London lite

I was in London earlier this month and took the opportunity before and after my meetings to catch up with a few friends.  I wasn’t there on a major tourist mission, so I didn’t see many sights, but with the help of some local knowledge, these are the places I discovered and re-visited.

Sunday lunch: Somerstown Coffee House

the Somerstown Coffee House on a sunny Sunday
(c) Lynn Sheppard

My parents used to run this place!  The pub, the neighbourhood and the clientele were quite different back then (in the early 70s).  The pub has been through a change of management in the last year.  It’s now run by the “Yummy boys” who have turned around a couple of pubs in the countryside and this is their first venture into the Big Smoke.  So far, they have opened up the two bars into one large drinking/dining space, installed a couple of shabby chic Union Jack sofas at the fireplace and brought in a British tapas/small plates menu plus roasts on a Sunday.  They are working on the garden and had better get a move on – theUK’s in a heatwave!  We had the Sunday roast – I had a veggie version which was a stuffed Portobello mushroom plus all the trimmings including aYorkshirepud and with olive oil sautéed potatoes instead of the goose fat version on the menu.  They were a decent price (for London) at £10.95 and the staff were all chirpy and chatty.

Veggie Sunday Roast – Somerstown style
(c) Lynn Sheppard

This pub is a bit of an undiscovered gem – it’s right between King’s Cross/St Pancras and Euston stations, very near the British Library – don’t overlook it for long, because others won’t!

 
The Somerstown Coffee House,60 Chalton Street,London, NW1 1HS. Tel: (020 7)387 7377 (tube: King’s Cross/St Pancras)

Activity: Victoria and Albert Museum

courtyard at the V&A – in the rain!
(c) Lynn Sheppard

On a rainy day, you can do a lot worse than dive into one of London’s many museums.  The V&A is a good choice – it’s a great museum of applied arts and design, but it’s also in South Kensington, right beside the Natural History Museum.  The V&A is far too big to tackle in a day, so we had a wander round the calm and peaceful Islamic Middle East section and the truly bizarre Cast Courts. Apparently, the making and collecting of casts of famous monuments (for study or conservation purposes) was particularly popular in the mid to late 19th century.  And the V&A has a whole room of them – replicas of monuments which in real life are continents apart and have since crumbled, eroded or potentially been destroyed. 

Cast courts at the V&A
(c) Lynn Sheppard

We also visited the newly restored V&A café, which is located in the V&A’s original refreshment rooms, which formed the first museum restaurant in the world.  The setting is stunning – across a large open courtyard where fountains normally play (when the water’s not falling from the sky) and three rooms designed at the time to showcase modern design and craftsmanship.  The menu of light meals, salads and large slabs of cake is perfect for a mid-museum pause and is provided by Benugo – caterers also at Edinburgh Castle.

There’s so much to the V&A, we didn’t do it justice on a rainy afternoon.  I highly recommend a visit – they’ve just refurbished their fashion galleries and are celebrating an exhibition of beautiful ballgowns, red carpet evening dresses and catwalk showstoppers. That is something I have to see!
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL. Tel: (020 7)942 2000 (tube:South Kensington)

Dinner: Da Polpo

the milkiest, most succulent mozzarella!
(c) Lynn Sheppard

Da Polpo is a part of a great new mini-chain across London and is a vibrant, warm bar/restaurant with an interior of reclaimed furniture and serving what could best be described as ‘Italian tapas’.  The staff are super-friendly, the menu is a select collection of small plates and sharing dishes and the food is as fresh as a daisy.  We had a couple of amazing simply yet tongue-zingingly delicious salads – one with a milky dome of mozzarella and buttery fresh beans (including their crazily spiralled shoots) and the other featuring lightly grilled courgettes – both drizzled with a light olive oil.  We shared a spinach pizetta – a kind of extra-thin based mini-pizza Fiorentina complete with an egg on top.  Pizzettas are a bit of a Polpo speciality: the star is the topping not the pillow-like base, as has sadly become the case in many popular pizzerias. We also had a fritto misto which consisted of crunchy batter around succulent fish and seafood pieces.  I have honestly never had such a perfect batter.  We finished all of that off with a lemon and yoghurt fool, poured in a glass over amaretti biscuits (one between us, I hasten to add!).  Fabulous! Food that fresh is so much more satisfying and our shared light dinner, up at the bar with some mixed olives and a 25cl carafe of wine each, came to a very satisfying £48 (plus 12% optional service charge, as is customary in London), which is a steal for Theatreland.  Da Polpo gets a big thumbs up from me!
Da Polpo, 6 Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7NA. Tel: (0207) 836 8448 (tube: Covent Garden, Charing Cross)

Spinach pizzetta and frito misto at Da Polpo
(c) Lynn Sheppard

Shopping: Skandium

All the best of Scandawegian design under one roof and over two large floors!  All your favourites are here: Marimekko, Iittala and Arabia and many more.  On the ground floor you can buy homewares, accessories and smaller items; downstairs there are larger pieces such as furniture.  The staff are really helpful, even when – as we were – you are only looking (and dreaming!)

