COUSCOUS FRIDAY

10/30/01

So now that I've lived here a while I forget that there are things that seem normal to me but that you all don't really know about!

Fridays are very special in Morocco. For one, the midday prayer is extra big (I'm not sure why), and more importantly, Friday is Couscous Day. It's tradition here for each house to make a TON of couscous, and then have family over to share it. Any leftovers are given to the poor. I asked our host dad one day if there was a special reason Friday was the day for couscous, and after giving me a bewildered look he just said, "You go to church on Sunday, we have couscous on Friday!" It's as simple as that.

It is eaten Moroccan style, off of the same HUGE plate (The one at our house is about a foot and a half in diameter). You take a little bit of this sauce which is the consistency of soup, put it on the couscous in front of you, and go to town scooping up vegetables and chicken which have been piled high on the plate. Sometimes our host dad rolls it into balls, which he then feeds you from his hands. I think normally people do this for children...but we often get lumped in with them here.

It is also always served (at least at our house) with camel milk...it's really gross. The first time it was served to me I thought it was regular milk. I took a sip and was very surprised at the sour taste which invaded my taste buds! I asked if it was a yogurt drink and we were told no...it's camel milk that is on its way to turning to butter. I hold my breath and drink it between huge bites of couscous, which is always delicious.

One of our host dad's cousins just moved back to Morocco from New Hampshire, where they have lived since before their three daughters, ages 9, 8, and 9 months, were born. They told me about a Moroccan restaurant in Astoria that is very good - I think I will have to go there some Friday and demand couscous!