Saturday, February 27, 2021

journalism

The Simple Life

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By MARK MINTON

A small fire and the faint smell of burning marijuana signals the presence of a group of fishermen on the shore of Rabat, Morocco’s coastal capital. As the twilight hour begins and the sun casts a shimmering golden glow across the various tidal pools on the rocky shore, five Moroccans sit down to enjoy a fresh catch from the evening’s haul.

“We enjoy the simple life here,” says Hamada Benhima with a winsome smile as he presents a slightly charred fish called Halama. Nimble sand-covered hands pass thefish back and forth, tearing off small pieces that practically fall off the bones.

Sugar in Moroccan Diet Causing Major Health Concerns

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By GRANGER TRIPP

Four oversized sugar cubes sit atop the mint leaves resting at the bottom of Fatima Hasson’s tin teapot.The taste is tough to beat – the cool refreshment of mint combined with the sugar’s sappy sweetness.

But, the excessive sugar consumption in the Moroccan diet comes at a price. The rate of diabetes is high in the country and is expected to double by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

“About one and a half million people suffer from diabetes in our country,” said Dr. Jamal Belkhadir, President of the Moroccan League for the Fight Against Diabetes, in an article he published earlier this year.

Diabetes in Morocco

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By ISHAN THAKORE

Kaltoum Ben Cheqroun loves to cook Moroccan dishes, but rarely eats her meticulously prepared meals. She only nibbled at her home-made Sunday feast of salads, boiled sweet potatoes, sautéed chicken and fresh bread.

“You know when she wants to taste something [sweet], we always tell her it’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad,” said her 20 year-old daughter Fatimzzohra. “But, you know, sometimes she wants to. She takes a little bit.”

Ben Cheqroun, 60, has Type 2 diabetes, which prevents her from eating her savory meals. Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Moroccans and is now endemic in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the International Diabetes Foundation.

Sugarcane and Conversation

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By AMULYA SHANKAR

A sugarcane juice stall can be an oasis in a bustling market, and there are a myriad of vendors peddling freshly pressed sugarcane juice to weary shoppers looking for a cool drink and a rush of energy in Rabat’s medina. Hassan is one such vendor, combining the distinctive sweetness of sugarcane with a hint of lemon and a pinch of salt for five dirhams a glass.

“It’s cheap, and everyone loves it. Sugarcane is easy to sell,” he says. Hassan’s stall, resting in the shade amidst various shops selling everything from shoes to snails, is marked by a large bundle of green sugarcane stalks, ready to be fed into the pressing machine to be made into juice.

Fruit: An Unlikely Economic Indicator

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By MADELEINE THOMPSON

In Morocco, it is fruit that distinguishes a big-budget wedding from a more modest one. Bananas from Cuba, three kinds of apples from France, mangoes from South America and pineapples from Hawaii are paraded around under gauzy tents — nothing from inside the country.

For 35,000 dirham (4,170.07 US dollars) Brahim Hafalat’s traiteur company will plan, decorate and supervise a wedding or party for 100 people that pulls out all the stops. “You start with … the tables, the servers, the napkins,” Hafalat said. “Then you have the appetizers — pistachios, mineral water.

Dining and Development

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By MICHELLE DUTRO

Imagine a 200-ton, handcrafted wooden sailboat that took four years to build in a jungle in southern India.  This ship will never set sail. The mast, sails and rigging are all elaborate decorations like a Hollywood movie set.

Gilles Macé, the owner and director of the ship and restaurant Le Dhow, knew he wanted to create something different.

“When you say ‘I’m going to make a restaurant on a boat in Morocco,’ people can’t understand what you’re saying,” Macé said.

Moored on the river between Rabat and Sale and measuring an impressive 47 x 10 meters, Le Dhow stands out.

Spicy Business

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by ELLA BANKA

To sit around a table and share a tajine with a Moroccan family is to take a journey through generations of gatherings, festivities and recipes. The secret to such rich, sumptuous dishes is the oodles of spices and dried herbs that every woman hoards in her kitchen cupboards.

“Nothing tastes better than Moroccan cuisine,” declares Mohammed Hmidi, a young man who works at a nameless spice store in the souk. For over 70 years, his family has proudly served the community in the old medina of Rabat. Western products line the stalls of the open-air market while the essence of traditional Maghreb lingers in the pungent aroma wafting through the air; shawarma…snails…sheep’s head.

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