morocco again53 from agadir to essaouira2
TRANSCRIPT
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Argan (Argania spinosa) is an endangered species that plays a vital role in resisting the ever-creeping Sahara Desert. The trees are also found in Algeria and have been successfully introduced to Israel but Morocco is the only nation that hosts a meaningful scale. Morocco’s argan forests cover about 800,000 hectares near the Souss Valley, an area framed by the Atlas Mountains, Atlantic Ocean and Sahara Desert, which hosts roughly 21 million trees and has been given UNESCO protection as a ‘biosphere reserve’
Bougainvillea a tropical, shrub-like vine
Yellow Bells, Trumpet Flower 'Gold Star' (Tecoma Stans)
Argan tree (Argania spinosa)
How is argan oil produced? Today argan oil is often
made by machines. Sadly these foreign
investors have undermined the
traditional role that Moroccan women have played in the
traditional production of argan oil.
The government has encouraged, however, the
formation of women’s groups to ensure that
the age-old art of argan oil extraction is not lost. The work is tedious and takes
many hours to make a single liter
Argan Nuts: the dried fruit and the nuts
In the last decade or so, argan oil has become a
cult beauty product in the
U.S. A 1.7-ounce bottle of Josie
Maran 100 percent Argan
Oil, for example, retails for $48. The production
process, however, does not involve goat
excrement—these days, argan
oil intended for export is
produced by women’s
cooperatives in southwest
Morocco, who gather the fruit
straight from the trees
Argan Nuts Offering dried argan fruits
Argan fruit falls in July, when black and dry. Until this happens, goats are kept out of the argan woodlands by wardens. Rights to collect the fruit are controlled by law and village traditions. The leftover nuts are gathered after consumption and excretion by the goatsThe dried fruits are collected and stored for several months to allow time for the oil to peak
After the dried fruits are
collected and stored for several months to allow time for the oil to peak, the fruits must then be
decorted
This is done in stone-age
fashion. The dried fruits are separated from
the nuts by hitting them with a hand
held rock up against a larger
rock
Argan Nuts: the dried fruit casings and the nuts
The hard shelled nuts are then
banged in a similar fashion to until they
crack open and reveal the tiny
slivers of “almonds” inside
Argan tree fruit is cut open to extract the almond which will be torrefied and crushed. The hard argan nut shell is broken open by women hitting the nuts with a stone hammer that splits the nuts on the seam
The Argan seeds are then lightly toasted over charcoal in flat iron or terra cotta pans, and ground in stone mills into a thick paste.If the oil is to be eaten the “almonds” are then roasted over an open fire. If used for cosmetic oil the “almonds” are not. The nuts are then put into a small stone mill which is hand turned to turn the “almonds’ into paste
For producing Culinary Argan oil, the Argan nuts are being roasted first on an open fire and then grinded using a stone mill. This produces oil with a deep nutty flavor and scent
Traditional argan oil
The nuts are then put into a small stone mill which is hand turned to turn the “almonds’ into paste
The almond is crushed into a paste
Traditionally stone mills For producing Cosmetic Argan oil, the Argan nuts are pressed (usually by machine) without being roasted, also called "cold pressed". This produces a very light oil without that deep nutty scent
Next the paste is mixed with a little boiling water and hand kneaded for a few hours until the oil starts to
separate from the paste. The oil is
then hand squeezed from
the paste until as much oil can be
wrung out as possible. The oil is then filtered
and bottled. The remaining oil is cake is then fed
to livestock
Yellow Bells, Trumpet Flower 'Gold Star' (Tecoma Stans)
Plumbago Imperial Blue - Plumbago Auriculata
2017
Text: InternetPictures: Internet Sanda Foişoreanu Sanda Negruțiu Gabriela BalabanCopyright: All the images belong to their author
Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuhttps://plus.google.com/+SandaMichaela
Sound: Aicha Maya 2016