Marrakech: and a tale of a dinner party at Peacock Pavilions guest house

After all the slicing and dicing and kneading by the Peacock Painters...it was time for dinner.

The table was ready.

(Peacock dishes with golden rim from Anthropologie, flatware from Portugal, chauffeur tea glasses from the Marrakech souks, hand printed sari from Bangladesh used as a tablecloth,  golden earrings from Mali-turned napkin rings.)

The Moroccan lanterns (designed by me!) were lit.

Chef Ellis and Mixologist Alex came into our diningroom for the big reveal, Moroccan tagine dishes in hand.

Oh the guests looked happy.

So tasty!

We dug in! (White roses from the Peacock Pavilion garden)

Fabulous Melanie from Royal Design Studios (in her necklace from the Marrakech souks) and I (in my silk caftan blouse from Afghanistan) were particularly pleased...........

....because Chef Ellis showed off his tattoo for dessert:-)

 
 *****

PS So sweet.  See here.

PPS Coming to Marrakech from the US?  Kind courriers needed. Pls let me know!

Peacock Pavilions: and a tale of a Moroccan cooking class in Marrakech

And you thought that the Peacock Painters were only painting when at Peacock Pavilions?  Most certainly not!  We put them to work in the kitchen........ 

Well it was actually darling Chef Ellis who gave them a Moroccan-inspired cooking class:-)

Spicing the filling for Moroccan dumplings called briouwates

 Plating the briouwate sauce on peacock dishes.......

 
Browning chicken for the Moroccan tagine.
 
 Assembling the tagine, with plenty of local vegetables.

 Simmering the tagines on the stove............
 
Baking fresh bread.  
 
Preparing poached pears for dessert.

 
And the Peacock Painters...........well, they were naturals when it came to Moroccan cooking.  Who knew it was so do-able?!  Chef Ellis typed up the Moroccan recipes for them, and we picked up 8 Moroccan earthenware tagine dishes for them to take home. 

Bon Appetit:-)

Marrakech: and a tale of a shocking Moroccan lunch at Peacock Pavilions guesthouse

The Peacock painters found lunch at Peacock Pavilions apparently, well, shocking.

Maybe it was my silly stirrers from the 1960s (which include such gems as, Rearm the Venus de Milo, Unite against togetherness, Lower the age of Puberty and Down with Literasy)?

Judge for yourself.

 Tangy Moroccan carrot salad with cumin, garlic, and preserved lemon.

Sandwiches on homemade bread.

Smoky, oven roasted eggplant salad.

All served up on hand painted platters I bought in Tunisia when on assignment and carried back one by one (I'm a determined girl, if nothing else).

Hungry?

A Marrakech Guesthouse: and a mixologist's tale of cocktails at Peacock Pavilions

The arrival of the talented Peacock Painters offered the perfect occasion for cocktails on the roof terrace of Peacock Pavilions! I laid out my antique Moroccan sequined kilims and put out my vintage red bamboo seating found in the Marrakech souks.  Our darling mixologist, aka Intern Alex, whipped up some house specialties that we had been tasting the evenings before {Oh the things one is required to do in the name of science!}

Served on vintage Moroccan hand etched trays.  Yum!

The Pomegranate Peacock....

 
The Minty Marrakech..........

The Peacocktail.....

Pssah-HAH! (or To your health,   in Moroccan)