The right way to eat almonds

The right way to eat almonds every day

The right way to eat almonds: The 8th edition of the Almond Festival will take place in Tafraout from March 15 to 18, 2018 under the theme “Terre d’amandier, terre d’avenir”. An opportunity to remember all the good reasons we have for eating almonds. The word goes to Mouna Lahlou, nutrition, and sports coach.

What are almonds made of?

The right way to eat almonds: Phytosterols. These are constituents similar to the cholesterol found in animal products. This similarity enables phytosterols to compete with cholesterol in the intestine, thereby reducing its absorption.

Fiber to help normalize intestinal transit

Monounsaturated fats

Protein

Vitamins (especially B2 and E)

Minerals such as magnesium, manganese, copper, iron and calcium….

Why eat almonds?

The right way to eat almonds: They help prevent cardiovascular disease

Are an invigorating snack that quickly curbs feelings of hunger.

Help reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL).

Are a powerful antioxidant against cancer.

They are rich in calcium and minerals, making them excellent for bones.

Improve intestinal transit

Have a low glycemic load.

When are the best times to eat them, and why?

The right way to eat almonds: At breakfast: almonds are a source of protein and provide positive energy for the day. Pureed almonds on a slice of cereal bread are an ideal way to start the day.

Snack: enjoy with 1-2 squares of dark chocolate (minimum 70%) (or 1 seasonal fruit) and an anti-oxidant drink. The combination of these 2 elements is an excellent way to indulge without putting on weight, and to satisfy omega-3 and magnesium requirements.

Before or after a sports session: This is an excellent recovery aid, to be consumed within 30 minutes of exercise.

Before a sports session, almonds can be combined with 2 or even 3 dried fruits (figs or apricots). Consume 1 hour or 1.5 hours before exercise.

Expert advice:Almonds should not be roasted or grilled. This is a precautionary measure that will enable the body to enjoy the various benefits of almonds. That said, this advice applies to all oilseeds.

About the expert:

The right way to eat almonds: After studying agricultural engineering in France, Mouna Lahlou trained as a dietician, specializing in nutrition and sports coaching. Her primary objective? To accompany overweight people in their quest for well-being. In addition to sports coaching, Mouna Lahlou also offers tailor-made dishes to suit individual needs.

Where to eat in casablanca

Umayya

This is Le Cabestan’s little brother, with the same sea view and the same mischievous owner, Nicolas Pérez, a Parisian who has returned to Casa, to his roots, and who organizes the city’s wild evenings in a noisy, funny and tasty place. A pupil of Jean-Georges Vongerichten imagines, from Istanbul, for the residence, dishes of great Ottoman tradition revisited to the taste of the day, executed by the good disciple Alioune Diop. Belly dancers practice from one room to the next, while the city’s best society comes here to celebrate with wit and discretion.

Hummus, baba ganoush (eggplant in all its forms), grilled fish straight from the ocean opposite, and chawarma all meet on the plates. It’s cheerful, tasty and good-natured. Veiled women rub shoulders with undressed dancers. The desserts are exquisitely tempting: caramelized milk pudding (“kazandibi”), goat’s cheese tart with hibiscus jam, pear baklawa, red fruit pastilla, chocolate-filled doughnuts with sesame seeds. All of which are easily seductive, and even provide the occasion for a divine surprise.

Cabestan

This is the place to be in Casa. Madame Viot’s little neo-Breton stopover near the lighthouse has become a huge lounge restaurant, with a variety of rooms, counters and sea views (check out the toilets, you’ll understand). Abdelhattif Kay, formerly at the Elysée Palace in Nice, runs the place with dynamism and efficiency, while Fabien Caboy, who worked for Gagnaire and then at the Royal Mansour in Marrakech under the aegis of Yannick Alléno, officiates as an efficient executive chef, assisted by young Julien Nicolas.

In short, it’s sonorous, musical, fun, panoramic, packed – 300 seats on two floors – but very tasty. Tuna tataki, grouper carpaccio, sea bream ceviche, salmon pressé, exquisite square of sardines with goat’s cheese precede salt-crusted sea bass served with impeccable beurre blanc.

For dessert, the French toast (a bit heavy, all the same) isn’t bad, but the Norwegian omelette flambéed in front of you is a hit. But please, ask for a table by the sea! The show’s on, not to mention the pretty girls by the bar… The right way to eat almonds

Iloli

Yusuke Furukawa and his wife Noëlle – he’s a pure Tokyoite, having worked in the 16th arrondissement of Paris at Comme des Poissons, she’s half-Japanese, half-Moroccan, a former student at Sciences Po – are causing a sensation in the heart of Casa with their purely Japanese table, spread over two floors, with its open lab where a serious, rigorous, disciplined team is hard at work, lavishing light, authentic pleasures in the Japanese style, using quality Moroccan products.

