wife, Blanche's, family kitchen.


ABOUT KITTY MORSE
https//www.kittymorse.com

Kitty Morse was born in Casablanca of a French mother and British father, and emigrated to the United States in 1964. She obtained her Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
She is the author of ten other cookbooks, five of them on the cuisine of Morocco and North Africa, including the award-winning Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from my Moroccan Kitchen (10 printings from Chronicle Books) and The Scent of Orange Blossoms: Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco (co-authored with Danielle Mamane).Her memoir with recipes, Mint Tea and Minarets: a Banquet of Moroccan Memories, and its French translation, Le Riad au Bord de l'Oued, were both recipients of a Gourmet Word Cookbook Award.
Kitty’s career as a food writer, cooking teacher, and lecturer spans more than three decades. Her articles on food and travel have appeared leading publications including Bon Appetit (the magazine featured one of her menus as Moroccan Cuisine: Cuisine of the Year), and Sunset's "Best Chefs of the West." She has lectured on Moroccan cuisine and culture at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the University of Wisconsin libraries, and continues do to so around Southern California. She initiated gastronomic tours to her native Morocco in 1983, and continued to do so for over 23 years.
She has appeared on the Food TV Network, CNN, the Discovery Channel, as well as on British, Mexican, and Moroccan television. One of the highlights of her career was cooking alongside Julia Child to benefit the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). She and her husband Owen have been residents of Vista since 1979. Visit https://www.kittymorse.com.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given to me by a Moroccan-obsessed sibling, this book introduced me to authentic approaches to cous cous and tagines. I am pretty much vegetarian now, but the recipes in here are great and have interesting flavor combinations that I had not considered before. For example, check out the Tagine of Lamb with Prunes recipe on pg 87. This includes a marriage of onion, prunes, cilantro and honey (plus a little saffron, tumeric, ginger, cinnamon and pepper) that is to die for. Who knew? It is my favorite recipe. Note you can substitute other meats for the Lamb, if you don't like killing bo-peep

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is eye candy, with lovely photos. But I will never make any of these recipes, so the book is a big disappointment to me. I also am not impressed with the author's chatty introductions to the recipes. Will donate it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from my Mom, and I've made a couple of things from it. It has several recipes similar to those in Claudia Roden's Arabesque. I'm excited to try more of the recipes, since I have it.