So in a couple of days we are going to have our best friends over to watch Casablanca and have a Moroccan themed dinner. By the way, I am the only one of the four of us who has never seen the film. Our friend Jason’s favorite all time song is “As Time Goes By” from the movie. I also have never cooked Moroccan cuisine before so it will be a fun and adventurous evening.
Our guests are in charge of the drinks and while I am writing this I don’t know what that is, but I think Pomegranates are involved. Our Menu begins with Moroccan Lamb Meatballs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce, served with Roasted Carrots, Goat Cheese, Pistachios and Golden Raisins, Moroccan Rice Pilaf, and M’hanncha (a Moroccan Snake Pastry). No snakes were harmed in the making of this pastry, but there were plenty of figs that were sacrificed.
I mentioned earlier our friend’s all-time favorite song is “As Time Goes By”. When he had this 40th birthday, (ten years ago) a group of us went to Las Vegas to celebrate with him. I’d say there were maybe 15 people or so at he and his wife’s hotel room. We made espresso martinis (a story about the inception of espresso martinis in our life at another time) and partied till 5 a.m. At that time we had a vocal jazz quartet called SRO and we suprised him with a rendition of his favorite song. As time was limited, we took every chance we could to rehearse. Once we even walked over to a garage sale in their neighborhood, without him, and sang on the frontage road.
Morocco has always been on my bucket list and I have done some research on the area. There are a number of places in the south of Spain where you can take a ferry to North Africa and arrive in Morocco. Tarifa, Spain has a number of sailings a day to Tangier, Morocco. The journey through the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco takes about an hour or two. I’ve always wanted to take a day or two to Gibraltar and then sail to Africa. The Barbary macaques are so cute but I understand they can be vicious little thieves. There are other areas in the South of Spain where you can catch a ferry but they are a longer journey.
The movie Casablanca is a classic and rightly so. I enjoyed it but I enjoyed listening to the other three reciting the lines from the movie even more. Here are a few very memorable quotes from Casablanca.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
“We’ll always have Paris.”
“Play it, Sam.”
“Here’s looking at you kid.”
Me? My kids and I can quote all of Christmas Vacation. Don’t judge!
The dinner was amazing and the aforementioned Pomegranate drinks were very refreshing and a nice touch with the Desert theme.
Pomegranate Green Tea Mojitos
https://www.theredheadbaker.com/pomegranate-green-tea-mojitos
Moroccan Lamb Meatballs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce https://savorthebest.com/moroccan-lamb-meatballs-in-spicy-tomato-sauce
Moroccan Rice Pilaf https://www.thehungrybites.com/moroccan-rice-pilaf
Moroccan Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese, Pistachios and Golden Raisins https://reciperunner.com/moroccan-roasted-carrots-goat-cheese-pistachios-golden-raisins
So…….. what will the next Dinner and a Movie be? Stay tuned.
