Due to an entirely surprising coincidence, we enjoyed a bit of Morocco fest this past Friday. Friday nights are normally our nights out, which recently have been only to investigate Silver Spring downtown as we are still getting settled into our new neighborhood. This time, Jill marched us past the main street over to Colesville, ostensibly to check the movie listings at the AFI, but along the way I noticed a restaurant that I had never seen before: A Taste of Morocco. I convinced Jill that we should give it a try.

I don't have any inside knowledge, but the place seemed authentic to me. We had an appetizer, the Vegetarian Basilla, and one entree, the Vegetarian Couscous, and it was enough food that we had to bring half of the entree home with us. Both dishes were quite hearty, with the Basilla a little on the sweet side (it's a pastry filled with roasted vegetables, then they sprinkle quite a bit of powdered sugar and cinammon on the top of it). The entree had large chunks of squash in it that still had the skin attached--I wasn't sure whether or not the skin was edible, so I settled on the safer option of not. Along with the food, we enjoyed fresh mint tea, served incredibly hot. The server poured it from the kettle into the cups at a distance of a foot or two above the cup, but I refilled the glasses in a normal manner.

We returned home and put in the latest arrival from Netflix, the classic movie Casablanca. Yes, I actually hadn't seen this film, nor had Jill. And I feel properly chastised now, since it was as good as the raves it constantly receives, although the worship of it still strikes me as somewhat unseemly (especially in the documentary on the same disc)--it is, after all, only a movie. But it was the kind of movie that hit our buttons: fast-paced, witty dialogue, interesting location, fascinating characters, and an ending that wasn't trite. Both of us were surprised that this movie was made in 1942, in the middle of the war, as it mentioned both concentration camps (albeit only as a prisoner of war place, rather than genocidal ovens) and showed the desire of people fleeing the Nazis. While the story may emphasize the romance of the unfortunate love triangle, the base of the movie, and in my mind what makes the thing work so well, is the growing connection and friendship between Rick and Louis, cemented in the final scenes. Of course, it was gratifying to finally connect oh so many catchphrases to their original source, as well.