Back in the US

I'm back in the US now. The first thing I did was check my weight... I was expecting to gain at least 10 lbs. But it was the same weight thanks to one major food poisoning and two minor stomach problems. Once in Spain, which we assume was caused by one of the pinchos (we don't know how long the pinchos were sitting at the counter) and twice in Morocco. The major one, we assume, was caused by ice in a drink. We were told the water in Marrakesh was drinkable because it's highly chlorinated. But some parasites are chlorine resistant. Luckily we had medicine for that parasite. The second one, we believe was caused by the local sweets that we had on the way to the Atlas. There was a creamy/buttery frosting on top. I was a bit scared to try it because it wasn't very sweet (super sweet stuff is safer because sugar can be a preservative). And later in the evening, we had some stomach problems...

But I have no regrets. No risk, no reward!!


Here is the report on the sweets I bought.


Macaron (Pierre Herme)

The crust was very flaky and a little less filling than Laduree (the one I went to with the chocolate and pastry tasting tour in Paris). I think the ratio between shell and filling was perfect. Like the guide said, the flavors were more creative but not crazy. I like Pierre Herme better than Laduree.

Chocolate - Laurent Gerbaud

This is one of the two Belgian chocolates I bought. Lots of dried fruits and nuts. The chocolate itself was dark and hard chocolate. I thought some of the salt on the nuts was a bit too much. I wonder whether they didn't have an option of unsalted nuts?

Chocolate - Pierre Mancolini

This is another Belgian chocolate. The 4 pieces in the middle are their standard chocolate, surrounded by ones with different cacao from various regions, such as Cuba, Venezuela, Java and Madagascar. It was interesting to compare chocolates with cacao from different origins.  

Chocolate - La Maison du Chocolat

This is the one I went to with the tasting tour. Because I liked it, I got a box to bring back. And I believe this is the best chocolate among the three I brought back. The chocolate outside is very rich and creamy and the filling is very rich as well. The chocolate and filling complement each other well. However, these pieces didn't taste as good as what I tasted on the tour. It seemed that these are a bit older, probably because this is prepackaged. Next time, I'll pick the chocolates from the counter and have them make a box for me. But these are still very good.

I can't believe my foodie trip is over. Usually vacation time flies so quickly. Because this trip was full of events, I feel like I was traveling for much longer. I was trying to write my experience as much as possible in this blog but I'm sure I missed some of it.

I planned this trip in order to broaden my culinary views. Every country I visited gave me valuable experience. But Morocco was an extraordinarily special place. Everything was so different and every minute was so worthwhile. I have to say that it was the highlight of this entire trip. There are lots of other parts of world with interesting cuisines, and I'm confident that I will visit many of them some day. When I do, I'll have more experiences to share through this blog.