What is Marrakech butter?

Let's not beat around the bush: Marrakech butter isn't used to make tagines or couscous. Rather, it's the basis for space food (cannabis-infused food). If you're spending a weekend in Amsterdam and want to make yourself a space cake home, that's the place to start.

The Marrakech butter is cannabis-infused butter (also known as cannabutter). By infusing butter, you can turn almost any recipe into a space recipe. American companies made no mistake about it. But it is also used in a more traditional way in many Moroccan dishes and recipes, for example the mahjoun.

Making Marrakech butter involves separating the active ingredients of cannabis, the cannabinoids, from the cannabis itself, and infusing it in a solvent, in this case butter. You can follow the same recipe by replacing the butter with olive oil or coconut oil.

Butter is recommended because cannabinoids like THC are soluble in fat, whereas they don't bind in water. Cannabinoids also need to be activated by the action of heat. This requires decarboxylate your cannabis, The THCA is then converted into THC by heating.

It is for this reason that you cannot use raw cannabis to make edibles. Raw cannabis contains only THCA, which is slowly transformed into THC by natural drying, and more rapidly by baking, for example.

Cooking Marrakech butter takes a little time, but you can use it for any cannabis-infused dish afterwards, from brownies and cookies to soup or tea.

Marrakech butter recipe

There are various Marrakech butter recipes. Here's the simplest. In terms of dosage, the first rule of space food is to go slowly. And correct your dosage upwards each time. It's better to have delicious madeleines with no effect, than space madeleines that are too strong!

It's also best to choose a cannabis variety you already know.

Ingredients

• 250g butter, preferably soft (sorry Bretons!)
• 15g of cannabis (legal, of course! remember that cannabis is still illegal in France, but you can try this recipe in Spain, the Netherlands or the United States), either grinded heads or leftovers from trimming.
• 2 glasses of water
• a metal colander
• a saucepan
• a bowl

Instructions

We therefore assume that you've decarboxylated your cannabis, for example by putting it for 40 minutes in a thermostat 3 or 4 oven (120 degrees max), on baking paper. The result should be a crisper cannabis than usual.

1. Heat the water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. There should be enough water to create a thickness between the butter (which will reform at the top as it cools) and the bottom of the pan. Add a little water if necessary
2. Wait for the butter to melt, then add the cannabis to the pan. Mix gently
3. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking. If it starts to boil, turn down the heat.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool before filtering and resting in a bowl. To filter, use a very fine strainer or kitchen cheesecloth. The aim is to remove all plant residues.
5. Place your mixture in the fridge overnight. The butter will separate from the water and rise in the bowl.
6. Once the cannabis butter has solidified, remove it from the fridge, and separate the butter from the water.

Now you've got your Marrakech butter! The result should be a more or less light green color. The butter will keep for two months in a closed tupperware. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months.

Before incorporating it into a recipe, allow it to warm up to room temperature, until it softens. Cannabis butter can then replace all or part of the butter you traditionally put in your cakes. You can also add a few pieces to maple syrup for pancakes, or to a glass of rum (watch out for mixtures!).

We'll say it again, but the only way to estimate the potency of cannabis butter, and then of your dishes, is to taste them. Potency will depend on the amount of cannabis incorporated and its THC content. If you're making cannabutter for the first time, it's best to keep a light hand. You can always increase the dosage next time.