Painting again
Whenever I come back to Cornwall after the tourist season in Tafraout has come to a close, I am inspired to paint the landscape and...
A Berber view on the UK General Election
(Photo © AP) So, what would a Berber tribesman from a mountainous desert region in a country that once stretched from Andalusia to...
Fancy climbing the curtains?
Every so often in these semi-arid regions we get thunderclaps and torrential rain. And for the days following this rare weather event...
Beghrir: Berber peace pancakes
In the time before Islam came to Morocco (in the 8th century) local tribes were at constant war, decimating the male population. They...
Arrabbiata - a less 'angry' sauce!
Arrabbiata sauce – it’s a staple of Italian pasta sauces, a classic pomodoro with a spicy twist. They say the name Arrabbiata comes from...
Berber New Year
Berber New Year is celebrated on 13th January and dates from the year 950BC and the time of the Berber pharaoh Shoshenq – which means...
Rfissa: a very traditional celebration meal
This weekend marked Mawlid al-Nabi, the celebration of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday – a sort of Islamic Christmas. But unlike the...
Moroccan Corn Tart
Despite being in Morocco for the winter we still have our own Christmas celebration (my wife is English) and made a traditional Christmas...
Magical Argan Oil (Or: How to Win a Berber Husband)
First of all, a funny story. A couple of years ago I came back from some months away in England (my wife and I split our time between our...
The wedding feast... and the tablecloth trick
They say you can always tell the foreigner at a Berber wedding party: he's the one eating the salad. It's said that if there's a...
