(upbeat music)
- And this is what
we're gonna get right here.
(laughs)
Giant lobster, giant
crab, Essaouira special.
- Yep (speaks foreign language)
- That's giant.
Look at the size and the
color of the tail on there.
That looks so juicy and succulent,
the color, the blue and
the red, it's massive.
Check it out, guys, it's Trevor James.
Just got into Essaouira, coastal Morocco,
and I'm so pumped 'cause
today, we're gonna be going
for a full-on meat and seafood adventure.
Check it out.
This is Essaouira, just a two-hour drive
west of Marrakesh on coastal Morocco,
and here you can try some of
the best seafood of your life.
And today, we're taking you with us
for a full-on meat and seafood adventure.
Starting out by taking the bus
to the weekly Sunday
farmer's market at Hadra,
and here, we're finding some
camel meat and grilling it up.
And then, finding an
extremely delicious tajine,
and then making our way back to Essaouira
for an extreme seafood adventure,
tasting raw sea urchins,
jumbo lobsters and crabs,
and going to a lady's home for
a traditional couscous meal.
You're gonna love this
video, so make sure to watch
all the way until the
end so you don't miss
any of the crazy stuff we find.
Let's eat.
Awesome, guys, this city
is absolutely beautiful,
and first up, we're gonna go to the Sunday
farmer's market at Hadra,
get some delicious meat,
and then we're gonna make
our way back to town.
There's a seafood market just down there,
and we're gonna have a huge seafood feast.
Let's check it out.
After a quick bus ride, we made our way
to the Hadra Sunday farmer's market
to look for some delicious
meat to start the day.
All right, guys, we have made our way
to the local market Hadra near
Essaouira in coastal Morocco,
and this is just so cool here.
Tons of different produce, meat,
and we're gonna explore and
see what we can find to eat.
This is such a cool place here, guys.
Oh, wow, look at this up here.
Oh, wow, these are camel
hooves and camel head.
Camel.
(speaks foreign language)
(laughs)
Oh, and camel meat.
Wow, look at the camel head here, guys.
This is (slurs words) in Morocco.
We're gonna get a kilo of
camel meat here to grill.
Wow, and he's just measuring it.
Oh, look at that.
Oh, what's this?
(speaks foreign language)
Oh, the kidney.
(speaks foreign language)
Kidney, oh.
- Kilo.
- Kilo, okay.
Wow, look at this, guys.
We've got a kilo or more of
camel meat and kidney here.
That is a lot, and you can see the.
This is crazy.
(speaks foreign language)
Okay.
(chuckles) Look at that, we're getting
a ton of camel meat today,
oh and the fat, wow.
(speaks foreign language)
Okay, we got the camel meat here.
Look at that, bag of pure
camel meat in Morocco.
(speaks foreign language)
(speaks foreign language)
And after a quick walk to
the corner of the market,
we found a grill who happily took
all the camel meat for
us and grilled it up.
(knife bangs)
Wow.
Wow, this looks good,
we got camel and kidney.
(knife bangs)
That's a whole grill, he's
loading it, loading it up.
(speaks foreign language)
Oh, and you can see, look at that.
(meat sizzles)
We got two racks full of camel meat,
and this is so cool, super local.
You can just sit on these
mats and eat your meat.
And our camel meat is coming along, now.
And look at this, and then we've got tea
right over the fire as
well, Moroccan mint tea,
and we're gonna get glass of that.
That looks great.
Wow,
our camel is ready.
Look at that camel meat.
(knife bangs)
That looks so,
so thick.
There's our camel.
Add a little salt on there
and cumin,
wow.
(speaks foreign language)
Wow, look at that, we got a
huge camel plate here, guys.
(speaks foreign language)
Look at that huge plate of camel.
And he sprinkled salt and cumin on there.
Mm, that looks tender,
and then we've also got
over here, moroccan mint
tea, so you can just
drop a rock of that rock sugar in,
pour your mint in, oh yeah, there it is,
and let that steep for a bit,
and then pour a nice cup.
Okay, let's get a nice good
chunk for the first bite.
