On air on bayfm99.9 on Monday 11 April, 2011

Sister B and brother Andrew (A & B!) had a wonderful talk with Ronit Robbaz-Franco about the  country and food of Morocco.  A big thank you to everyone for keeping the belly show on the road when I could not go on air at the last minute.  I am sorry to report the belly cat is now chasing mice in cat heaven, but we had some lovely last few hours together – and some hard ones.   A and B tell me Ronit brought all the colours of Morocco into the bayfm studio.  Sister T

 

 

 

*Ronit’s Story*

My parents were born in Morocco. My mother is from Casablanca and my father
from Marrakech. Both grew up in Morocco but left for Israel in 1950s, where
I was born. My mother was a chef, specializing in pastry, so my upbringing
evolved around food. My Great Grandfather was an Ambassador in Morocco,
that’s how they landed in Morocco initially. I come from a large, colourful
family, where all our family affairs happened around a Moroccan feast. There
was always a hearty celebration taking place, a passionate and dramatic
affair with family & friends. My brother’s wedding lasted for 3-5 days. The
Moroccan women are known to be feisty, colorful and vibrant. I have 5
sisters & 1 brother, so I grew up with many women around me, listening to
their stories.

Growing up in Israel in a Moroccan household, it was infused with Moroccan
culture, heritage and social ethics. When I visited Morocco I felt I had
arrived home.

My mother’s family is scattered all over the world, basically the wandering
Jew. I decided to leave Israel after my military service at 20 years of age.
I lived in South East Asia, India, Japan, South America, mainly Brazil,
where I lived for 5 years, then Central America and finally I arrived on
these shores about 14 years ago. Travelling around the globe, I gained a
wealth of experience in middle eastern, primarily Moroccan cuisine, Indian
and Gourmet Wholefood. I set up my business called Open Table Catering in
Byron Bay and it’s been operating successfully for 7 years.

Moroccan cuisine is extremely diverse, due to Morocco’s interaction with
other cultures and nations over the centuries. Moroccan cuisine has been
subject to Berber, Moorish, Mediterranean and Arab influences. The cooks in
the royal kitchens of Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tetouan refined it
over the centuries and created the basis for what is known as Moroccan
cuisine today.

 

 

A very traditional Moroccan Recipe by Ronit:

HARIRA SOUP

Harira is a tomato based soup with chick peas, meat, lentils and small
noodles.

It is the most important soup in Morocco as it serves to break the fast
during the whole month of Ramadan. During this month, at the break of the
fast, harira is accompanied by dates, warm milk, juices, bread and
traditional Moroccan pancakes. At the moment of the call to prayer,
Moroccans all over the country utter ‘bismillah’ (in the name of God), bite
into a date and sip a spoonful of harira – their first taste of food after a
long day of fasting.

For 2-3 people

200 grams of meat (lamb or beef) chopped into cubes

150-200g of chickpeas soaked overnight

80g of vermicelli

5 tomatoes

1 cup of chopped celery (krafs)

1/2 cup of chopped coriander

1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons of tomato paste

1 tsp of powdered ginger

1 pinch of saffron (strands or powdered)

1/2 cup of cornflour

1 liter of water

salt

pepper

1 tablespoon of butter

Boil the tomatoes and blend to a puree. In a large pan place the chickpeas,
herbs (parsley and celery but not the coriander), the onions, meat, spices
and butter. Add the tomato puree and 1 litre of water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 45 minutes or until the chickpeas are soft. Stir in the tomato
paste and thicken by adding water to the cornflour and slowly stirring in.
Add the vermicelli and cook for a further 10 minutes. Take off the heat and
add the fresh coriander. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Clock tip – for a special treat (especially at Ramadan) serve with dates and
sticky, sweet shebbakiya.

 

Open Table is running cooking workshops  and  introducing a new food line: Gourmet Raw Foods called Raw Buzz (from Ronit’s surname ‘Robbaz’)

 

 

THE BELLY BULLETIN

Local screenings of the new film “The Economics of Happiness” are on this week.

This is a film on solutions to the problems of unemployment, waste and unhappiness that we see flowing from our current system of trade and production, including things like shipping food across the world just to package it. The film is by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick & John Page. They say: ‘Going local’ is a powerful strategy to help repair our fractured world – our ecosystems, our societies and our selves. Far from the old institutions of power, people are starting to forge a very different future…

check out “The economics of Happiness” at:

Mullumbimby Civic Hall ,Wednesday, 13th April, 6.30pm

Southern Cross University, Lismore (Main D Block concert space), Thursday 14th April, 6pm

Byron Community Centre, Sunday, 17th April, 6.00pm

more info www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org/

Our local food producers, agricultural industry and community will reap big benefits when some of the Northern River’s most groundbreaking sustainable agriculture projects are showcased in forums across the region in May.

With the focus on sharing knowledge and making food production profitable in a changing climate, the Sustainable Agriculture Forums are scheduled for Murwillumbah and Ballina on May 3 and Casino and Maclean on May 4. They will showcase projects that focus on sustainable greenhouse production, biological farming methods, sustainable grazing and soil health for commercial food production.

The forums are free and open to the public, in particular, representatives from the Northern Rivers agricultural industry, local food producers and community members interested in sustainable agriculture and food security.

For more information, or to register: visit www.northernriversfoodlinks.com.au

or email events@northernriversfoodlinks.com.au