Where has this been all my life?

Ever find something you didn't know existed, and then, once you find it you wonder how it is not the most popular thing in the world?  Well, sitting at cafe in Fes, Mark had this experience.  What inspired it?  Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the meat-filled doughnut:

Anne and Mark's adventures with doughnuts around the world have been well documented on this blog (here and here).  In this never-ending quest for knowledge, Mark samples pretty much any confection that he can get.  Even so, Mark has never encountered a doughnut stuffed with what appeared to be pulled pork.

Stuffed with custard?  Check.

Whipped Cream?  Sure.

Jelly?  Most definitely.

Meat?  No.... but why the heck not?

This reminded both Anne and Mark of a scene from Friends wherein Rachel missed a page in the cookbook and ended up throwing a bunch of unrelated ingredients into a dessert dish.  Hilarity ensued.  The punchline, though, was that Joey enjoyed it anyway, explaining: "What's not to like?  Custard? Good.  Jam?  Good.  Meat?  Goooooood."

With the spirit of Joey Tribiani and the confidence that comes from the successful experience of a semi-intelligent character on a situation comedy, Mark decided to dig in.  As they say, "when in Fes, do as the Festives do."  (No one actually says that, but it would be pretty awesome if the people from Fes were actually called "Festives")

So dig in.  This dish, and it was big enough to be an entree for two or three people, was a doughnut with powdered sugar on top, stuffed with meat and a little bit of cheese and a substance that may have been gravy.  The first bite was a bit confusing.  Multiple taste sensations colliding, taste buds re-evaluating their core assumptions - this takes a moment of adjustment.  But, after catching his breath, Mark was ready for more.  He did not eat the entire dish, but he made a good showing.  Joey would have been proud.

And how was it?  Gooooood.

Anne sits within the "blast area" while Mark straps on the old feedbag.  This is a show of remarkable courage as people have lost fingers from doing nothing more than sitting this close when Mark gets his "eat on."  

Other than the food, which was quite an experience, Fes itself is a very pretty city.  Like Marrakech, Fes is one of the old, imperial cities of Morocco.  The Medina (in this context, this means the "old town" section - not to be confused with Medina, the city name) is surrounded by walls with still functioning gates.  Anne and Mark stayed at a very nice hotel inside the Medina and entered through the "Blue Gate."

The original gated community?

Street scene looking into the Medina

Anne and Mark were pleasantly surprised at their accommodations.  The hotel they had booked was a converted house that was several hundred years old.  Everything in the old section of town is expected to be pretty old - that's the point.  In fact, Fes features what it claims to be the oldest, continuously operated university in the world (The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859 AD).  However, the hotel conversion had gone very smoothly and the rooms were modern and beautiful, yet still retained their old world charm.  As shown in the photo below, Anne's and Mark's room featured a suite-like set-up, 20 foot ceilings and .... mosquito netting.