Day 24: Sunday Family Dinner

Sunday was a big treat for our Ministry of Agriculture team.   Our primary client contact, Mohammed Kamili, had invited us to have a family lunch with he and his family on Sunday.    He was kind enough to pick us up from our hotel and drive us to the apartment that he lives in with his beautiful wife, Zhor, and his three children - Oumayma (7), Marwann (14) and Hatham (17).   We had no idea what a hospitable and culinary experience that we were in for.

His little girl greeted me at the doorway with a big hug and she was adorable.  Her name is Oumayma and we had a great time teaching each other words in English and Arabic.   His two sons are the same age as my two boys so it was fun to be around them as well.  His wife made us a meal that may have surpassed any that I have eaten before.   The pictures are below but they truly don't do justice to how beautiful and delicious this meal was.   One funny story .... we had eaten our first three courses and were so stuffed when he mentioned that it was time for the 'main course'.   This was after eating the most beautiful plate of five full chickens, two handmade salads, homemade bread, and appetizers.    We ended up eating another two courses.  Wow!

I also think that it may go on record as the longest lunch that I have ever eaten.   Mohammed picked us up at noon and we didn't get up from the table until almost 5pm.    The hardest thing was starting work again after we got back to the hotel.   The first draft of our final deliverable was due Monday morning and we ended up working until after midnight to get it finished.   Needless to say that we did not eat dinner .....   :-)

This is a picture of Oumayma and I in their living room.   This is where we ate our traditional Moroccan lunch.

We started our meal with some delcious handmade cookies.   The flavor was delicious... not too sweet with honey and almond flavoring.   I'm not sure if you can see the details of the flower cookies but they were almost too pretty to eat.   We also ate traditional cookies that are actually fried in olive oil and honey and seasoned with sesame seeds.... so good.   My two boys would have loved 'starting' dinner with cookies.  :-)

I could have made a meal off of the salad plate alone.    Zhor had made a homemade beet salad with parsley and another salad of tomatoes, corn, and cucumber that was seasoned with apple vinegar.  Both were so good!

They also served homemade wheat bread.  Not only was this bread made from scratch but Mohammed has his own farm where he grew the wheat that the bread was made from.   It was served warm and you can tell that Rahul is quite excited.

Andrew was a little amazed when Zhor put that beautiful plate of chicken in front of us.

Mohammed was describing to us how the chicken was prepared.

Words cannot describe how delicious this chicken was.   It was marinated overnight in a mixture of salt water, garlic, olive oil, and saffron.   It was then slow baked and served with fermented lemons and olives on top and was served with an onion chutney.   Mohammed showed us how to each the chicken with our fingers and homemade bread.   We ate this chicken for nearly an hour before we realized that the 'main course' was still to come.  Unbelievable....

This was the main course.   Even though we were so full that we couldn't eat another bite after eating the chicken, we all managed to eat some of this beef.   It was cooked and served in a large tangine and was garnished with dried dates, apricots, and sesame seed.   It was difficult to decide which I liked better... the chicken or the beef.  :-)

Marwann giving his sister Oumayma a hug after lunch.   Such sweet kids and a lovely family.   It was a family lunch that we will not soon forget.