The Flying Carpet: An Update

Four years ago at Election Day, I was in Morocco; Marrakesh to be precise. The Moroccan people were very excited at the prospect of electing someone of African descent to the presidency, and they shouted their exuberance even more upon seeing a group of Americans on Wednesday after Obama's victory. (You can read my post from 2008 right here.) Fast forward to 2012, I figured some Moroccan food was in order on Election Day to bring some good luck to this tight race.

A friend of mine is a cousin to Maria, as in Maria and Abdu Souktouri, who own and operate The Flying Carpet trailer. Through this connection, I have gotten to know them a bit, and have discovered they are some of the most genuinely nice people out there. They have always poured their heart and soul into everything they serve out of their little blue trailer. 

TFC is located at 504 West Oltorf Street, just a little bit east of South First Street, next to the Church's Chicken. There is a small blue house in front, and a large lot though the driveway in the back, where they are creating a little food trailer community! Along with them are Regal Ravioli and La Fantabulous Tacos; I haven't tried them yet, but Maria & Abdu both say they are great! **Soon!**

As Abdu was preparing our food in the trailer, Maria took us inside the house. Presently, it is not open to the public for dining. Maria said their goal is to create a little cafe with tea, coffee and pastries/cookies (she bakes!) and have a Moroccan lounge. They know the soul of their business is preparing food from their trailer, so they're not looking to move the whole operation into the house, which would require a huge amount of renovation to install a commercial kitchen. It's a nice open space, with some cozy couches in one corner, a couple tables, and another couch/lounge area in another corner.

With the various pieces of Moroccan decor -- tajines,  lanterns, this wooden tray, which I knew to be from the coastal area of Essouria, as we visited there -- they are creating a nice ambiance. The tea set is also something you see everywhere in the country -- you have sweetened mint tea at every meal, and if you are a special guest, the host will make an even bigger show of pouring you a glass!

Oh yeah, and the food! I ordered a Big Abdu, which is seasoned ground beef kefta (shaped like a sausage, rather than a patty), eggplant, a fried egg (and fortunately for me, their fried eggs are more scrambled than fried), and French fries all inside a pita bread with their delicious l'Afrique sauce. I was starving, so I almost forgot to take a picture of the wrap. So yeah, not the best picture, but the food was tasty and a great mix of textures. Get extra sauce! And napkins! It's kind of a mess, but who cares?

TFC doesn't have tajine dishes on their day to day menu, but special orders can be made in advance and they also offer private catering. I was recently involved in a Facebook conversation regarding food trailers in South Austin, and someone commented that they had tried to go to TFC a couple times, but they had been closed. As I commented on that post, Maria and Abdu are a small, locally-owned business. Generally, it is just the two of them; only occasionally can they hire someone else to help out in the trailer. If one of them is sick or if they're doing a catering event, they can't open the trailer. But they are really good about posting on their Facebook page with status updates, so check there before going. TFC was also recently recognized by the Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin Picks as Best Slow Food/Fast Food Hybrid! 

So after eating Moroccan food, I went home to watch the election results. Needless to say, Maria and Abdu's food, warmth, hard work, and genuine spirit brought the luck I was looking for.

The Flying Carpet, a guest post for MarocMama

I traveled to Morocco in fall 2008, and spent two and a half weeks with a tour group exploring this beautiful, culture-rich country. This trip was one of the primary reasons that I started this blog, so I could keep my friends and family up to date with what we were seeing, doing, and of course eating.  When I got into Twitter about a year later, one of the users I came across was @MarocMama, who blogs under the same name. She is an American married to a Moroccan, and they live with their children in Wisconsin. She's a prolific social media user and blogger (great Moroccan resources on her blog!), and we've had occasional Twitter conversations, but have never met in person.

MarocMama became aware of The Flying Carpet, a Moroccan-inspired food trailer that had opened here in Austin by Moroccan-born Abdu and his American wife, Maria. MarocMama asked me many moons ago if I would be willing to write a guest post for her blog on them. (I have written about them before for my blog, which you can see here.) Of course! And with apologizes to her, it's taken me forever to get back to TFC. One of my coworker friends is a cousin to Maria, so I've gotten to know her and Abdu a little bit, and they are great people. We've been trying to juggle the schedules of four of us from work who wanted to go, with TFC's schedule. We've had several dates picked, going back to June (maybe even May...), but something would come up and we'd reschedule, and then Abdu was called back to Morocco when his grandmother passed, and now with the Texas heat, they've limited the days they are open. It's almost been a comedy of errors, but we have persevered, and went this past week. Ahhhhh.

The Flying Carpet, a Moroccan foods trailer, has been open a little more than a year, and in a crowded food trailer scene in Austin, they stand out. They've been about the only constant presence at the food court on South Congress and Gibson Streets, in the heart of the trendy SoCo area. Fortunately, TFC has been able to move under the canopy of a live oak tree, for at 7:45 pm when we arrived, it was still in the low to mid 90s. Abdu was flying solo that night, and he had one customer sitting on the "patio".

The trailer has it's homey touches, from the plants to the Moroccan lanterns to the painted sign with images of the Moroccan skyline above the trailer. (I was able to recognize the Hassan mosque, in Casablanca, one of the top five largest mosques in the world, as the image on the far right!) Their menu satisfies meat eaters and vegetarians, and they can even do some vegan dishes. Austin is a town with a LOT of vegetarian diners, so I don't think a food establishment could survive if it didn't at least try to cater to that population.

I was set on having The Moroccan again, their version of a burger. They take fresh ground beef, and form it kefta-style (think: small fat cigars), and grill it on the flat top, served with a fried egg that's really more of a scrambled egg (fine by me, I have issues with runny yolks!).

