Conscious Choice: The Hidden Mysteries of Morocco at Andalous

July 2002 | Conscious Dining

The Hidden Mysteries of Morocco at Andalous

by Ethel Hammer and Stephen Kleiman

Andalous Moroccan Restaurant is a rollicking caravan of Moroccan cuisine. Soup trembles with lentils. Stew tingles with honey. Lamb melts in your mouth. Almonds crunch. Mint tea waters pastries sandy as dunes. Moroccans are renowned for their hospitality, and owner Hadj Mohammed is a ready host, his pride in his culture evident as he hands you his menu. For our part, we learned about Moroccan cuisine from Grandmother Edmilla, who said, "To keep my Joseffi faithful, I throw a chameleon into the couscous." Nothing this eccentric transpires at Andalous, a place where home cooking meets exoticism nonetheless.

Andalous refers to a medieval territory encompassing both southern Spain and northern Africa where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in peace until the late fifteenth century when Jews and Muslims faced a brutal decision: either convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. As a result, many Muslims and Jews migrated to northern Africa where bonds of good feeling still run deep. So, too, at Andalous where the voluble Hadj orchestrates spontaneous conversations among guests. In three visits, we met two blonde actresses from New York, a Chicagoan about to take off for Morocco, a group of retired Floridians, and a local Moroccan student eager to share his knowledge of a culture intertwining the histories of Arabs, Jews, Spaniards, Berbers, Romans, and Visigoths.

Three years ago, Hadj opened a Mediterranean restaurant with a male chef, but it didn’t work. So he decided to do authentic Moroccan dishes and hire women cooks. In Morocco, cooking is traditionally viewed as women’s work, and at Andalous, two female cooks, including Hadj’s wife, spice dishes with cinnamon, cumin, paprika, saffron, black pepper, and other exotic seasonings. As for saffron, the world’s costliest spice, Hadj shrugs and smiles, "Our diners deserve it." Now, people of all ages and backgrounds dine in the merry front room with its dappled light or pass on to the patio. Lovers nuzzle, friends babble, scarved women dine with their husbands, lone diners cradle their books.

Our feast started with a Spanish-inspired quartet, the Andalous Combo Deal, which included Zaalouk, a grilled eggplant, green pepper, and tomato mixture similar to baba ghanoush but much chunkier. "This is the best eggplant I ever had" Stephen cried. Taktouka — a sumptuous tomato and pepper melange — introduced us to Moroccan "softness," a sensation we would experience again and again.

Most of the entrées are tagines, traditional Moroccan stews that whiz you around this country of contrasts with its casbahs, souks, deserts, mountains, and tingling fountains. The Fez Tagine, named for Morocco’s spiritual and cultural capital, was our most refined choice. Totally succulent melt-in-your-mouth lamb bathes in honey and onion sauce, surrounded, in turn, by succulent, soft, sweet prunes dappled with white sesame seeds and topped with almonds. Intricate harmonies arise, not unlike Moroccan music. Subtle interlocking flavors remind you of sparkling tiles.

The vegetarian Ouarzatate Tagine is another homespun marvel — less sophisticated, but just as delectable, mixing peas, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, and olives — named for a southern Moroccan city where mountains meet desert.

Meanwhile, the Marrakech Tagine honors the city where fortunetellers, snake charmers, jugglers, and acrobats cavort by night. In this dish, yummy lamb frolics in a sweet tomato, saffron, and onion sauce, mixing raucous fried potatoes with earthy refinements.

The deceptively mild chicken Meknes Tagine, a Berber dish with its preserved lemons and olives, kicked our taste buds like camels forcing them to wander. (Its unusual back-of-the-mouth taste was hard to resolve.)

Sunny Moroccan dishes often veil succulence, only to reveal it. "We have no secrets," Hadj said again and again. The Famous Couscous concealed its lamb in cabbage leaves, decked in vegetables, raisins, and chickpeas. (A vegetarian version is also available.) Of Spanish origin, Chicken Pastilla wraps chicken breast, almonds, honey, cilantro, and parsley in crispy phyllo topped with powdered sugar, cinnamon and almonds. This was the most showy dish in a stunning display of home-style ethnic cooking at its best, guiding us with care through the sheltering streets and open boutiques of Moroccan fare.

Stephen’s Five P’s:

Palatability: Every dish at Andalous brings new flavors and textures from delicious and full-bodied Lentil Soup to Selou, a brownie-like almond dessert. Moroccan dishes use prunes, honey, almonds, olives, and eggplant as the basis for their flavor profile. With the addition of lamb, chicken, fish, and fresh vegetables, this menu is realized with delicacy and intense flavor.

Portion Size: Portions are just about perfect. Entrées are quite substantial and well worth the price.

Presentation: Many dishes appear in a standard manner, food in the center of the plate with an herb garnish. All presented with care, many are offered with intrigue: lamb hidden under cabbage on couscous or dramatic sugar and cinnamon in the Chicken Pastilla. But presentation is not as important as preparation and the delicious flavors.

Price: This is a good midrange restaurant where you can do very well with your check if you are careful.

Pleasure: Andalous will give you a wonderful dining experience with Hadj a font of Moroccan knowledge just waiting for a receptive ear. About half a dozen dishes are vegan or can be easily converted upon request. These include an Andalous Tagine, a Vegetarian Couscous, yummy Lentil Soup, and a tempting Andalous Salad with corn, carrots, parsley, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, and onions. We enjoyed ourselves immensely each time we visited and on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (incredible), I give Andalous a 4.5.

Andalous Moroccan Restaurant, 3307 N. Clark, 773-281-6885. Open Monday through Thursday 11:30 am to 10:00 pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30 am to 11:30 pm, Sunday: 11:30 am to 10:00 pm. Appetizers, soups, and salads from $2.25 to $6.25. Entrées from $9.25 to $14.00. Desserts from $1.25 to $5.00, including green tea with orange blossom water and fresh mint.

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