Examples of what they offer? Salmon confit with sesame oil, oysters from Dakhla with momiji ponzu sauce, fatty tuna trilogy, issobé-style scallops, robatayaki (which we would call yakitori, even though the latter refers to chicken skewers) of sweetbreads, pigeon and tripe, foie gras ravioli with nori seaweed and shitakés, among many other authentic Japanese delights that renew the traditional spirit of sushi.

Don’t forget the exquisite appetizers: corn velouté, tsukuné dumpling, anchovy marinated in red bell pepper, small cone of chopped tuna and chives. You’ll receive a passport with translations of all the dishes and preparations, like an exquisite invitation to an immobile journey. The right way to eat almonds

La Table du Rétro

Jacky Rolling? We’ve already told you about him. This half-Casablanca, half-Alsatian figure of local gourmandise, who plays the unspoken Bocuse of French gourmandise here, has been around for 30 years. With his wife Jeannine, he represents the permanence of tradition in a vast city caught up in fashion and modernity.

Coming to his retro setting, aptly named, with its 1900s touches, stained-glass windows, mirrors, red banquettes, old-fashioned service and fine, high-quality products, such as the rare melanosporum truffles of his friend Abdelaziz Laqbaqbi, the Kabbajs’ foie gras from their nearby farm, and his sauerkraut direct from Krautergersheim, is like taking a rejuvenating bath.

This is old-fashioned cooking, albeit fine, light, well-mannered, without fuss. Taste the exquisite sea bass quenelles, spoon-molded and served on a bed of juniper sauerkraut, the open raviole of sole, scallops and shrimps, the lobster in mousseline sauce, the tarts from the house cart, washed down with a frisky edelzwicker from the Ribeauvillé cellar, and you’ll be reminded of Jean Delaveyne’s words: “when it’s good, there’s nothing better”! The right way to eat almonds

Boccaccio

Italy in Casablanca? That’s the tune of three French-Moroccan friends who met while studying law in Paris. Fabien Scapino, Xavier Inizan and Moulay Rachid Salafi Darkaoui – that’s who they are – have created a design table dedicated to the flavors of happy Italy, which is part gourmet counter, part trattoria, part wine bar (but we’re waiting for the License!), part restaurant, part delicatessen. You can come and buy pasta and oils, without forgetting to taste the seductive dishes executed with beauty and finesse by Sicilian chef Gianfranco Schifano, who has worked in Paris, at Claudio Puglia’s and at the Bellagio.

Carpaccio, vitello tonnato, Boccaccio salad (with avocado tartar, crabmeat, shrimp, capers and kiwi), artichokes à la romaine, crazy pastas, including the pretty “trio” (with cannelloni with porcini mushrooms and truffle cream, broccoli and mint ravioli, salmon and mint tortellini), colorful pizzas and traditional desserts (tiramisu, semifreddo) make you want to make a habit here.

Le Rouget de l’Isle

In Casa’s Art Deco district, rich in charming little residences, and a stone’s throw from the lovely Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum, Villa Elise is not lacking in charm. Young Taki Kabbaj, an alumnus of the Institut Bocuse d’Ecully, has transformed the place into a contemporary table, having worked at the Lancaster in the days of Michel Troisgros and Fabrice Salvador, as well as at Potel et Chabot and Fouquet’s Brasserie with Jean-Yves Leuranguer.

Here, he plays a fine, subtle, Franco-French score, with a Mediterranean touch, in tune with the times. For example, scallops with wasabi, foie gras with fruit chutney, clam marinière, snail cassolette with Ricard, half-cooked tuna in tataki, monkfish with coquillettes and duck fumet, as well as green bream with white peas and turbot with piperade.

There’s a providential indoor terrace, smiling service and classic desserts (cheese cake, chocolate fondant, Grand Marnier soufflé). In short, a restaurant to keep an eye on.

Mint at the Four Seasons Casablanca

Mint? It’s the lounge bar, a chic, relaxed and beautiful table with a view of the ocean, which welcomes guests to the Four Seasons Casablanca for a rich and generous breakfast, featuring hummus and moutabal as well as fresh or mature cheeses, charcuterie (beef) and viennoiseries, with pretty breads.

The house also serves as a tea room, a table open at all hours, with Thierry Metee’s home-made pastries and traditional Moroccan dishes: briouates (goat, lamb, seafood), Moroccan salads (eggplant zaalouk, tomato confit, méchouia), lamb couscous (watch out for overcooking! ) and fine vegetables, and tagines by regional Moroccan chef Nadia Chahid, under the supervision of Executive Chef Thierry Papillier.

Add a lightly revisited pastilla au lait with cream, and you’ll be tempted to make a habit of it, overlooking the ocean and the beach.