Skandium – branches throughout London.

Sleeping: Premier Inn, Victoria 

I often stay in the area around Victoria station for work and hotel represents the best value I have found. The rooms are a good size, beds are comfy, bathrooms are spacious and the wifi is cheap (£3 for 24 hours). When I was there, they also offered a meal deal (dinner and buffet breakfast) for £22. As I had already paid for breakfast, that was deducted and I ended up paying £13 for a substantial 3-course meal and a glass of wine. Try and find that elsewhere in London!!  Best of all, though, were the staff. They were all helpful, friendly, motivated and enthusiastic. Top class service in a budget hotel.

The room cost a lot more than the cheap rates in their TV ad, but the hotel met all of my needs and actually exceeded my expectations. Around the corner on Belgrave Road is an EasyHotel, which although much more basic is clean and genuinely cheap.

Premier Inn London Victoria, 82-83 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PS
Easyhotel Victoria, 34-40 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RG
(tube: Victoria)

Have you been to London lately?  What are your favourite places to eat, sleep and generally hang out?

(c) Lynn Sheppard

Barcelona part 1 – my tips

 

View of Barcelona from the Parc Guell
(c) Lynn Sheppard

I recently spent a long weekend in Barcelona.  It was at least my 5th trip to the city – it’s one of my favourite destinations.  I compiled the tips below a while back for visiting friends and colleagues.  I thought I’d share them first, then share the tips I got from friends for this most recent visit and then finally let everyone know what we actually did and offer some reviews of what’s hot and what’s not in this eternally changing city!

My top tourist attractions

• Mercat san Josep – on the Ramblas.  Check out the jamon, fish and local cheeses. Get there before 4pm.  Yum!
• Institut d’Estudis Catalanas, c/del Carme  47 in the Barrio Chino.  Beautiful cloistered building featuring Andalusian-style mosaic.  It’s like something straight out of ‘The Angel’s Game’ by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. There’s a park nearby for a spot of guidebook consultation and contemplation.
  

  I have been in many cathedrals, but no other with… geese!!
  (c) Lynn Sheppard

•  La Seu, Barcelona Cathedral in the Barrí Gòtic.  Featuring geese and turtles in the interior.
• Parc Güell

Not that easy to get to but really worth it for the fantastic Gaudí mosaics and views of the city.  Not to be missed!

• Sagrada Familia. Another Gaudí masterpiece, begun in 1882 and not yet finished.  Always busy, but worth seeing even if you can’t be bothered to queue!
   
• Teatre National de Catalunya, Plaça de les Arts.  Fantastic over the top architecture. Tours available. 

 What Barcelona does best….. 

• Architecture– not just Gaudí’s modernism, but also the gothic, the modern and the downright crazy.
•  Pan amb tomaquet,  the Catalan alternative to bread and butter is delicious at any time of day – smear garlic and Mallorcan tomatoes on crispy ciabatta-style bread and top with olive oil and sea salt.  Perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

constant renewal….
(c) Lynn Sheppard

• Continual renewal – Barcelona is the hippest of Spanish cities and never stops still.  The new gerkin-style building above the Olympic district is already old hat.
• Football – as important to Catalans as politics and fine food.  Take your pick from superteam FC Barcelona (tickets harder to come by, but the Camp Nou stadium is open daily for visitors) and Espanyol, the formerly pro-Franco team who play in their stadium on the Montjuïc hill. Tickets are available from the Tourist Information Centre on Plaça Catlunya.

Bars (check out subsequent posts for more!)

• Boadas cocktelería – c/Tallers 1, off the Ramblas.  Small old-style spirits and cocktail bar.  Crowded (bit thankfully no longer smoky), but a bit of old Barcelona
•  El Xampanyet – c/Montada, 22.  In the neighborhood of the Picasso Museum, which features lovely courtyards and little boutiques to explore.  Stop of for a cava and some tapas to refuel your energy. 

if tourism seems a bit like hard work, head to the beach!
(c) Lynn Sheppard

Eating in Barcelona

Vellpoblenou – Fresh, local produce prepared in the Catalonian style.  Not very central, but a mecca to good food for the residents of this area, who know better than to seek out quality in the tourist traps of the Barceloneta. 
http://www.vellpoblenou.com

c/Rossello cafeteria - If you look hard enough, you’ll find plenty such local establishments without airs or graces (and with plenty of football on the telly!). Check out this cafeteria-style local tapas bar in the Eixample, just east of the Hosptial.  Unassuming, much cheaper than the touristy tapas bars around the Plaça Catlunya, you’ll need a bit of Spanish and a tolerance of Spanish sport and soap operas.  Try out the sherry in the barrels behind the bar! A good place to grab a bite before hitting the clubs hidden around this area.

