Duck and Cover

All cooking in Morocco is done on stoves powered by small propane gas tanks, meaning said tanks are available everywhere you look. Even the smallest shops have walls of them hidden away in the corners. And since people are so used to them, they tend to treat them a bit more freely than someone who still sees them as cylinders of highly pressurized, highly flammable gas.

Whenever I see someone toss a buta tank, I cringe. Then I take a deep breath and repeat the mantra I’ve held since training, when our cook tested a tank for leaks using a lighter held inches from our quivering faces:

“It’s only a small bomb.”