Blue at the Four Seasons Casablanca

It all starts with the marine table, a cheerful contemporary brasserie at the Four Seasons Casablanca. Of course, the wine list, featuring sea and land wines, is ready and plentiful, but due to a lack of authorization, it cannot be presented to customers. However, we hope that the matter will be settled quickly, and that you will be able to taste Jacques Poulain’s Cuvée Ithaque de la Ferme Rouge, from his estate in the Rommani Valley, made from Syrah and Tempranillo grapes, the better to enhance the sea bream and wakame sashimi, the king prawn cocktail escorted by coconut guacamole, or the exquisite salmon carpaccio with sesame oil and lemon soy sauce.

The dishes are expertly prepared by Thierry Papillier, a Breton from Vitré, and his assistant, Francesco Montano, a Neapolitan who has worked at Don Alfonso’s in Santa Agata sui due Golfi and, under the Iaccarino family, at the Italian restaurant La Mamounia in Marrakech. There’s also the duo of grilled sea bass (a little too much) with Grenoble sauce and lobster, before the chocolate tart with its fine milky mousse signed by pastry maestro Thierry Metee. In short, a fine table to follow, elegant and already well in tune with its subject…

La Maison du Gourmet

In the heart of Casablanca, she has created an event that lasts. Meryem Cherkaoui, a young Moroccan student at the Bocuse school in Ecully, interned at the Villa des Lys at the Majestic under Bruno Oger, then at the Crillon under the wing of Dominique Bouchet, moved from Morbihan to Les Mouettes de Larmor-Plage near Lorient, under the guidance of Philippe le Lay. With her partner, Philippe Pesnau, a Breton from Loire-Atlantique, who became her husband and runs the restaurant with dynamism, she discreetly opened the Maison du Gourmet.

Here, she revisits the cuisine of Morocco in her own nimble way, with nods to Provence and Italy, in short, to the Mediterranean in majesty. Salad velouté with goat’s curd, ink ravioli stuffed with prawns and artichokes or rack of lamb with marjoram and gnocchi transport you to Provence. Couscous broth with chicken keftas and minestrone-style coriander/mint pesto, or ombrinette with tchatchouka ravioli, are very New Wave Moroccan with finesse and lightness. Add the pageot and eggplant with lemon beldi and the nostalgic lamb mouse “just like my mother’s” with ginger-glazed carrots, fresh coriander, saffron juice and candied pear, and you’ll think that Moroccan gastronomy, between modernity without excess and fidelity to its roots, has found its cuisine in the wind.

In fine, the rose ice cream cornet, which evokes all the flavors of the Near East, and the red fruit minestrone with hibiscus lemonade and fresh violet macaroon indicate that something big and tasty is going on here. The right way to eat almonds

Bistrot du Port

A successful seafood restaurant that delights lovers of the sea: Alain Angenost, our Côte d’Azur correspondent, tells you all about it…

If you’re a seafood lover, you’ll love this Bistrot du Port. With his cheerful personality, sense of hospitality, seafaring flair and efficient wait staff, chef/owner Mathieu Allinei has attracted gourmets from near and far, many of whom have become regulars and friends. His magic formula: sharing and pleasure. The decor lends itself to a very cozy marine atmosphere, and in fine weather, you need only cross the street to feel at home on the terrace lined with a variety of boats.

And people come from far and wide to savour the tasty bouillabaisse and to take their taste buds on a voyage of discovery of the best the Mediterranean has to offer, brought back to us by our faithful fishermen, Sébastien, Olivier, Baptiste and Pim. This iodized feast begins with a cuttlefish ink bread baked in the oven of Jean-Paul Veziano, the philosopher-baker from Antibes, accompanied by pissalat and kelp-smoked butters. Then it’s on to the appetizers, starting with a spherification (molecular gastronomy technique) of seawater and decomposed seaweed, which is tasted like an oyster, but with the same taste.

Then there’s bagna cauda and gnocchi au vert, sea tomatoes and iodized squid ink foam, raw local fish, fermented seaweed and Jerusalem artichoke chips, and puffed sea anemones, seawater and seaside herbs, enough to give your taste buds a feast. Cooked in ash, autumn vegetables, cauliflower, parmesan powder and squid ink or pumpkin accompany the catch of the day, sar, denti, capon, pajot, or a beautiful gilthead bream caught offshore and braised, fennel confit with flatfish fumet. There’s also mostelle, a regional rock fish.

The fillets are roasted in seaweed broth, and the head is flambéed with spirulina powder and sea lettuce – a lovely dish! And we can already salivate at the list and the right marriage of flavors in the sweet finales, including citrus fruits, some seaweed and meringue or Guanaja chocolate macaroons, cuttlefish ink and flying fish roe, not forgetting a Manjari chocolate and soy sauce mounted chocolate ganache, lemon meringue, as a welcome pre-dessert. This is a true fish restaurant, a seaside nugget that Mathieu Allinei, Maître Restaurateur and gifted composer of iodized flavors, makes shine.