Ría de Mera - There are plenty of Galician restaurants in the Eixample district, but this one is a good one, serving delicious Galician seafood, hams and wines, just in case you get bored of all things Catalan! (address: Carrer del Consell de Cent 299)

Can culleteres - Hardcore Catalan cuisine in the oldest restaurant in Barcelona.  For those who like a lot of protein on their plate!  http://www.culleretes.com

Accomodation in Barcelona

Consider renting an apartment.  Flats are often cheaper than hotels, especially for groups.  Cocoon offer modern, renovated, high spec apartments in various districts of the city.
http://www.cocoonbarcelona.com/

Top tip: Watch your pockets and your handbag.  It’s sad but true – Barcelona is rife with pickpockets.

What are your favourite places in Barcelona?  What would you recommend?

Sagrada Familia – under construction for 30 years
(c) Lynn Sheppard

(c) Lynn Sheppard

Eating in Marrakech

There is no shortage of restaurants in Marrakech – there are new ones popping up every week.  However, if can be difficult to find something that represents good value (whether cheap or expensive) and it’s often difficult to find a menu more extensive than the usual tajine or couscous dishes.

On a recent two-night trip to Marrakech, we had two very different tourist eating experiences: we ate at a stand on Place Jmaa el Fna one night and on the second, we pushed the boat out and had a celebratory meal at Pepenero, currently #2 of 269 Marrakech restaurants on Trip Advisor.

Place Jmaa el Fna

Place Jmaa el Fna by dusk

Marrakech’s main square undergoes a transformation every day at dusk.  As the orange juice stands and water sellers retreat and the selections of false teeth and folk remedies are packed away, the food hawkers wheel their mobile kitchens, benches and tables out onto their allotted pitches, lit by bare bulbs.  As the cooking begins, the steam rises and the lightbulbs twinkle in competition with the stars.  As the acrobats, Gnaoua musicians and dancing boys appear for the entertainment of the diners and those taking an evening stroll, the atmosphere seems tinged with a hint of the magical and mediaeval. 

If it weren’t for the banter of the hawkers and the conversation and companionship of our fellow tourists, packed in along the narrow benches beside the trestle tables, our meal would have been disappointing.  I took issue with our waiter who served us a saucer of couscous bouillon as ‘vegetable tajine’.  When I told him his ‘tajine’ would not grace my own table, he promised a ‘proper’ one the following evening.  (But we had other ideas – see below). 

Sheep's head, anyone?

Among Moroccans, who don’t baulk at the idea, Place Jmaa el Fna is well-known for the opportunity to eat sheep’s head (including ears, eyes and brain).  I left that ‘delicacy’ to my friend and ate instead a passable harira soup, which was sub-contracted from the soup stand nearby.

Eating on the square is at the top of the ‘must-do’ list for visitors to Marrakech.  However, it’s not what it once was – the offer (on laminated menus in at least 4 languages) has become increasingly organised and homogenised and you pay for the experience more than the quality of the food. However, no-one hurries you and on a warm evening I like to tune in to the sales patter and the ingenious methods and variety of languages used by the waiters to tempt tourists onto their stand.  And between the identikit brochette/ merguez/ tajine/ couscous stands you can still find stands selling only tea; barrows laden with sweet sticky baklava and – of course – the odd steamed sheep’s head.

Pepenero

Pepenero - the photo doesn't do it justice

When I first heard of Pepenero’s reputation, I wondered why one would travel to Marrakech for Italian food.  When we spotted the stylish black and white signs dotted around the Riad Zitoun Jdid area of the medina and followed them to their destination, we realised how little justice the description of ‘Italian restaurant’ really did for Pepenero.  And when we managed to book a table there the following night, we could not believe our luck! In an awe-inspiring setting, knowledgeable and polite (but not stuffy) staff serve outstanding food.  Miss it and miss out!!

amuse bouche

Pepenero is down a series of winding alleyways and is set in a kind of double riad.  It is probably the most beautiful and romantic place in which I have even eaten. (Le Tanjia in the Marrakech Mellah comes a close second on the interior design front, although I see it gets mixed reviews on everything else these days). The first courtyard is dimply lit and features a traditional riad garden complete with fountain and under-lit pool; the second has the main restaurant seating around another fountain, flanked by a zellij-tiled wall fountain and two salons off at either end offer additional seating and windows opening into the courtyard.  There were traditional interior features and handicrafts from floor to ceiling.  No photos I took could do the place justice with its subdued lighting and tinkling fountains.

