I had the idea I was going to recreate the North African meal I had recently had in New York. Most notably I was aiming for the warm, pillowy, frena drizzled with olive oil and dotted with caramelized garlic, dusted with za’atar and pistachios. Frena is a Moroccan flat bread. This was not that.
It was not bad but it was not the pillowy, warm or, what I had in mind, pull-apart-able bread I’d had in New York. I cut this up. I put “pepper drops,” fresh dill, parsley and mint on it, as well as the olives, za’atar and caramelized garlic. So, you know, fine, possibly really good but not what I had imagined. Husoor made hummus which was perfect (sprinkled with sumac). And his colleagues did not complain. Not that they would have.
For dinner there were cherry tomatoes braised in garlic oil scattered with basil. Totally luscious. Served with the mechouia I’d made the day before, some vegan fricadelli that were supposed to be something along the lines of kofta (I purchased these) which I then cooked in tomato, pepper and garlic sauce, it worked. And smashed potatoes fried in garlic oil with cumin and caraway. They were amazing. No pix tho. I cannot be organized enough to accomplish that when I have to accomplish a meal at the same time.
