A Bit of Morocco: Taktouka

Morocco is a North African country that borders on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco is an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim nation, and Arabic* and Berber** are official languages, although French is commonly used in governmental business and within the business community, and Spanish is not uncommon. Both France and Spain controlled parts of Morocco until the mid 1950s; thus, the ability of large numbers of Moroccans to speak French or Spanish, besides Arabic, Berber, or both. This dish is referred to as a salad by some, and as a dip by others. There are variations in the recipe to this common Moroccan dish.   

Ingredients:

2 green bell peppers, roasted, skin removed, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon paprika
1 heaping teaspoon cumin
a pinch of cayenne pepper (or a squirt of hot pepper sauce)
pita bread

Heat the oven to 400 F. Wash and dry the peppers. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the peppers in the oven; roast the peppers, turning them about every 10 minutes, until they begin to darken (likely about 30 to 45 minutes). Let the peppers cool enough that they can be handled. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and stem and peel off the skin (much of it is will easily pull off), then chop them. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add the tomatoes, garlic, paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper; mix well. Let the mixture cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the chopped peppers; stir again. Add the parsley and cilantro and mix again. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve warm with toasted pita bread pieces or wedges. Can be refrigerated and served chilled. 

* Arabic is from the Semitic languages, the most common of which are Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew and Tigrinya. Arabic and Hebrew are commonly known in much of Europe and North America, but Amharic is spoken in a large part of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also spoken in parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, another East African nation.

** The Berber language is a branch of the Hamito-Semitic languages. It is largely spoken in North Africa, with Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco having the largest numbers of Berber speakers.

WORD HISTORY:
Kasbah-This word, also spelled "casbah," goes back to transliterated Arabic "qasaba," which means, "fortified part of a city." Borrowed, sort of, by English in the 1700s, and later with the further meaning, "native part of a northwest African city," as opposed to parts of a city which had been more "Europeanized." The word is best known in English because of the late 1930's movie "Algiers," starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, which spawned the later Warner Brothers' cartoon character "Pepe Le Pew," which was patterned after Boyer's character, complete with references to "the Casbah."