But we didn’t just come to sit and gape at the surroundings.  While we ate a fluffy, creamy salmon mousse amuse-bouche, our waiter expertly helped us through the Italian menu (if it had been in Arabic, French or English we would have been fine!).  There is also a Moroccan menu and we decided to mix and match.

selection of Moroccan salads

We shared the selection of Moroccan salads as a starter.  Moroccan salads are often made with cooked vegetables which are dressed and served at room temperature.  In my opinion, this kind of home cooking is not prevalent enough on the average restaurant menu.  The Pepenero salads – roast red pepper, roast green pepper, zaluq (smoky roast aubergine) and foul (broad beans flavoured with confit lemons) – were delicately flavoured and demonstrated why Moroccan cuisine deserves a place on the top table of global cuisine. 

Risotto Carnaroli allo Zafferanoca

I don’t normally bother with a pasta course, but the idea of heavenly Moroccan saffron was irresistible, so we shared a Risotto Carnaroli allo Zafferanoca.  The flavour of the risotto was simple and let the saffron shine through.  The texture was perfect: not too al dente, but not too soupy.  It was fresh and fabulous!

For the main course, we went Italian again: my companion chose a filet steak, whereas I took the sea bass.  Both were presented on fresh, succulent seasonal vegetables – baked vegetables (mushrooms, tomatoes and sugar snaps) with the bass and pan-fried carrots, leeks, French beans and fennel with the beef.  I can only speak for my main, but it was exquisite – the folk rule about not eating fish in Marrakech does not apply at Pepenero!

Branzino di mare al Cartoccio

After all that, a dessert was a tad too much, but our mint tea was accompanied by small homemade pastries, which provided a sweet finish to a perfect meal. 

mint tea and pastries

In my opinion, Pepenero is excellent value for money.  You can spend a lot more in Marrakech to eat at the latest ‘in’ location and still only be offered tajine.  For two courses, a bottle of wine and one of water plus complementary amuse bouches, bread and patisseries, in an idyllic setting and served by professional, attentive staff, just over 700dh (around £55) was a gift!  I could not easily find the quality of dishes or location in Europe for that figure and the pricing reflects the lower overheads in Morocco that many feted Marrakchi restaurants don’t bother to do. Chef Khalid Robazza Essafa has found a winning formula.

Filetto di Manzo con selezione di Verdure alla piastra

Following the meal, guests are offered a taxi service (there is also – rarely for the Medina – parking nearby) or are escorted by a staff member resplendent in black jellaba and red felt fez back through the labyrinthine streets to Place Jmaa el Fna.

Top tips: On their website, Pepenero is currently offering a free dessert to those celebrating a special occasion.  We also found that a booking request from a hotel or riad carried more sway than an individual reservation. 

Restaurant PEPENERO
17, Derb Cherkaoui – Douar Graoua Marrakech
phone : +212 (0) 524 389067
e-mail : contact@pepenero-marrakech.com
Web site (and directions): www.pepenero-marrakech.com

© Lynn Sheppard (words and pictures)

Misshapen Vegetables

There are so many paradoxes in the Western/Northern concept of ‘progress’.  One of the absurdities of modern life is our apparent desire for perfectly formed fruit and vegetables – all year round, regardless of their natural season in the country of purchase.  In the UK, alongside the increasingly popular movements in favour of organic, local, home-grown and ‘slow’ food there is even a campaign in favour of “knobbly veg” being run by Delicious Magazine supported by the National Trust. 

chickens for sale

One of the things I love about visiting Essaouira in Morocco is our daily trip to the market.  I don’t eat meat, so I don’t need to linger by the (live) chicken stalls, I just make a beeline for the veg stands.  There’s no need to ask if the produce is local – it goes without saying.  There isn’t a polystyrene multi pack in sight and the veggies come in all shapes and sizes.  It’s ideal for the single person or the extended family because you can buy as much or as little as you like: just collect all the veg you want in a plastic sieve and it’s weighed and priced all together.  There are no prices on display: what you pay is simply an average of the kilo price for whatever’s in the selection you’ve picked out!

vegetables piled high

Nearby, nearer the street, you can find guys selling all the seasoning you need: garlic cloves, chillies, ground spices, salt and pepper by the dirham or half dirham.  It’s perfect if you only need a small quantity and your purchase is usually wrapped in a twist of recycled piece of newspaper.  (Or, as the sadly recently deceased old guy we used to buy from – in the pages of an old algebra exercise book.  RIP, gnarled old garlic man!)

Out on the main road through Essaouira’s souks, you will be left in no doubt as to which fruit is in season.  In between the barrows stacked with bread and bushes of mint and verbena are the fruit sellers.  Last time I was in town, the men were carefully arranging ripe strawberries one-by-one on their carts – like hundreds of upturned nipples!

white radishes and beans

It’s such a pity that our supermarket-dominated food shopping habits often encourage over-packed, over-processed fruit and veg in quantities greater than we need.  This leads to unnecessary waste – both of food and packaging.  It’s good to be reminded of a simpler life.  Hopefully we in the West can learn from our past mistakes and countries where consumers still buy only what they need and live in tune with the land and the seasons can avoid them all together.

