Baby it’s cold outside

When it is this cold outside, there is nothing I love more than a bowl of piping hot Moroccan Harrira soup. This soup is traditionally eaten during the fasting month of Ramadan and at weddings for breakfast.

Serves: 4-6
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
½ bunch coriander
½ bunch parsley
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 large onions
1 little tub of tomato paste
1 can of diced tomatoes
100 gram of vermicelli
150 gram of diced lean veal
100 gram of soaked chickpeas
100 gram of soaked lentils
1 teaspoon powder ginger
1 tablespoon of paprika powder
2 threads of saffron
1 teaspoon of tumeric
1 teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
5 small tomatoes
1 liter of water
100 gram of flour

In a food processor chop the parsley, onions and coriander together. Saute in the pan and add olive oil, powdered ginger, paprika powder, saffron, tumeric, pepper and salt.
Stir for 4 or five minutes on a low heat. Meanwhile cook the tomatoes in water for 8 minutes and chop in a food processor, add to the pan.

Add chickpeas, lentils, diced tomatoes, water and stir well. Add the veal and the tub of tomato paste. Leave to simmer on a medium to low heat for half an hour. Mix the flour in a bowl of water and add the mix and vermicelli to the soup, stir well for 15 minutes on a low heat.

Serve in soup bowls with bread and dates.

Besaha!

The art of haggling

I often get requests from family and friends to provide them with travel tips or to hook them up with our friends and family members in Morocco. As I am often happy to act as a mini Lonely Planet guide and point out restaurants, hotels, places to see and places to avoid, the most important tip I can give them is to master the Art of Haggling. As the old saying goes ‘one must practice a 1000 hours before one masters a skill’ and over the years I must have put in more than the required amount.

With such a variety of souks (markets) to explore across Morocco it’s likely your haggling skills will also improve as you explore what the country has to offer. Artisans in Marrakech, Fes and Essouraria turn out so many products and produce that you may have trouble taking it all in.  From leather goods, lamps, carpets, little trinkets or beautiful handmade ceramics, souks are a feast for all the senses.  The quality may vary but bargains do exist and it takes an experienced eye, a good sense of humour and a strong nerve to go toe to toe with the salesmen of Morocco.

To make your shopping trip in Morocco successfull there are a few rules you need to adhere to:

- Greet the shopkeeper with a simple hello and a smile.
- Don’t seem overly happy or excited by an object you wish to purchase, may it be a carpet or silver jewelry.  Act cool, calm and mention the object in passing, while asking for the price.
- Act surprised when you find out about the price, but keep on smiling.
- Check some other items in the store/stall, again with the same ‘I really don’t like anything here’ attitude.
- Offer 50% of the price mentioned by the shop keeper. This is where the fun starts.
- Increase your price by 5 procents, but don’t exceed 10%.
- If the shopkeeper doesn’t want to budge, then wave a cheery bye bye to the shop keeper and walk away, he will in all probability call you back.
- When you are called back you can settle on the final prize.

Happy shopping!

Amlou – Moroccan style almond butter

‘Are you happy and healthy? Do you need cous cous, dates or spices. Maybe some black kohl for your sore eyes? Tell us, what are you missing? Tell us what is it that you cannot buy in Australia’? These are the first questions my family asks me when I visit them. They worry and fret about my well being, worry if I eat healthily, that I rest, that I dance and remember the life lessons they have taught me.  Those important tenants of my culture and language such as music and traditional recipes.

My father always has one litre bottle of freshly pressed culinary Argan oil stacked away for me. He is a pensioner and gets a discount on his train ticket, so every couple of months he travels by train to his old friend near Agadir who owns an Argan grove, for his quarterly Argan haul. He spends the day with his old mate, while his wife’s friend presses the oil for him and takes the train back at night.

Argan oil has become known in recent years as a beauty ingredient specifically for us in many hair products. However, in Morocco the roasted culinary version is enjoyed first and foremost as a culinary oil, while the unroasted and cosmetic version is used as a daily skin moisturiser.

One of the recipes to make with culinary Argan oil is Amlou, Moroccan style Almond butter. It is a healthy and nutritious alternative to peanut butter or other common supermarket dips.  The ingredients provide a great source of energy, vitamin A, healthy mono-unsaturated fats such as omega 6 and omega 9 and antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties.  To make you will need the following ingredients:

250 gram of plain almonds
150ml culinary Argan oil
100ml Honey

Roast almonds in the oven for about 15 – 20 minutes. While they are still warm I use a mortar and pestle to pound the almonds into small peanut butter style pieces.
You can use a food processor, but I like the process of seeing the almonds transform using my own strength.

Gradually stir the Argan oil into the ground almonds, a spoonful at a time or in a very slow trickle, as if making mayonnaise.  Then gradually add warm honey to taste and adjust sweetness if desired.

Serve Amlou on a plate with bread as a pre-dinner dip or dunk the horns of your warm croissant and serve with a nice cup of mint tea as a delicious breakfast addition.
Amlou will keep for two months in cool, dark cupboard.

Besaha!

That squeaky clean feeling

I have to admit, I love having a healthy life style. Mine is not out of vanity, I don’t aim to be a size nothing and fit into jeans designed for a 7 year old. I try to live a healthy life style, because it simply makes me feel better. I love being fit, having a strong body and feeling that I am giving my body the best nutrition and care.

I can still remember how it was when I spent my summers at my uncle’s farm. I could run and run for hours and at the end of the day there was nothing better than to go and sit in a fig tree and watch the sunset. My hair would be tangled, my hands and feet were dirty, I would have wounds on my hands and arms from playing near prickly pear bushes. But I was strong and happy.

