Louisiana chef serves African sheikh

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Chef Earnestine "Tootie" Morrison may add "cooked for royalty" to her resume after her culinary excursion in the mountains of Morocco.

The Shreveport chef returned from a May trip to Zawiya Ahansal, a village in the High Atlas Mountains of the nation in north Africa.

Morrison, until recently the chef at Abby Singer's Bistro at the Robinson Film Center, spent nearly two weeks cooking alongside some of the village's female cooks. She participated in their daily routines, explored the countryside and learned about the country's rich culture.

It was a humbling experience and her outlook on the world has evolved dramatically, she said.

"I came back and I look the same, but I don't see the world the same after that trip," Morrison said.

Morrison traveled with help from a $2,000 scholarship from The Ross Lynn Charitable Foundation to learn authentic cooking techniques, in partnership with Montana State University and the Atlas Cultural Foundation. Students studying agroecology and environmental science joined Morrison in the farming village.

The travel put Morrison in a place to learn new culinary skills, which she will share through community outreach services in the U.S.

On May 6, Morrison flew from Dallas to Chicago to Madrid to the Moroccan city of Marrakesh before making the four-hour drive to Zawiya Ahansal.

Immediately, Morrison was smitten with the natural beauty of the land and the simplicity of daily life. She fell right in with the residents' routines from washing her laundry in the Ahansal River to hiking through the mountains.

"It's rough around the mountains, but down in the village it's plush and green with rivers flowing — and someone's plowing their garden with two donkeys," Morrison said.

The village in the High Atlas Mountains and has about 15,000 residents. It would be Morrison's home until her departure May 19.

Morrison described the villagers' pace as easy going, yet full of purpose. Technology, though present, was limited, allowing Morrison to disconnect from the rest of the world and become fully immersed in the experience.

She stayed in a family-run hotel similar to a bed and breakfast in the U.S., she said. She worked with the mother and her daughters preparing meals for hotel guests.