If you’d like to use your knobbly veg in a traditional Moroccan tajine, there’s a recipe here.

What do you think?  Do you prefer the convenience of supermarket shopping or do you seek out the knobbly veg at the market?

© Lynn Sheppard, words & pictures

Cheap eats – msimen café in Essaouira

There is a new cafe in Essaouira – it’s only been around for a few months and it’s only open in the evenings from 4-9pm, but it’s always packed to the gills and is cheap as chips. 

Come to think of it, maybe it’s like a Moroccan equivalent of a chippie or Greggs (for the non-Brits, it’s a bakery chain selling sandwiches and hot savoury pastries); only Moroccans tend not to eat on the move, so they pop in for a quick, hot snack and move on.

msimen being pulled and folded into shape

Even the menu isn’t very large.  You can have warm harira soup (3dh, around 23p), freshly griddled msimen (2dh, about 15p) and piping hot mint tea (6dh, expensive at about 45p!), or any combination of the above. That’s it!  And yet it’s probably the most popular fast food joint in town – at less than £2 for a hot meal, that’s perhaps hardly surprising! 

the msimen ladies are happy at their work!

Msimen are like a pancake made from a dough rather than a batter. Head-scarved ladies pull the dough into shape and fold it over and over itself, liberally sprinkling it with something like very fine semolina.  Then a guy griddles them out on the street.  They have a passing resemblance to Turkish gözleme or French crêpes.  They are served with either butter/oil and honey or spreading cheese (the type that comes in triangular shapes in a round box).

the piping hot msimen are nearly ready!

Harira is a traditional North African soup made from a tomato base with chickpeas, vermicelli pasta and coriander, seasoned with cinnamon, cumin, paprika and ginger. It has a velvety consistency achieved by the addition of flour right at the end of cooking and is sometimes made with lamb.  It’s warming and hearty – like a meal in a bowl – and so it’s no surprise that it’s often eaten to break the fast during Ramadan. 

The combination of savoury harira soured with a little vinegar and sweet msimen is a surprising winner.  At least the shoppers, shop keepers, corner huggers, heel kickers and general masses of Essaouira seem to think so.  The little café, with 3-4 low tables downstairs and 5-6 upstairs is always packed and is a real social leveller: everyone just grabs the next available seat, sharing a corner of a table as it becomes free.  Grannies sit beside teenagers; tourists beside jellaba-d businessmen and the young and the old dig into the sticky msimen with their fingers.

a great snack: mint tea and msimen (with a mountain of sugar!)

I think the secret to the success of the msimen café is that it brings people together.  It’s cheap, so everyone can afford it, and the food is homely and comforting.  It reminds young male migrant workers (who may not have the facilities or the expertise to cook in their accommodation) of mum’s home cooking, yet a quick snack won’t spoil the appetite of those lucky enough to have a cooked meal at home.  And in bringing people together, this small café, with its trip hazard stairs and cramped accommodation enables the local Swiris to engage in their favourite hobby of chatting, gossiping and generally catching up on the day’s events. 

Msimen Café, Avenue Istiqlal, Essaouira
(It’s on the left if you’re walking away from the beach, a bit further than the bank and on the other side, before you reach the souks)

© Lynn Sheppard (photos: Yassine Houmdi)

Gift shopping in the souks

the souks in Marrakech

I love the crafts and goods for sale in Morocco and I love a shopping mission to hunt down the perfect gift for friends and family.  I have already written about the hunt for ma’quda to decorate towels as a present for my mum; buying spices; and my hunt for a handcrafted zellij mosaic (OK, that was a present for myself!).

The bargaining and haggling can be a bit daunting, but all you need to know are my top five tips to keep your wits (if not your cash) in the souk:

1. The goods you want to purchase don’t have a price; you do.  The price you are quoted for the object of your desire will be entirely based on what the stallholder thinks he’ll get from you.
2. Figure out what you’d be willing to pay and then suggest a figure around a third of the quoted price.  If the shopkeeper won’t budge, walk away.  He’ll either drop the price or you can start again at his competitor’s shop.
3. Check the workmanship/size/quality and if it’s not good, walk away.  You’ll find better elsewhere.
4. Above all, enjoy it!  Don’t take it too seriously.  Enjoy the banter; sip the mint tea and keep your humour.  My friend was once sold a pair of slippers of different sizes, but she really didn’t mind because the shopkeeper was so charming while he fleeced her!!
5. Finally, these guys are experienced.  If shopping in the souk still sounds a bit intimidating to someone used to their local supermarket, do what I do and take along a local!