And that's a mini camel sandwich.
(moaning)
Oh, it's tough, almost rubbery in a way.
Oh, it's rubbery.
I don't know if it's
the smell of the market
and all the livestock here, or the taste
of the meat in my mouth,
but that is infiltrating
the whole senses here, and I think
that's part of the experience.
Take it, take it, and we're just giving
some of our camel meat away here, 'cause
it wasn't my favorite.
(speaks foreign language)
(speaks foreign language)
But the locals love it.
After paying for that extreme camel meat,
we went deeper into the market
and found a shop selling tons of tajines
and ordered up a big
chicken and olive tajine.
And look at this, guys.
Look at all these tajine
pots, here, lots of tajine.
And we're gonna see if we can find any.
We just found tajine heaven here, guys.
Oh, look at that, so there's potato,
oh, looks like some zucchini,
and there should be beef on the bottom.
You can get either chicken
or beef here, or lamb,
and you can see the huge row of tajines.
This is deep in the local market
Hadra, and we're gonna get,
I think we're gonna
order a chicken tajine.
And this is ours right here guys,
they just put it on for us.
You can see all of those olives,
the onions, the tomato,
the spice, the chicken.
Oh yes, that is gonna be really good,
and that's gonna start sizzling,
and that's gonna cook for,
I think, about 30 minutes.
We're gonna have a chicken tajine feast.
(speaks foreign language)
Wow, look at this, guys.
Look at the color in there,
the olives, the onions,
there's a chili, there's
potato, there's tomato.
Wow, you can really smell
that rich olive aroma.
They added on a saffron stalk on there,
and also they load it up
with tons of bizarre spice,
kind of like the arabic garam masala.
Loaded up with cumin,
coriander, peppercorns,
fennel, chilies, turmeric, and cinnamon.
Oh, the chicken just breaks
right off into the bread.
That is so beautiful, and you can smell
all those spices, and we're just so deep.
(moaning in approval)
It is so smooth, the flavor,
and you can really just
dig in, and what's really
nice here is the chicken
and the olive, that's
basically the perfect combo.
The olives actually
give a lot of seasoning
to this whole dish because they're salty
and chicken is juicy, and the
onions and tomatoes are sweet,
so it's a perfect flavor spectrum.
That was the coolest market ever.
And we're gonna make our way back
to the main city,
Essaouira, go for more food.
We made our way back to Essaouira
for the massive seafood
market on the pier,
and found some crazy seafood,
starting with a raw sea
urchin and oysters bar
right in the heart of the market.
Awesome, guys, we are now at the biggest
seafood market here in Essaouira.
Right down here there's
a ton of fresh seafood.
We're gonna buy a bunch and bring it
to a local grill in the back streets
of Essaouira and have a big seafood feast.
Check it out.
Wow, look at all the
sardines and mackerel.
Sardine.
Oh, look at these, guys,
sardines covered in salt
right off the boat, and
we're gonna get some.
Okay.
Here we go,
fresh sardines and should be good.
Oh yeah, look at this.
(speaks foreign language)
(speaks foreign language)
Wow, urchin, sea urchin.
- Yes.
- Oh, wow.
Fresh sea urchin,
oyster,
tons of huge,
live
shells and seafood.
This is karonia, we got
mussels,
gooseneck barnacles, sea urchins,
oysters.
Everyone is loving it here,
and this is like the Moroccan
sushi bar right at the port.
- This, oyster.
- Oyster, okay.
Wow. (speaks foreign language)
So we got oyster, and oh, we're also
gonna get a sea urchin there, as well.
Nice, here comes the sea urchin.
Oh, that's how we're gonna do it.
So we're gonna get one.
Oh, that's so satisfying to watch.
That crispy goodness.
Oh nice.
- [Fishmonger] This is here
what we made sushi with.
- Make sushi with?
- Yes.
Add this to eat coral inside.
- Oh, you eat the egg.
- Yes.
- Wow, thank you, let's try it out.
Ooh, oh.
That is potent.
Whoa.
- This is by you food.
By you.