But after looking more closely at some newer menu items, I asked Abdu about the La Dajaj Maghrebi, a marinated chicken dish wrapped in flat bread, and he easily convinced me to try it. My friend, and cousin-in-law to Abdu, had the Sleek Vegetarian, an eggplant and falafel wrap. We also got an order of fries, just so we could have a device to get their yummy L'afrique sauce into our mouths! It's a tangy, slightly spicy (from harissa, I presume) concoction that is good on just about everything! They should bottle and sell that stuff!

My chicken wrap was delicious! Everything was so fresh, and even in the horrible heat we're experiencing, not a piece of lettuce was wilting (they have refrigeration in the trailer, but no AC). The chicken is marinated in a combination of onions, cilantro, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, ginger, and lemon juice, and was cooked perfectly in the trailer -- still juicy, not dried out. The thin fries are always perfect, not a bit greasy. My friend also loved her vegetarian wrap.

For dessert, we had the dates stuffed with almond butter, and sprinkled with sea salt. Totally divine! And while dates are something you see in multitudes (and multiple varieties) all over Morocco, this little dessert is not a typical Moroccan dish -- but it works extremely well. The sweetness from the dates, the savory (with some sweetness) from the almond butter, and the salty all play very nicely together.

After a small flurry of customers, Abdu came and sat with us. He puts it best when he says "If it's not made well, I don't want to eat it". The Flying Carpet doesn't take shortcuts; they work hard to present outstanding food. Everything is made fresh to order. Abdu and I have both experienced trailers that cheat a little bit, like using canned ingredients instead of fresh. I am sure that makes it easier, especially for working in a trailer, but it doesn't translate to a quality product. The Flying Carpet was also recently featured on a Cooking Channel episode of Eden Eats, which has brought in some new business for them since the show's airing in July. (Reruns in September, so look for it!)

If you're here in Austin, please stop by and check out my friends at The Flying Carpet! MarocMama, maybe you should start a Moroccan trailer in Wisconsin -- The Flying Carpet has set a great precedent!

The Flying Carpet

If you've been in Austin at all in the past year, you know that food trailer parks are popping up all over the place. On South Congress & Gibson, in the heart of all the SoCo trendiness is one of two parks within a 2 block radius. (The other one is the probably more well known, with Hey Cupcake, The Mighty Cone, and others.) I had been dying to try The Flying Carpet, a new installation at the Gibson locale, as it brings Moroccan food to the masses. I was in Morocco not quite two years ago, and have wished for a local spot to bring all those fabulous flavors and spices to the Austin restaurant scene.

I was not disappointed!

Their Moroccan burgers are very tender, seasoned pieces of beef kefta (like a meatball, but shaped like a small, fat cigar), with a little bit of an aromatic tomato & onion sauce. You can tell it's good quality beef. It's placed inside a soft pita bread, with a fried egg. I initially asked for it without the fried egg, which I can't stand. They convinced me though, this wasn't like a typical fried egg with the runny yolk. And they were right -- it's more of a firm scrambled egg that's laid next to the meat. You can put some of their incredible l'Afrique sauce -- a creamy, lightly spicy concoction -- on it as well, and save some for the fries too!  The fries are fantastically crispy, without a hint of grease (they use canola oil) ; they're well seasoned with salt & pepper.

We also had a couple of their salads, one of which had a really nice lemon dressing on it; both salads were very fresh & crisp.

 I loved the little touches of Morocco -- the colorful lanterns, the flowers on the table that were in traditional mint tea glasses. Gives the place a warmth, and I am not just saying that because I was sitting in an asphalt parking lot on the evening of a 100 degree day!  As it was a slow evening, we were able to chat a bit with the owners, husband & wife team Abderrahim & Maria, who were very engaging & welcoming. They said they plan to move the trailer to under a tree in the same lot, but closer to Congress. They also have some ideas for future menu items that I can't wait to see!

I've heard their grilled eggplant is fantastic, and the owners were saying they're very cognizant of when someone orders a vegetarian or vegan to make sure the grill is well-cleaned before preparing it. I'd love to see more items on the menu, and can't wait to take another trip with the Flying Carpet!

Moroccan Clementines

A little trip down memory lane! Central Market has gotten in little crates of clementines... these were DELICIOUS when we were there! There's about 20 to a box, so I hope I can eat them all before they go bad! And at $5.99 right now, they're a steal! These come from the Souss Valley, in the southwest part of the country, near Taroudant, where we stayed. It's a really rich agricultural valley.

The pictures above.... I think the one of the tree I took when we were in Rabat, our hotel, the Villa Mandarin, had fabulous gardens. And the other is the crate in my kitchen! Yum!

We're in Morocco!

Well, we made it safe and sound. We are at the Villa Mandarin in Rabat; Google it, it is gorgeous. No wireless computer access though, so I am using the ancient communal computer that has no USB port. Grrrr. And a screwy French keyboard! So no pics for now, and here is the condensed rundown.

After leaving the airport yesterday, we went to the Hassan II mosque, a modern structure that can hold 25000 worshippers. Stunning facility. Stopped at a hotel for coffee, Moroccan tea, and a delicious French pastry. Onto Rabat for an unmemorable lunch, then to the fabulous hotel. Had a great, authentic meal here for dinner - chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon, served in the tagine. Hopefully will post photo at a later time.

Today, we saw the old Roman/Phoenician ruins of Chellah, that are within the city. The maosoleum of King Mohammed and time walking around a potters and artisans quarters. It has been raining today, so that has put a damper on some things. A small group of us have already decided to eat dinner here at the hotel tonight.... if it is anything like last night, we are in good shape!