Selma Roth Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – This week, visitors to Park Hyatt's Andalusia Restaurant will step into a 1001 night fairytale. The restaurant is currently not only hosting for the second time a Moroccan food festival featuring an extensive buffet, furnishing company Fez Gate has taken on the job to add a magical Moroccan touch to the restaurant interior, indulging guests in the luxury and mystery of Moroccan cuisine and heritage. Sitting down on the Moroccan-style sofas is the perfect way to savor the atmosphere with an Arabic cup of coffee and dates served upon entering or while enjoying the delicious Moroccan mint tea served following your meal. Park Hyatt Chef de Cuisine Ismail Elabiad, who hails from Agadir, a city in the southwest of Morocco, prepared copious authentic Moroccan salads, tagines, soups, and desserts. Leave simplicity and blandness at home this evening: Moroccan cuisine is rich and not easy to prepare. For the tagines, slow-cooked stews containing lamb, beef, chicken, fish, or vegetables, Elabiad and his team use no less than 45 different spices. The lamb tagine combines tender lamb with prunes, giving the dish a sweet touch. The addition of fruits, nuts, and dried fruits to otherwise savory tagines may be peculiar for some guests but is in fact very common in the Maghreb. Tagines are usually served with couscous, a Moroccan staple of steamed semolina. “In Morocco, 99 percent of the population eats couscous every Friday after the prayer,” Elabiad said, calling it the “national Moroccan dish.” Perhaps needless to say, even the couscous is all but plain. It may contain quail, calf foot, or vegetables and is steamed or cooked in a spicy broth. Harira, a well-known and nutritious soup prepared with tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils, vermicelli, lamb cubes, and onions in addition to a number of herbs and spices, could not be absent during a Moroccan food festival. According to Elabiad, it is usually eaten during Ramadan with Chebakia, a sweet sesame and almond cookie drenched in honey. That Moroccans have a sweet tooth is clear: Mhancha – a sweet almond and pastry spiral, Briouats – sambusa filled with almond pastry, and Kaab el ghzal – a pastry stuffed with almond paste in the shape of a gazelle's horn, are just a few options to choose from. But while it is recommendable to keep some space for a sweet end of a fairytale evening, Elabiad and his team would not be done justice without their guests relishing some appetizers. The cooks prepared two tables full of fresh salads, most of them flavored with Chermoula, a mixture of coriander, parsley, onion, garlic, oil, cumin, pepper and salt. Elabiad also recommends the Pastilla, a pie stuffed with slightly sweet chicken or seafood mixed with Chinese vermicelli, which is traditionally served at the beginning of special meals. Elabiad, who studied and worked in France, Spain, Dubai, and Egypt prior to coming to Saudi Arabia, is a traveled cook; however, he is clearly in his element when preparing Moroccan cuisine. Do not hesitate to ask him anything about a certain dish, as he is happy to explain the ingredients and preparation methods. The Moroccan food festival is taking place at Park Hyatt's Andalusia Restaurant until January 24 from 7:00 pm. to midnight. Price per person is SR 230 including beverage.
