Yum!

The other night I tried some food I'd never had before. I drove up to Alexandria, VA to meet some folks for dinner and we decided to try a Moroccan restaurant called "Casablanca". It was very interesting! We all sat on raised cushions around a center eating area. Food is served "family style" so that each platter is delivered to the table, and you all use your hands to eat from the communal dish. We ordered the "Kasbah Feast" which is six courses. We started with a bottle of Moroccan red wine, fresh baked bread and an assortment of salads - beet, chickpea, cucumber & mint etc. Next an appetizer called "Bastilla" was delivered - it was delicious and we devoured it in no time! Bastilla is a phyllo dough pie filled with chicken, eggs, almonds, walnuts, onions, parsley and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon - yum, yum, yum!
Both entrees were Tagines. For the first entree we had Lamb with harrisa sauce - very spicy, I liked it, though my lips were burning at the end of eating it. The second entree was Chicken with onions and raisins - a sweeter dish, but we probably liked it even better than the first entree. Finally, a powdered sugar cover pastry of some sort was brought out and served with a hot mint tea. What a nice way to end the evening. I can't believe how dinner lasted for 3-hours of delicious food and conversation.