- Bio.
- Natural, from sea--
- Oh, natural food.
Natural food, yeah.
- Didn't add anything.
Just from sea--
- You can taste the ocean.
Yeah.
(laughs)
That is a fresh sea urchin, right from,
right off the boat, and super strong,
briny flavor.
It has a strong ocean odor,
so it is quite potent.
Way different from the stuff in Japan,
but it's also enjoyable
as well, thank you.
- [Fishmonger] Welcome.
(moans)
Have a nice time.
- Oh that is strong.
And after saying thank
you, we kept exploring
the market on the quest
for crab and lobster.
Oh yeah, so you can see,
the sardines are just coming
right off the boat here, super fresh.
Right off the boat, amazing.
Tons
of boxes of these sardines,
and you can see way back there.
It's just
stacked high.
So many here.
And we're gonna get some big crab here.
This crab?
Big.
Let's take a look, guys.
Oh, there we go, oh that's good size.
You have a big, really big.
(speaks foreign language)
Not huge, but it's got some weight to it.
This is 20, which is $2,
it's great, it's a deal.
(speaks foreign language)
Thank you.
Right from the source, beautiful, guys.
Honestly, while this was a good deal,
I was hoping to find a
monster crab and lobster,
so we asked a couple other guys
who brought us to the source
at the end of the dock.
Got this crab here, and
then we met these guys.
They've got another bag of crabs,
and they're pretty good size,
but they're gonna bring us to the big one,
the monster one, which is across the port.
You can see there's a ton of seafood here,
but we're gonna go get custom, because
this was so cheap, 20
dirham, which is two dollar,
so might as well level it
up and get a monster size.
But first, our lobster
delivery guy arrived
with a monster lobster that we pre-ordered
prior to visiting the market.
Look at that!
(speaks foreign language)
It's monster size, three KG. (laughs)
Whoa!
(speaks foreign language) This is it.
Three KG, monster. (chuckles)
That is gonna be delicious.
Look at the size of that claw, gigantic.
Ho!
Ho!
This is it right here, guys.
Look at the tail on that beauty.
Look at the size of that.
Absolutely beautiful.
Still alive, this was more than $2.
This was $120, a little bit different.
That's gonna be totally worth it.
We're gonna go get one more crab,
because that one was a little small,
and then we're gonna go have a big feast.
And this is our buddy here
that's getting us the next crab.
We got giant, giant lobster,
we're getting one more crab,
because this one was a little small.
This is absolutely beautiful.
(speaks foreign language)
Okay, oh, we're going down.
Okay, we're going right
to the source, guys.
Next crab is from the bag
right under the dock, here.
Oh!
Lobster's still alive, here.
- It's live.
- Oh.
Oh look at all the crab
here, right from the sea!
Oh, yes, here we go, that's the source.
(chortles)
Look at this, those are huge.
That's what we need, guys.
- Big.
- Big, monster.
Giant crab, giant lobster,
three KG right here.
And, oh, these are giant, look at these.
- Yes.
- Oh, that's a good size.
(chuckles) Wow.
Oh, here comes the--
- Ah, it's male.
- Male, male.
- This is male, male.
Oh, and here comes the female giant.
- This is male.
(laughs)
- Look at that, that is what we need.
- This is female.
Small, female, female.
- Oh, small, female.
- Female.
- Okay.
- I know.
- So we got female, male, it's all here.
(speaks foreign language)
Okay.
- Good.
- Big, what's, this one's
big, or this one's big?
- This big, this big.
- This big?
Can I feel?
- Yeah.
- Can I feel?
Oh, that's big.
- Big.
- That's the big one, that's the giant.
Look at the size of that. (chuckles)
Look at this, we got
a lobster, giant crab.
This is seafood heaven.
And after paying for the crab,
we made our way into the
back streets of Essaouira
to search for our grill
to cook it up for us.
The first step is to get 'em cleaned.
We're gonna bring 'em to the
main central fish market here,
get them cleaned, and then
bring them to the grill.
We can clean?
- Yeah.
- Okay, thank you.