Item number one on my list was a summer weight djellaba (like a hooded dressing gown you pull over your head) for my mate Will’s birthday.  He thought it would be perfect for lounging around the house.  We managed to find a denim blue one in Essaouira.  First of all, we checked the price we should pay with a shopkeeper who didn’t have what we were looking for and then once I’d found one of suitable quality at another stall (no loose threads, neat top stitching and tidy rows of ma’quda), my chief negotiator went in for the kill.  One djellaba for the right (local) price; tick!

one very happy recipient of a djellaba (doing a good impersonation of Obi Wan Kenobi!)

one pair of babouches with matching ma'quda

We had spent a week in Essaouira looking for white babouches (flat leather slippers) at the request of a friend, but they were either the wrong size, poorly sewn or revealing the marker pen lines used to trace the pattern.  One pair didn’t even match!  We left that item for Marrakech and managed to find two lovely pairs – one with ma’quda and one with iridescent sequins in the souk off Rue Derb Dabachi in the medina.  Again, I took a back seat and let my friend do the talking.  Et voila!  Two pairs for the price my friend was willing pay for one; tick!

and a second pair with sequins

 I had really been struggling to find something for my mum.  She’s not keen on babouches (too flat) and she doesn’t like kaftans and djellabas (she has a weird phobia of pulling clothes over her head!) and she doesn’t need any more knick-knacks for the house.  However, she loves handicrafts and when we passed the shop of Mohamed Tijani further along Rue Derb Dabachi (opposite Derb Jdid), I knew I would find something perfect for her.  As he took pleasure in explaining to us, Monsieur Tijani sources hand embroidered tablecloths and table mats from Berber women in the villages of the Atlas Mountains.  The produce is fairly traded and provides valuable income for families in rural areas.  The patterns on the two oversized mats I bought were traditional Berber designs and Mohammed was happy to demonstrate them for the camera! Gift for hard-to-buy-for mum; tick!

Monsieur Tijani and his "broderie marcocain"

Last on the gift list was something for a couple of female friends.  Mme Ziani came up with the goods in her lovely little shop, Le Nature, on Rue Riad Zitoun Jdid.  The shop sells all sorts of beauty and home gifts and hammam accessories such as argan oil soap, embroidered cushion covers and lovely little purses, make up bags and iPad covers featuring stylised traditional designs, such as the hand of Fatima (believed to ward off evil – every woman needs that in the bathroom!!).  Cute, wipe clean purses for friends; tick!

Hand of Fatima purse

Shopping is hard work.  If you are doing yours in Marrakech, check out my chill out tips!

If you’d like me to do the hard work for you, drop me a line via the comments box.  There’s only one thing better than shopping and that’s shopping for someone else!

© Lynn Sheppard (words and pictures)

Tinariwen in Edinburgh

Tinariwen in Edinburgh
(c) Lynn Sheppard

Wrapped in their kaftans, tagelmust (also known as chech – a scarf/turban of up to 12 metres) and adorned with brightly decorated pendant pouches, Tinariwen cut quite a dash on a stage in Scotland.

Tinariwen are a collective of Touareg and Berber musicians from the various countries which border the Sahara. The Touareg are scattered across West and North African and the name Tinariwen means ‘deserts’. It was particularly poignant to see them in this week when the latest round of Touareg rebellion (a series of separatist insurgencies which date back to at least 1916) has been in the news, along with the military coup in Mali.

The founding members of Tinariwen met as refugees in rebel training camps – first under the auspices of recently deposed Colonel Gaddafi and later with other Touareg rebels with whom some of them participated in the 1990 rebellion in Mali. After the Tamanrasset Accords in 1991, it is said that the band members turned their attentions full time to music. However, several of the older members of Tinariwen were unable to be in Edinburgh because of the latest conflict in Mali.

The Tinariwen genre is usually referred to as ‘desert blues’ and it is not necessary to understand any of the languages in which they sing to comprehend the hardship and strife they seek to express. The electric and acoustic guitar riffs and the basslines are at once recognisable as those we know from African-American blues, but they are layered with influences from ancient and modern African styles such as chaabi, raï and assouf. Unlike American blues, however, the lyrics seem to be laden with so much meaning they stretch beyond the musical phrases, like the adversity and suffering of the stateless Touareg is too great to fit.

singing through the chech
(c) Lynn Sheppard

The set, which was more than 1.5 hours long, began with songs from last year’s Grammy Award-winning Tassili album, which the band has been touring since September 2011. Then followed a selection from their other four albums. For the encore, a sixth musician came on stage to play a flute to which the band performed a mesmerising chant, like a collective moan which held the whole venue in its grasp. The crowd went wild – there was dancing in the aisles and their appreciation was shouted in English and French.

