In the midst of swanky new hotels and gravity-defying skyscrapers thrives Morocco, that is still quaint in its essence. Mike Harrison, our nomadic foodie, pays a gastronomical tribute to one of the world's finest cuisines. Photos by the author
Morocco is on the move! The transformation from exotic North African kingdom to touristic playground par excellence, catering to every possible type of visitor, is almost complete.
The real estate and hotel industries, referring to the current boom, are already labelling Morocco the new Spain. But Morocco is NOT the new Spain, nor is it the new Dubai!
Morocco is simply the new Morocco, happily blending the best of the west and the rest with a good-sized pinch of its own, centuries-old, rock-solid culture and traditions.
While interior designers from London to New York talk of doing rooms in 'Moroccan' - ie soft, sensuous pastel shades of terracotta - chefs around the world are experimenting with fusion dishes based on the heady aromas of cinnamon and cloves and thick flavoursome sauces.
Moroccan cuisine is one of the most sensual cuisines of the world but seems only recently to be getting the recognition it deserves. Which international city does not now boast at least one restaurant called 'Marrakech', or 'Tagine'?
It is not difficult to identify the key to its current popularity. The country boasts a 3,000-kilometre coastline extending from the Mediterranean and way down the African Atlantic coast. There are sharp mountain ranges where you can ski one day and explore valleys, desert and oases the next.
In the shopper's paradise that is Marrakech, you can buy designer leather bags and jackets in the new town, while the old souq has just about everything from ostrich eggs, chunky silver jewellery, dried nuts and figs, to goatskin water bags, sequinned belly-dancing outfits, embroidered jalabyas, bright earthenware tagine dishes, powdered ginger and bulbous pickled olives.
While the latest Hollywood brat pack make fools of themselves in the hotels and nightclubs of Marrakech, the country takes it all in its stride, keeps its character, and can afford to indulge the visitor.
The tourist hordes will flock to the country, the boutique hotels will come and go, the gated communities and golf courses will be constructed, but Morocco will stay faithful to its roots.Morocco is a country that knows who it is!
For the real Moroccan aficionado, the dust blows in from the desert and mixes with the heady, sensual aromas of the souq, and once under your skin, cannot be removed! For me, it has remained there for more than a quarter of a century!
I got my first taste of Morocco as a student in the late 1970s.
Setting off from London with a friend and an interail ticket allowing me free access to the train routes of Europe, and a warning from my father not to go to Morocco because 'it was dangerous', I had not intended to go further than Spain!
It was not long after the flower-power days of the 1960s, when the country had a bit of a wild reputation, and rock stars like Jimi Hendrix languished in the coastal town of Essauoira.
Needless to say, a day later, after a chance encounter on a Madrid train and an invitation to 'visit my family in Casablanca', my father's warning became a distant blur.
I spent two weeks travelling around the country, accepting the hospitality of strangers and did not spend a single night in a hotel! I was hooked - and still am.
During that first visit, which fell during Ramadan, I first encountered the thick, wholesome soup called harira, made with bulbous tomatoes, chick peas and flecks of lamb, and which is often served at Iftar for its nutritional qualities.
I gorged on thick, honeyed briouat pastries and watched my newly-acquired friends' mothers slaving for hours over the preparation of home-made baklava.
On subsequent visits, I developed a passion for tagines, those thick stews of meat or fish served up with a creative range of fruit.
Cooked in thick, round, earthenware glazed pots, tagines are simmered slowly to ensure that the full heady aroma of herbs and spices all infuse into the thick sauce of the dish.
At the table, the cylindrical lid of the clay pot is then lifted to release a wafting aroma of coriander, cinnamon, cloves, thyme, garlic and mint.
I savoured beef tagine with prunes, lemon chicken with olives, and different meat tagines made with quince. I sampled bstilla, a delicious, sweet pastry pie stuffed with almonds, sugar, cinnamon and threads of chicken or pigeon.
I also discovered the delights of Marrakech, a city which remains to this day one of my favourite places. Ironically, we have the former colonial powers to thank for much of the present-day atmosphere of old Marrakech.
According to Miranda Innes, in her book, Cinnamon City, when the French moved into the city in 1912, "they left the medina well alone, building a crisp logical, tidily swept, fully mod-conned world outside the dusty pink ramparts of the mazy old city".
It's this "mazy old city" that I adore for its timeless, sleepy atmosphere. The famous central square of Djema El Fna next to the souq seems to have changed little over the last thousand years.
It was formerly the end of the road for Saharan travellers crossing the desert with their silks and spices, their faces dyed with blue indigo.
The Djema El Fna offered respite and entertainment at the end of a long journey, much as it does today. There are still traditional dancers and acrobats, snake charmers and story-tellers filling every corner of the square like a huge travelling circus.
On a recent winter visit, as I huddled among a crowd listening intently to a story, I noticed that there were many more Moroccans than tourists on the square, and the stories were recounted exclusively in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.
As the Maghreb approached, the muezzin called the faithful to prayer and the sun set behind the Koutoubia mosque, heavy wooden food stalls and benches were rolled onto the square.
The grills started to churn out their kebabs and fish laced with a spicy chermoula marinade, to hungry customers. Hot vats of oil sizzled and popped. Large cauldrons of snails bubbled gently in a dark soup.
Dozens of apron-clad men pressing fresh orange juice called out the numbers of their stalls to passing trade. "Hey, mister. Come to number 50. I give you free juice."
So the visitor goes to the stall and gets the free juice and the juice-presser knows he has made a good investment. But don't you dare then go to another stall-holder for your Vitamin C fix the following day: hell hath no greater fury than a Marrakshi juice-seller scorned!
But even the story-tellers run out of steam at some point, and as the entertainers finish their shifts for the evening, out roll the smaller hot drink stalls, where samovars serve up a hot spicy ginger and cinnamon drink, which gives you the energy to return home to bed as you mull over the adventures of the day.
As the numbers of tourists increase by the day, the country nevertheless seems well prepared to absorb the visitors without being overwhelmed by them.
Outside of Marrakech, the Atlas mountain town of Ouarzazate, with its wondrous locations and burgeoning film industry, has in recent years attracted the biggest Hollywood directors and actors.
Alexander with Colin Farrell and Gladiator featuring Russell Crowe, were both filmed in Ouarzazate and the picturesque Berber village of Aït Ben Haddou, bringing in a good source of income, and many new visitors.
Last year, further north on the Mediterranean coast, King Mohammad VI earmarked over $ 3 billion to develop six upmarket coastal resorts, all with the obligatory golf courses and marinas.
A new flagship development on the eastern-most Mediterranean coast is set to be the largest resort in North Africa when it opens its 600-berth marina, 3,000 luxury apartments and 10 luxury hotels in 2008.
UAE developer Emaar has already started work on several new projects throughout the country, which will attract more and more investors and tourists from the Gulf in the years to come.
With the opening of Moroccan airports to the Irish budget airline, Ryan Air, and the British airlines of Easyjet and Monarch set to follow shortly, you can now fly to Morocco from London for less than Dh150 one way! All of this is likely to lead to a five-fold increase in tourists to the kingdom in the coming years.
Am I worried? Probably. But do I need to be? Possibly not. Because as I said earlier, like the atmospheric city of Marrakech, the country will simply take everything in her stride, welcome the visitors with open arms, and stay true to herself. I'm sure of that.