(cracks)
That is beautiful, look
at the inside, there.
That is giant.
And here's the crab.
(taps)
Oh, there it is.
Wow.
(speaks foreign language)
There it is.
Wow, look at that.
Oh, it's splattering.
Oh, there it is.
(cracks)
(speaks foreign language)
That is absolutely giant.
That's the butter.
That is not gonna be eaten today.
There it is, guys, a full
bag of crab and lobster,
and we've also got our
little bag of sardines.
Let's go.
We are in the alleyways now,
the (speaks foreign language),
and there's a barbecue right up here.
We're gonna bring all
this delicious seafood
to them and try it out.
(speaks foreign language)
(speaks foreign language)
Wow, look at all that.
(speaks foreign language)
This is the grill.
You can see they're usually
doing sardines here,
but today we've got a
bit of a special feature:
crab and lobster.
And now we are just putting
on a bunch of fresh coals.
We're gonna get all of this grilled.
You can either get it grilled or steamed,
but the locals here in
Essaouira, they eat it grilled.
Oh and look at that,
there goes the lobster.
A full grill of lobster,
this is just the first round.
We've got a full, giant crab ready to go
here, as well, and,
oh, it's gonna be good.
There it is, guys, the lobster is on fire.
(speaks foreign language)
(speaks foreign language)
Look at that.
Giant lobster.
Whoa.
And as the giant crab cooked,
she started cracking open
the lobster for me, and
fed me my first bite.
(cracks)
Wow.
Oh, look at the claw meat, there.
Oh (moans in approval)
Whoa.
Seasoned perfectly.
(speaks foreign language)
Little bit of cumin,
little bit of lime,
springy, muscular, oh, and
look at that claw section.
Wow.
(speaks foreign language)
That is epic.
Look at the size.
(moans in approval)
Whoa.
(speaks foreign language)
That lobster flesh is perfect.
That lobster flesh is absolutely perfect
and springy, full of lobster aroma,
seasoned lightly with a
bit of salt and cumin.
Oh, and that bite she just gave me was
absolutely probably
the best bite of flesh,
of meat, of seafood that I've ever had.
(moans)
And we got a crab coming, still.
Honestly, this was extremely good,
but, some pieces were
just a little too smokey
while others were absolutely perfect.
And after enjoying the
delicious crab and sardines,
we made our way for our final meal
of our extreme meat and seafood adventure:
Moroccan couscous with an entire chicken.
Awesome, guys, next up we're
going into a local neighborhood
to get some homemade couscous.
Everybody says the best food in Morocco
is homemade, so we got
invited to a local home
and we're gonna try out
some delicious couscous.
And while our host was extremely friendly
and had no problem with us filming,
she preferred to be
off-camera, so we walked in
and only shot the plating of the couscous.
Check this out.
Look at that.
There's a whole chicken,
look at that, wow.
Oh, it's a whole chicken with cabbage,
carrot, homemade couscous.
Beautiful, and you can see
there's pumpkin and carrot,
there's a whole chicken.
Eggplant, pumpkin,
cabbage, carrot,
chicken, it's all on there,
and look at that couscous
is just saturated with that thick stew.
Oh.
Wow.
(speaks foreign language)
Wow, that is the biggest
couscous you'll ever see.
It is so big, look at
that, there's a whole,
that's a whole chicken, she puts
a whole chicken into the couscous, whoa.
Whole chicken, eggplant, look at that,
pumpkin, tons of carrots,
and she just loads the sauce.
Look at that, tons of fluffy couscous,
and she loads up that vegetable stew.
So let's get a nice bite there.
It's basically a
tomato-pumpkin-carrot-chickpea stew,
with Moroccan spices, some chicken,
and we're gonna take that first bite.
(moans) Oh.
Oh yeah.
It really tastes like
a carrot-tomato stew,
lightly, lightly spiced, and the couscous
is almost slightly nutty.
The pumpkin is sweet,
same with the carrot,
there's a light sweetness to it,
and the chicken is tender.
It's been a wonderful day in
Essaouira, truly amazing place.
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