For my gourmet club this year, my partner and I came up with the theme SPICE showcasing Moroccan food. It was quite an ambitious undertaking since I didn't know much about Morocco nor have any of the items to complement the dinner like serving pieces, ingredients and decorations. I wanted to be challenged so I plugged along with researching and practicing recipes and ideas with Mayumi. We even went to the local Moroccan restaurant Zitoune in Mamaroneck and talked at length with Alain, the owner. Then we came up with a menu that was beautiful and delicious! My rad friend Diane had visited Morocco last year so I picked her brain all about the Souk with it's sights and sounds. My friend, Nicole who is a TV gourmet maven in Westport, CT told me about Moroccan preserved lemons that take 4 weeks to cure. I knew it was a must to make these for our take home gifts. I washed, sliced open and stuffed with kosher salt over 130 lemons and then watched them brine in 3 large jars on my counter for an entire month. They are a great flavor for chicken or stews. And so pretty!
The night was a cold and rainy night, but we still put out paper lanterns that lined the walk and invited our guests in with Moroccan music playing. We set up my sideboard in my dining room with all sorts of fruits, spices and herbs like you would find in a Souk in Morocco. The aromas of the spices were so intense and inviting. My favorite part of the dinner was the Persian Love Cake with flavors of cardamom, lemon zest, rose water and saffron! It was such an unusual array of flavors that worked so well together. I also loved the couscous with the carmelized onions, raisins and pinenuts and the bisteeya was unusual and delicious too. 