Although Edinburgh has become increasingly cosmopolitan over the 20-odd years I have called it home, it was still a very rare and special treat to see Tinariwen here in all their swaddled glory and being very much appreciated by the local audience. The band have a long way to go before they return to their conflict and coup-ravaged home of Mali, but hopefully they will remember fondly their short stop in Scotland’s capital.

A version of this post is also on my Edinburgh reviews blog.

© Lynn Sheppard (words and pictures)

Chillin’ in Marrakech – the city’s gardens

The hustle and bustle, the bartering and the banter, plus swerving out of the way of approaching scooters, bikes and donkeys are all part of the attraction of Marrakech, but sometimes you just want a bit of peace and quiet where no-one will try to sell you something, tempt you into their restaurant, offer to be your guide or run you over. 

coloured plant pots in the Jardin Majorelle
(c) Lynn Sheppard

On a recent trip to the Pink City, we made sure to do all our shopping on Day One so that we had Day Two to do some relaxed sightseeing outside the medina.  I was with a Moroccan friend and we each chose a place the other had never been.  As it happens, our choices (the Jardin Majorelle and the Menara Gardens) were case study in the contrasting ways Europeans and Moroccans like to relax as well as the differences between how each culture organises and cares for its green spaces and cultural heritage.

Jardin Majorelle

majorelle blue buildings in the Jardin Majorelle
(c) Lynn Sheppard

I had been to the Jardin Majorelle before and find it inspirational.  I am drawn to the contrast between the colours: the bright tropical foliage and the magenta bougainvillea; the yellow, orange and powder blue plant pots along terracotta paths and around murky pools.  And, of course, the bright cobalt bleu majorellebuildings against the blindingly bright cloudless sky.  The other big attractions are the tranquillity – interrupted only by the whispers of visitors and the tinkling of the fountains – and the shade.  There is also a brand new museum of Berber culture, which we didn’t visit on this occasion, preferring to laze in the shadows of the palms.  The café – in a small courtyard – is  also excellent, although the prices are far higher than the world outside the walls!

In memory of YSL, with whom I share my birthday
(c) Lynn Sheppard

French artist Jacques Majorelle was born in 1886 in Nancy. He travelled to colonial Morocco in 1919 to recover from ill health and founded the gardens in 1924.  The gardens were opened to the public in 1947 and bought by designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé in 1980.  Following his death in 2008, Saint Laurent’s ashes were scattered in the gardens.  Bergé is President of the Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, which manages the gardens.

palms offer welcome shade in the Jardin Majorelle
(c) Lynn Sheppard

It was this latter point on which my Moroccan friend remarked.  He found the entrance fee (50dh – about €5) prohibitively expensive for the average Moroccan but conceded that such a charge was necessary to maintain the gardens in such excellent condition.  He appreciated the foundation’s role in maintaining the gardens but thought it was a pity that they weren’t in public control for all to enjoy.  We agreed, however, that the Moroccan government has other priorities at present.  According to the website, Moroccan school and other groups can enter for free on request.  

Jardin Majorelle, Rue Yves Saint Laurent, Marrakech
Tel: +212 (0)5 24 31 30 47
e-mail : info@jardinmajorelle.com

Menara Gardens

The pavilion in the Menara
(c) Lynn Sheppard

The Menara Gardens are well-used by locals and entrance is free. As we entered, I overheard a German tour guide tell his group that the site was “the nearest Marrakech gets to something like Central Park.”  However, the Menara are not public gardens according to the Western idea: there is no grass and the trees are part of an orchard rather than a designed landscape.  The broad paved pathway is perfect for the promenade so well-loved in countries of more stable climates than Northern Europe, but there is absolutely no way to enjoy the view of the (snow-capped) Atlas mountains reigning over the Gardens’ pavilion and lake in the shade!  If you are even remotely pale skinned, do not visit the Menara without a hat, parasol or – like the local ladies – a headscarf.

Although the café was closed (it’s under the bleachers at one end – these are apparently for spectators of a son et lumière show in the evenings), the gardens were full of folks enjoying them in their own ways.  There were a bunch of kids beating the heat, jumping and diving into the basin artificially created for the 12th century Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu’min.  Any attraction of that method of cooling off was quickly ruled out at the sight of the giant carp the size of small babies that periodically come up for air!  The basin, which is ingeniously filled by run off from the mountains 30km away, serves a complex irrigation system for the surrounding olive groves.  It is here that many local families were enjoying the shade, perched on the bumpy ground and the gnarled roots with picnics, barbeques and sound systems.  We joined them for a while – those locals aren’t daft (we all know what the song says about mad dogs and Englishmen…..)

camels for hire outside the Menara
(c) Lynn Sheppard

The gardens are named after the summer pavilion overlooking the water.  It must have been very relaxing to be a sultan reclining in the shade surveying all that he owned! There is a small charge to enter the pavilion, but it didn’t look like there was much to see.  Nowadays, the main view would be of the nearby airport, but surprisingly the noise didn’t carry at all.  At the gates, there’s a great photo (and transportation) opportunity with a small herd of camels available for tourists’ use as well as a direct sightline down to the Koutoubia Mosque on the medina’s edge.