I can also remember not only being fit, strong and happy, but squeaky clean and fresh after a visit to the Hammam. ‘Hammam’ means spreader of warmth and is a bathhouse that most Moroccans visit once a week. Aunties, neighbours, grandmothers, cousins, We all would get our buckets ready, some savon noir (black soap), scrubbing gloves, Argan oil and perhaps some fresh oranges and walk down to the local Hammam once a week. There everyone would undress, young and old and go into the Hammam to cleanse, scrub, wash, rinse and hear the latest news and gossip.

The women in my family come in all shape and sizes. I was exposed to my grandmother’s sagging bosom, my cousins’ perky bottom, my auntie’s belly, who had just given birth and my neighbour in her first year of marriage. They were all shaped differently and it was no issue. My grandmother would tell me ‘I have exactly the same as what you have, so there is no room for shame or embarrassment’.

'Massage in the Hammam' by Edouar Debat-Ponsan (1883)

Once a week I try to recreate the Hammam in my bathroom. If you would like to do the same this is what you need:

• Mira’s Hand Savon Noir (black soap)
• A Moroccan scrubbing mitt called a keesa or a loofah
• Mira’s Hand Rose Water Toning Mist
• Mira’s Hand 100% Argan Oil
• Mira’s Hand Body Moisturiser with Argan Oil
• Fluffy soft bathrobe and towels
• Mint tea (for afterward – see recipe here)

1. Make sure your bathroom is warm and steamy by turning on a hot shower and warm your body under the shower for 5 minutes.
2. Apply a thin layer of Savon Noir on your body (avoid the eyes) and sit relaxed for 5 or so minutes next to the shower – being careful not to get wet. (Maintain a steamy environment but be mindful of conserving water where possible).
3. Take your keesa or loofah and scrub your body slowly in a vertical motion, take time to scrub every corner of your body as hard or as soft as you prefer.  Ask a friend/partner to scrub your back.
4. Rinse your body with water as you may notice the shedding of dead skin (a good outcome).
5. Wash your hair and add a few drops of Argan oil to your conditioner.
6. Rinse and dry yourself.
7. Spritz your body with Rosewater Toning Mist
8. Apply the Body Moisturiser to your body and moisturise your face and hands with Argan oil
9. Wear your fluffiest bathrobe and rest with a nice glass of Moroccan mint tea.
10. Enjoy that squeaky clean feeling.

To create your own Hammam at home experience with Mira’s Hand Authentic Moroccan Skin Care Range, click here.

Besaha!!*

* (well wishes for your health)

Mira’s Hand website and eStore Launch!

And so it is with great pride and joy we announce that today we have officially launched Mira’s Hand’s Website and eStore!

Just in time for the holidays………..

We’d love for you to have a look around our website and have a browse in our shop. All purchases are completely safe as all sales go through paypal. (you can use paypal even if you don’t have a paypal account).

If you have any questions about any of our products or would like to give us your general feedback, please do so by sending an email to info@mirashand.com.au

Happy shopping!

Website design by Atticus Design
Web development by Outspoken New Media.

No spice, no life

Whenever I cook, I need to add my own variation of spices to a dish. Most of the time, it is a case of guessing, feeling, smelling and deciding how much of each spice I’d like to add. There really is no rhyme or reason to it, and I certainly don’t use cups or teaspoons to measure the amount of spices.

From a young age my mother taught me how to cook with my eyes. She taught me how to prepare the dough for the traditional Moroccan breads based on the size of heaps of flower, semolina and salt. Scales were not allowed (to this day she doesn’t own a kitchen scale).

I am incredibly grateful that I was brought up with a sensory method of cooking and blending of spices.

One blend of spices that is used in most Moroccan dishes is Ras al Hanout. Ras el Hanout – meaning ‘top of the shop’ is a mixture of the best spices available. There are many variations of Ras el Hanout available. It is said that every kitchen in Morocco has it’s own blend.

This is mine:

3 tbsp ground paprika

2 1/2 tbsps ground cumin

2 1/2 tbsps ground ginger

4 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsps cinnamon

2 tsps turmeric

1 1/2 tsps ground fennel seeds

1 1/2 tsps cardamom

1 tsps nutmeg

1/2 tsps caraway seed

1/2 tsps cayenne pepper

1/2 tsps clove

1/2 tsps black pepper

2  – 3 saffron strands

Thank you!

Thank you for visiting us at this years Mind Body Spirit Expo!

We were ecstatic to launch our products and have the opportunity to engage with so many of you and to share our passion for Moroccan Skin Care rituals.

We met many wonderful people, young and old, who gave us their time and with who we also shared many laughs. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would like to thank you for making our time at the expo so special.

Our lovely new friends 'The Three Amigos'.

At Mira’s Hand – Authentic Moroccan Skin Care our aim is to inform the broader community and to help you rediscover traditional and beneficial skin care products and techniques. Our range is affordable, natural and honest and you don’t need a science degree to understand their ingredients.

Our website is currently under construction, but will be launching next week where you will have the opportunity to purchase our Authentic Moroccan Skin Care range online! So keep an eye on www.mirashand.com.au!

If you are interested in stocking or distributing our Authentic Moroccan Skin Care products, please drop us a line on info@mirashand.com.au . You can read more about our skin care range here.

Mira's Hand stand at the Mind Body Spirit Expo

We hope to see you again soon!

Jamila & David