Comfort Food Moroccan native opens carryout restaurant Fatima’s Baraka in Orono

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Flipping through a picture book on Morocco is like holding a rainbow in your hands. On one page, burlap sacks fall open to reveal spices in shades of ochre, rust red and deep brown. On another, a latticework of inlaid tile surrounds a mosque door that looks like a golden keyhole. Throughout, sunlight dances on the azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

When she designed the sitting room for her new takeout restaurant in Orono, Fatima Munson wanted to capture the vibrancy of her native country. Inside Fatima’s Baraka, the walls are painted terra-cotta orange, which complements a framed Monet print of a fiery sunset. A bone-colored leather couch wraps around the room, piled with tapestry pillows in eggplant, crimson, ivory and gold.

“You’re supposed to have a lot of cushions because you have to be comfortable,” Munson said, reclining on the sofa after pouring a glass of sweet mint tea. “I love these crazy colors.”

The cuisine from this country, located at the northwest tip of Africa, is equally colorful. When Munson serves her specialty, Tagine, she nestles chunks of tender lamb, carrots and prunes in a bed of golden couscous. She ladles on extra sauce, a sweet-savory mixture of spices, honey and broth, and sprinkles the stew with cinnamon and sugar.

“Food is really beautiful,” Munson said. “It’s like art.”

A shallow bowl of hummus emerges from Munson’s kitchen studded with gemlike flecks of roasted red pepper and fresh cilantro. The next day it could include roasted garlic and a handful of other spices. Her flaky Baklava is filled with spiced nuts and soaked with honey, but still crisp and golden brown.

It’s no coincidence that Munson’s cooking has a distinct Mediterranean influence. She hails from Tangier, two hours from Spain by ferry over the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean. Dishes from this region boast a wide range of spices, but they’re not as hot as those from southern Morocco.

“Tangier is right on the tip of the African continent, close to Spain but our culture is completely different,” Munson said. “Tangier at a time was international, with people coming from Italy, Spain, England. It’s like the melting pot you have in New York.”

Munson, 50, came to New York more than 30 years ago with her sister, who had attended an American school in Morocco and wanted to continue her studies in the United States. Shortly after they arrived, her sister’s friend, Henry Munson, came by their 23rd Street apartment. Fatima opened the door, and it was love at first sight.

“That first time, looking at each other it was like we knew each other all along,” Munson said, smiling. “That was just it. We’ve never been apart. … It feels like we just met each other.”

During a recent visit, Henry walked into the sitting room at Fatima’s Baraka with an armload of long-stemmed roses to celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary.

After they were married, the Munsons lived in California for three years, then they moved to Orono so Henry could work as an anthropology professor at the University of Maine. Henry now serves as chairman of the Anthropology Department.

Fatima, who speaks four languages, taught French at Orono High School part time before opening the restaurant. There are days when she misses Morocco, and she visits as often as possible. When she describes her homeland, her eyes light up.

“To see the real thing, it’s even better than the pictures,” she said.

“I loved it, actually, but when you reach a certain age of your life, you’re curious about other cultures as well. I never planned that I was going to spend the rest of my life here … but this is home. It’s a nice community. It’s a beautiful town.”

Fatima’s friends and neighbors in the community are excited for her – and equally excited to have another local dining option.

“I think the food is great,” said Surah Whelan of Orono, whose children are friends with several of the Munsons’ four children. “It’s the easiest thing to order a good, delicious, healthy meal for the busy working couple. … I’m hoping people will realize it’s a treat to go pick up the food.”

Fatima may open a full-service restaurant at some point, but she wanted to start small and do takeout only.

She chose a few favorite dishes, including Pastilla, a layered pie of chicken and spices, ground raisins and prunes, and phyllo dough; Harira, a popular soup of chickpeas, tomatoes, lentils and vermicelli; or Kifta, which are savory broiled skewers of spiced ground beef, lamb and onions. The Munsons’ youngest daughter, Nadia, 17, helps with deliveries, but Fatima cooks everything herself, from scratch. This can mean long hours on her feet, but Fatima doesn’t mind.

“Yesterday, I was in the kitchen at 1 p.m.,” she said. “Honest to god, I did not sit down until 9 o’clock. My feet were killing me, but I had the best time. It didn’t feel like work.”

Food has always been a pleasure for Fatima, but growing up, she didn’t do much cooking. Her mother was a good cook and her father worked as a chef on a boat that brought the faithful to Mecca.

As she watched her parents in the kitchen, she learned about spices and various techniques, and when she came to America, she made traditional dishes for her family and friends.

“Whenever we have a guest, I love to cook Moroccan because that’s my roots,” Fatima said. “The kids would say, ‘Mom, are we going to have chicken with prunes again?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, I don’t hear any complaints. If I hear any complaints, we’ll have a barbecue. We’ll have hamburgers.'”

Alex Grab of Old Town, who knows the Munsons through the university, has been a dinner guest at their home. He loved Fatima’s Moroccan dishes so much that he was one of her first customers when she opened her restaurant. Grab came to Orono from Israel, and has been waiting for a good Middle Eastern restaurant to open in the area.

“I think this area needs more so-called ethnic food,” Grab said. It adds to the variety, adds to the cultural experience and I really appreciate it.”

Fatima believes eating should be a cultural experience, or at least an experience, rather than a flavorless fast-food fiasco. She believes good cooking takes time, and she plans to travel to Morocco at the end of the summer so she can buy tea and spices that she can’t find here. Fatima’s Baraka, which gets its name from the Arabic word for blessing, is a place where food is celebrated, even revered.

“Food is a blessing, you know,” Munson said. “God created people and created these things for us, these foods, these fruits, these things we’re so lucky to have. In Morocco, the way I was brought up, you respect food.”

Fatima’s Baraka is located at 12 Spruce St. in Orono (from Main Street, turn onto Pine Street, take a right onto Elm Street and another right onto Spruce). Hours are 4-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, as well as noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. Munson offers free delivery with an order of $15 or more. For more information, call 866-3643.