Menara Gardens, Avenue de la Menara, Marrakech

For more Marrakech tips, click here.  There is much more about Morrocco on this blog here.

tranquility in the Jardin Majorelle
(c) Lynn Sheppard

© Lynn Sheppard, words and pictures

Cornes de Gazelles ~ Kaab el ghzal ~ Gazelle’s Horns

 

Koutoubia Mosque
© Lynn Sheppard

On my recent return from Morocco, my case was too full of presents and requests for friends (more on those later) to allow any space for my usual consignment of pastries and biscuits.  But it’s hardly the done thing not to take some local sweet delicacies into work after a trip, so I thought I’d better learn how to make them myself.  The cornes de gazelle weren’t nearly as difficult as I’d feared (although I managed to turn my Moroccan macaroons into teeth-breaking pebbles! Oops !)

This recipe is from ‘The Food of Morocco’ by Tess Mallos. The little crescent moon-shaped pastries are ubiquitous in Morocco and the ideal accompaniment to a glass of mint tea.  The pastry is not at all sweet and the filling is a paste of marzipan-flavoured deliciousness.

Cornes de Gazelles ~ Kaab el ghzal ~ Gazelle’s Horns

Pastry

300g plain flour
1 egg yolk
125ml cold water
30g melted butter
2 tbsp orange flower water (if you can’t find this, use a mix of water and 1 tsp vanilla essence)

Almond Filling

300g ground almonds
90g icing sugar (plus extra to dust)
1 tbsp orange flower water (as before)
1 egg white
30g melted butter
½ teasp ground cinnamon
¼ teasp almond extract

Method

1.   Make the pastry by sifting the flour into a bowl and making a well in the centre. Beat the egg with the water and the orange water.  Pour into the well in the flour with the melted butter and mix to a soft dough.  Knead in the bowl for up 3-4 minutes to make a smooth, elastic dough.  Divide in half, wrap each half in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2.   Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180°C and make the filling.  Mix all the filling ingredients to a stiff paste.  Take 3 level teaspoons of the mix and roll in your hands into a log with tapered ends around 6-7cm long.  Place on a sheet of baking paper and put aside.

method for cornes de gazelles
from The Food of Morocco, Murdoch Books

3.   To make up the pastries, first thinly roll out a half of the pastry on a lightly floured surface.  Try to make a rectangle about 30x40cm.  Place three almond lozenges along the short end about 5cm in from the edge and about 2.5cm apart. Lightly brush either side and between the almond shapes with water.  Life and stretch the pastry over the lozenges and press down.  Cut a semicircle around each one with a fluted pastry wheel (like mezzaluna pasta) and nick in the middle to make a crescent moon shape (with the join on the inside edge).  Prick 4 times with a cocktail stick and lay on a lined baking tray.  Cut a straight line along the edge of the pastry and repeat until you’ve used both halves of the dough (including the trimmings) and all the filling.  It should make around 28 pieces.

 

4.   Bake for 12-15 minutes until cooked but still pale.  Transfer straight away to a wire cooling rack and dust with icing sugar.  Should they last that long, store in an airtight container once cool.

the finished product
© Lynn Sheppard

A Single Swallow, Horatio Clare

An ancient Taoist saying goes: “The journey is the reward.” 

Horatio Clare’s journey begins in South Wales.  He decides to trace local swallows to their winter hangouts in South Africa and then follow them across Africa back to Europe.  The destination in this case, like much good travel writing, is a personal arrival rather than a physical place.  As Clare moves across Africa, through different cultures, languages, colonial heritage, poverty and occasional conflict, he does so with the locals, sharing their lives, encountering their problems and very occasionally overcoming them.  In each place, he looks for the swallows and learns about the folklore associated with them – they are heralded as the bringers of rain; in some places are considered lucky and occasionally as the medium of messages from the ancestors.

passing through Marrakech
© Lynn Sheppard

Clare’s story is charming in its romanticism and its naivety – it appears that although he knew such a journey might change his life, little prior consideration was given to the extent to which this might occur.  He travels through countries and across borders only the most intrepid would even countenance.  Sadly, due to the pace of the swallows’ migration, he is seldom in any for long.  His prose is honest (particularly as he describes a moment of apparent madness on re-entering Europe) and the profound personal impact of his journey is palpable.  Overall, he demonstrates an endearing modesty and fallibility (especially as he is fleeced by an elaborate hash con in Morocco!)  and returns home a different person as a result of what he has witnessed and experienced and the people he has met.

A good read for both travellers and birdwatchers of the active or armchair variety!

© Lynn Sheppard