Mamacita Pizzeria/Hasnali Taste of Morocco

Participating in the 2010 Taste the World coupon book.

Samir Abachnou, owner
402 E. King St., Lancaster, PA 17602
717-509-6402
Su 12-9pm, MTuWThFSa 10am-11pm
(note: Moroccan food is served on Wednesdays from 5 to 11 p.m.)

Homesick for the food he grew up with, Samir Abachnou learned to cook in a process of trial, error and long-distance phone calls to Morocco. Although his brother was chef in Delaware who put modern twists on Moroccan food, "I wanted my mother's cooking, my grandmother's cooking," Abachnou recalls.

The years passed. Abachnou, who learned to cook as a bachelor, earned a degree in business, got married and began a family. He cooked the dishes he'd learned for his family and his friends.

His drive to work took him by the building where his restaurant is now. One day, Abachnou, longing for his own business, stopped to ask about the building. He walked away with a new understanding of efforts to revitalize this region of King Street - and a new vision for his own part in that endeavor.

The man he asked about the building worked told him Eastern Market was looking for international vendors. "He asked if I knew anyone who could cook Moroccan food," Abachnou remembers. "So I said, 'Sure, why not? I'll try it myself. My wife likes my food. People I cook for like the food."

And at Eastern Market, he found customers drawn to his dishes. He opened the restaurant in October 2008. While the usual menu has a range of dishes, Abachnou cooks Moroccan on Wednesday nights.

Crowd favorites are angus beef with caramelized onions, prunes and raisins over couscous and a chicken dish with preserved lemons and olives. Morocco is an important crossroads between Africa, Europe and the Middle East. And the cuisine reflects this diversity and complexity. "One dish," Abachnou says, "has almost 30 spices. Your tongue is going to be amused when you eat it. It's not a dull thing."

Abachnou's favorite food growing up - the one his mother made on Fridays when his father brought him home from boarding school - is a thick lentil dish. On Wednesdays, Abachnou often serves a lentil soup. There are other dishes, such as beet salad.

While the menu changes some from week to week, one constant is a mint tea that's such a part of Moroccan life that many families may drink it three to four times a day. "It all depends on the family. My family was up to five times a day," Abachnou says. "In my family there was always a teapot cooking."

To do: Find Morocco on a map. Look at the countries and regions bordering it.

written by Marla Pierson Lester; photos by Matthew Lester Photography