Souk Bazaar/Souk Medina - London
Review by Veronica Blake
WHETHER it be the simplest dish of cous cous and fresh vegetabes or the glorious and elaborate concoctions of a Tagine, where ingredients are layered with lyrical inspiration, Moroccan cuisine is both distinctive and delicious.
Eating is a celebration in Morocco, and Moroccans are proud of their food. Food is family and festivity and one of the most important ways of expressing a cultural tradition that is as rich and varied as the banquets held to celebrate every aspect of life.
Walk through even the remotest of villages in Morocco, where there is high unemployment, yet at midday the aromatic aroma of Tagine wafts out from the tiny houses as mothers and daughters prepare a delicious tagine and cous cous.
Veiled in fragrant spices, with a rich array of ingredients, Moroccan food is a window on the history of this fertile land. The culinary method’s of Morocco’s first inhabitants, the Berbers, survive today.
Many standard Moroccan dishes, such as cous cous, Tagines (meat and vegetable stews) and harrira (spicy lentil soup), are Berber dishes. The Persian influence on this tradition dates from the Arab invasion of the late 7th Century.
It was through the mobility of the new Muslim Arab nation that many spices and recipes were transported to Morocco and onwards into Spain. Sweet and sour combinations, the use of fruit with meats, a fondness for nuts and dates, an attraction to honey and milk and the enthusiastic use of most fragrant spcies were adopted assiduously.
Many centuries later, this Berber-Arab fusion, refined and augmented, would flow back into Morocco from Andalucia.
Later came the émigré Jewish Moorish population, whose preserving skills are still evident in Moroccan food today. The Moors introduced olives, olive oil, citrus fruits and the sophisticated use of spice.
Later, the Ottoman Empire introduced grills and barbecues to Morocco’s culinary repertoire, the relatively short stay of the French is evident. The colonial period left behind pastries and desserts, ice creams, confectionary and wine as well as the legacy of French culinary terminology.
I’ve always loved the recipies of Claudia Roden, one of my favourite cookery writers. Her wonderful depiction of Moroccan and Middle Eastern food were my first introduction to the delights of Moroccan cuisine, which has to be one of the healthiest in the world.
Obesity does not exist in Morocco, neither do Asbos. Moroccans are the most amiable law-abiding people you could meet. Perhaps this has to do with their nutritious diet? You’re not likely to spot a Burger King, McDonald’s or Pizza Hut in Morocco.
Around ten years ago, Moroccan food became fashionable in London with the opening of Momo’s which attracted famous celebrity names. Madonna celebrated her birthday there. Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan and many a Hollywood star has dined there when in London.
However, I have always preferred the more modest Souk in Litchfield Street, a delightful Ali Baba-like cavernous space with it’s Berber tapestries, candelight and delicious Tagines – it really captures the magic of Marrakesh.
The original Souk Bazaar in Litchfield Street, opened by the charming Samir, was originally in a basement but proved to be so popular that it soon expanded to a bustling two floors packed to capacity seven nights a week. It’s rare to find an empty table at Souk.
As you descend the staircase, it’s like entering another world, the smell of mint tea burning insense and Tagines bubbling on the stove is quite intoxicating. You’de be forgiven for thinking you were in Djemma El Fna, the bustling centre of Marrakesh.
The gentle strain of North African Rai or Cheb Khaled, a Moroccan Will Young, crooning in the background, adds to the ambience. Staff dressed in traditional robes greet you and show you to your table.
The set menu, offering a range of traditional starters at £12 for lunch or £15 for dinner, is excellent value. The range of starters include humous, fennel and saffron rice salad, roast pepper and tomato salad, or yoghurt with cucumber and mint.
It is followed by a main course of cous cous with Merguez sausages, Tagine of Lamb with prunes and roasted almonds, Tagine of Chicken with saffron and herbs, Tagine of Spinach with feta cheese, or Tagine of Chick Peas, with cumin and harissa sauce.
For dessert, there’s a selection of Baklava, pastry with honey and almonds, followed by mint tea. The hubble Bubble or Shisha is available for those who want to experience a taste of true Moroccan authenticity.
I opted for the Chicken Tagine, which was tender and cooked to perfection. My friend loved the merguez sausages and root vegetables. Waiters are friendly and efficient, they’re also run off their feet, such is the popularity of Souk.
Unsurprisingly, Souk Bazaar was such a hit with Londoners that not only did it flow over to two floors, in January this year another branch, Souk Medina, opened just a short walk away in Short’s Gardens.
The new restaurant is larger and with three floors is proving to be as popular as the original restaurant. The candlelight, low seating and Medina like ambience make it a romantic setting for couples, or just a unique party ambience for a large group of friends out celebrating a birthday or anniversary.
You enter a Medina-like market place with tables laden with trinkets, lamps and traditional artifacts, with the addition of a tall man in a fez adding to the Medina-like atmosphere. The downstairs restaurant is large and with a similar but more extensive menu offering more variety of Tagines and desserts such as crepe with chocolate and rosewater cream and apple tart or rice pudding.
Both restaurants have a selction of excellent, reasonably priced wines from Morocco, Spain and Chile.
At around 10pm, the music was turned up and a Belly dancer floated in like Sheharazade from A Thousand and One Nights. She could dance. A man at the next table was so caught up in the atmosphere that he jumped to his feet and joined her, unabashed waving his arms and hips, much to the astonishment of his wife who could not believe her eyes.
Here was her husband, a timid local council admin clerk, suddenly coming on all snake-hipped, like Laurence of Arabia on the dance floor!
It could have been the music, the insense, the exotic beauty dancing before him shimmying away in sequins and veils, the mint tea, or the apple and cinnamon Hubble Bubble, but Souk has that kind of effect on you.
You really are wafted away on a magic carpet ride to that mystical land of Morocco, which has been drawing poets, artists, writers and travelers in search of adventure and the exotic for centuries.
Souk Bazaar,
27 Litchfield Street,
WC2.
Tel: 020 7240 3382
Souk Medina,
1a, Short’s Gardens,
WC2.
Tel: 020 7240 1796