Today’s program was optional. It included a visit to a women’s cooperative that produces argan oil, a sighting of tree-climbing goats and the best lunch of the entire trip! But first a visit to Jimmy Hendrix’s home. It is now a café but unfortunately not open during the day due to Ramadan so we couldn’t go in and do our superfan routines.
The women’s cooperative takes the nut from the argan fruit and cracks it open to get the “almond” inside. Some of the almonds are roasted and turned into consumable oil while the rest are not roasted and used instead for cosmetic purposes – shampoos, wrinkle preventative, eczema and psoriasis treatment, lip gloss – the list goes on and on. This lovely young woman has been studying English which she used very well during our tour of the production facility.
Argan producers collect the fruit of the tree after it ripens and falls to the ground, but also collects the nuts that the goats cannot digest. Use your imagination. These goats have evolved so they can climb the argan trees to reach the fruit at the top. It really is quite a hilarious sight. See what you think. The young woman at the cooperative thought it was pretty funny that our goats don’t climb trees!
We stopped for lunch at Val d’Argan, a local winery owned and operated by a French man. See http://www.valdargan.com. He has 60 hectares of vines and in a good year produces 260,000 bottles that he ships all over Morocco. We were treated to a white, a rosé and a red. My favourite was the white. We were also treated to the best lunch of our tour. Starters included fried eggplant with yogurt (I do love eggplant!), marinated shredded carrots, cucumbers with parsley, marinated peppers and green beans and a few other things. And bread – always bread, this time with both olive and argan oil for dipping. The main was kebabs (called skewers in Morocco) of chicken and beef, and this was the first time that the grilled meat was tender and juicy. The meat was always good before, but this was a cut above.
Wine with lunch made us sleepy so we snoozed our way back to the hotel. Cheryl, Ellen, Terri and I had dinner reservations for 7:30 pm at Mega Loft, a restaurant in the souk owned by Abdullah’s friend. The friend was an artisan’s son and he learned to knit from his father. He and his father would sit on a corner in the souk and produce toques and other simple goods. But the son rose above his station and now owns a restaurant. He’s branching out to fashion in a space under renovation.
We are sad to be leaving Essaouira. This lovely city is not only beautiful; it has a laid back feel to it not present in Rabat, Fes or Marrakech. Tomorrow Casablanca and then home. A wonderful end to a marvellous experience.
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