Busier & Busier

Now that the rainy season is over and tourists are packing their bags to come this way, the business just keeps getting more clients. The last 2 weeks were by far the busiest we've seen since we started. During that time, we held 6 different cooking classes. Yea, we've had a good number of classes before in a short amount of time. What makes these different are the number of people in each class. We had a couple of classes with 2 or 3 people, but we also had 3 classes with 6 or more people (one of those being the previously mentioned class of 13).

At the same time, as a side note, we held the 14th Annual St. Patty's Day Fajita Party in which we served over 80 folks some great Fajitas. What an excellent party! We had so much fun consuming Mexican food and celebrating the Irish! We asked everyone what they would change or enforce in regards to driving laws! I personally would allow driving on the sidewalks, primarily because most nationals walk in the streets. Often I carefully pass scores of people and glance over to see an 8" wide sidewalk completely empty. If I were there, I would be home by now!

The Youngest, yet the Biggest

There is something about teaching the next generation. It's very enjoyable and rewarding. I say this because yesterday we had our youngest and largest class to date. Two families in our city brought their children to the cooking school to take advantage of a local holiday and no school. All told, there were 5 adults and 9 kids present (not including staff). One of the kids was only a few months old, so he technically didn't count as a client. But the other kids that took part were between the ages of 3 to 16 (some of the younger ones ate the cookies and drank the tea, but they took part.)
First and foremost, not a single one of them burned, cut or maimed themselves. That was probably my biggest concern as 14 people all started piling into my place that already had 4 folks waiting. On top of that, Nisrine did an amazing job handling all the noise and chaos that comes with that many people, regardless of age.


On to the class. We chose a dish that would be very hands-on and enjoyable. And it's one of my wife's personal favorites: Bourmash and Miliwi. This specific dish is similar to Chicken Tajine, but it has a very special spice in it called "Ras Al-Hanut." This is a 40-blend spice that lights up the air. Another special about Bourmash is that it is served over the Miliwi (a bread-like pastry with flour and semolina).

As you can see in some of the pictures, every one of the folks got their hands dirty as they had to roll out the dough. We partnered them up on stations since the most we can accommodate at once is 8.

And then we trekked up the winding stairs to our new Frosh sitting area covered by the new tent. It was such a glorious and beautiful day as everyone of them consumed their grub and enjoyed the view of the city.