Sesame Stories - bakery, Essaouira
We stand at the edge of the waves, the damp sand firm under our feet. The tide is coming in. We stretch one way, then the other. The promenade of Essaouira tips as we ease our necks. The Moroccan winter sun seeps into our wetsuits, the black fabric soaking it into our skin.
My heart rate rises. The sea and I have a score to settle.
Essaouira beach (not during our surf lesson, there’s no way I could have taken photos then!)
Out of my depth once again, I turn to our surf teacher. I need to find common ground and quickly. Please teach me the language of the sea, save me when I flail.
"Just so you know, I am more comfortable in a kitchen than I am the sea, Sif. We found your advert in a bakery, in fact."
"Which one?" he asks me, his zinced smile bright below a khaki surf bucket hat.
"Aux Pains du Monde?" a question both of his knowledge and my accent.
"That's my bakery, I am the owner," Sif says, "I hope you enjoyed your visit."
I laugh. Trust us to find the one surf teacher who also owns a bakery.
"We do pastry courses if you like. You are welcome" he says.
What I would have given to run from that beach, sink my hands into some dough, run semolina between my fingers. The curl of the waves and pressure of our beachy audience brings me back to the first challenge at hand.
If Sif is patient enough to build a business on bread proving itself, then he will have the patience enough for me.
Youssra, gesturing about the height of the ceiling to very tall David
A few days later. Afternoon. The back of the bakery.
Youssra stands on one side of the work surface, her face framed by a light green hijab and white blouse. I automatically look down to check how clean my t-shirt is. Not very.
Her three students, myself, David and Sara, voyagers into the bakery world, stand on the other side of the work surface. I try to act casual.
Youssra has greeted me warmly, a kiss on each cheek. Our one previous brief visit and confusion over some Arabic (my Levantine met her Darija) must have stayed in her memory. Behind us industrial size mixers rest, their oily joints are snug under thick blankets.
Helell in process
Coco almond (كوكو لوز) and helell (هلال) are the two cookies that we're tasked with making. We blitz almonds, measure out our ingredients using a tea glass. Youssra fills and pours into our metal mixing bowls, our hands increasingly sticky, oily, textured. The kitchen's exfoliant.
The bakery is quiet, the café part closed for a two week holiday. We squeeze the mixture in our bowls with three fingers, looking for the tacky tell of a chewy cookie once cooked.
Sif joins us, rolls helell, re-rolls our helell. "It means moon" he says, "This was a traditional biscuit of the Jewish community in Essaouira. Many left for Israel, but we still bake this one."
I think of the synagogue that we walked past on the edge of the medina, its roads quiet except for those heading into the industrial area. A Google brings to life a World Monuments Fund initiative to protect the story of the mellah, or Jewish Quarter. A story of diversity in Essaouira.
What impact the conflict in Israel and Palestine will have on the funding of these projects? One video mentions how many Jews left house keys with neighbours for when they returned. These helell bring a feeling, a taste of the stories lived. Where else are these sesame crescent moons baked? What stories are shared as they're eaten? What stories might be lost?
Helell waiting for the oven
"How did you start the bakery Sif?" Sara asks, bringing me back to the room, to this bakery.
It was all about funding another surfing project in the south back in 2018. He opened in a small property during the second week of ramadan.
"During ramadan the last thing you think of is bread" says Youssra, making Sif laugh. Iftar meals are a chance to enjoy every inch of a Moroccan household menu.
Not his best business move, but the demand for what his team created was high. With his Mum's support he opened in a larger space and took on the name Aux Pains du Monde, baking breads and pizzas of the world.
The bakery may have been shut, but every twenty minutes there'd be a shout at the door. Someone asking for bread, a football playing boy for a glass of water, the local vet.
My blurry photoshoot shot
We have an impromptu photoshoot, our unbaked goods tipped towards the camera balanced on sticky hands. Enough to show-off our hard work, not enough to gift them to the floor.
The long baking trays are slid into the oven, temperature set, the door shut.
A big silver teapot balanced on a silver tray. No sugar. At this point I am sugar. Mint. The pot is poured from a height into small glass cups. Bubbles form on the top as it falls.
Tea and biscuits
The sun is setting.
We talk about all sorts. Teachers striking in the public schools, the open audacity of fakes, the mountains of Pakistan.
A timer beeps. Youssra piles our achievements onto a plate. The coco almond have caramelised onto the bottom of their paper cases, a cripsness, a chewy-ness. Delicious.
The helell have that tell tale crumble crunch of a moreish cookie held together with nuts or seeds. The sweet-savoury sesame story of an Essaouira past.
There’s something about Aux Pains du Monde that intrigues me. The bakery was shut, and yet people came asking for bread. The everyday story beyond the boxed tourist cookies of our visit.
I cheekily ask Sif if I can come back and annoy his bakers one morning when they’re open again. To bake bread with them.
“Of course,” he says, “this is your home.”
NB: where 60g is used, this was measured largely by sight in a 'standard' Moroccan tea cup (one of the small ones). Largely cooking using ratio, so adjusting for 'feel'. All mixing done by hand.
Coco almond (كوكو لوز)
60g ground almonds
60g dessicated coconut
7g vanilla sugar (if you don’t have, use half a teaspoon of vanilla essence and add an additional 7g sugar)
1 egg
60 sugar (granulated)
1/3tsp baking powder
Blitz the almonds. Leave some texture, so not completely like flour)
Add in all the dry ingredients, mixing each time, then add in the egg.
Stir. The resulting dough should leave the sides of the bowl clean.
Use a little oil to stop the dough from sticking to your hands. Roll the mixture into balls (half a golf ball, a generous malteaser - work out this equivalent)
Roll in 'powdered' sugar (icing) until generously covered
Place into tiny cupcake cases
Bake at 180 for 10 minutes. The result is slightly crispy on the bottom and has browned slightly in the oven.
Helell (crescent moon) biscuits (هلال)
1 egg
60g sugar (granulated)
60ml vegetable oil
275g plain flour
60g toasted sesame seeds
Combine the egg and sugar. Mix until creamy.
Add in the oil and combine
Mix in the sesame and flour. At this point adjust the dough if needed - more oil if too dry, more flour if too wet.
Put some oil on work surface and place the dough on it. Taking small pieces, roll into a sausage in your palms. This will be about 1cm thick and the width of your palm long.
Roll in sesame seeds
Place on a tray in a crescent shape
Bake at 180 for 15 minutes until browned
Aux Pains du Monde can be found at 264 Lot, Essaouira 44000, Morocco. Their Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/auxpainsdumonde/
Pastry courses can be booked by messaging directly, or through Airbnb if that is how you have booked your stay.
Surf and Therapy is the name of Sif’s surfing business. Details can be found here - https://www.surfandtherapy.com/