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Visiting the world’s largest wholesale market Rungis near Paris is an important item in my bucket list, even though one has to get up very early to get a glimpse on this huge belly. But barely having touched the Moroccan soil I found myself at the Al Massar wholesale market, the belly of Marrakesh.

A little adventure: getting there

My guide told me how to take the bus, which I thought would be an adventure, but when you are used to public transport, it usually works out because most bus drivers will tell you when to get off. Seems to be an international phenomenon in my experience.

I still needed my GPS to walk down the last kilometer to the market. After the last turn the whole structure was visible: a large space enclosed by a wall with entrances guarded by the police and surrounded by parking lots. But the policemen were not the first ones I talked to. Some food stall served the public outside the market. Taking a picture of them was possible after a short friendly negotiation and a tea. Then entering through the gate, the friendly policeman gave me bad news: no photos. Still I could enter with my camera.

A world on its own

I saw lots and lots of vegetables and fruit. It was melon season, but bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, onions, apples and much more was abundant, really abundant everywhere. Under big open hangars tons of wooden boxes carried the produce and each was numbered in big characters with the number of the owner. These men, and they were almost all men, sat at their spot, drank tea talked to each other. When a retailer came to buy some produce the cases got weighted on big scales. Then motorbikes with platforms in the back transported the purchase outside the market area. Good idea, trucks or cars would have been a disaster despite the size of the market.

As not the whole area is paved, the rain has it’s toll, adding a little to the slightly chaotic feeling. But the wooden cases in their standardized size and numbering gave it all structure.

Even though I was the only foreigner at the market, I never felt being observed. The focus was business, but people had still a little time to answer my questions as long as they could speak some French. So I learned – and unfortunately forgot – where the best apples, oranges and watermelon came from in Morocco. And I was allowed to take pictures in most of the cases when I asked, which made me happy and relieved me a little in the sense that I took the policeman’s words as an indication rather than an order.

As so many people are working at the market, there is a need to serve some food. The little stalls offer quite a wide variety, sometimes simple things like very fresh bread, a little cheese and olive oil. Or fried fish with some hot sauce and fresh vegetable, shish kebabs, of course mint tea and many other things. I ate my way through and can only recommend it to any anybody else. Great taste and a good way to start nice conversations.

Epilogue

After a couple hours or so, I decided to go leave the belly of Marrakesh. I found a few people who help me to find the right bus stop, and indeed after a short while the right one arrived and for a very little money I got back to my hotel, happy to have found it again and happy about my first market visit.

All in all: Al Massar wholesale market in Marrakesh is for hardcore fans of markets, an own world with friendly people, hearty food providing a sense for local business.

A little link list:

• My post on a Marrakesh covered market – easier to access as a tourist

The post Feeding a city – Al Massar wholesale market, Marrakesh / Morocco appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

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Finding the right place

It is full of tourists in the Medina (old town) of Marrakesh. But there is also a local life, despite the tourist induced gentrification. I was wondering where people do their day to day shopping for food and I did not expect it to be found in the covered market in the heart of the city. And Tarek helped me to feel comfortable.

I had short visits of the city before and after hiking in the Atlas mountains with a friend – okay it was hiking in a valley, not really steep. A little Internet search helped to find markets which I hoped would be a bit off the beaten paths. That means they should not part of the Jemaa el-Fnaa square which is truly famous for its souks and very crowded. So the covered market seemed to be the right place for me. It is rather a market hall and not huge and the entrance easy to be overlooked. Nevertheless it covers all the daily needs for food and cooking, including spices for tourists.

I entered it and felt a bit intimidated because it was fairly calm, not too many customers were around. This always gives me the impression that I will be approached by vendors and feel obliged to buy something. This was really not the case. The vendors were relaxed and pleasant.

Tarek

Then came Tarek. He owns a stall full of pickles, olives, pastes and other condiments. He saw me coming and immediately offered me to try his olives and did not stop until I had a taste of his major staples. He opened jars just to give me a spoon full of home made harissa, tapenade and more. I hope he refilled them for the buyers. I even had to try a tea where he added a little menthol crystals to show me how good it is against cough. It certainly burns everything bad out of the throat, I can tell now. So after the tour of his merchandise, there was no sign of pushing me to buy something. I felt comfortable and we chatted a bit. After this visit I decided to fill up my backpack when traveling back home.

Strolling around

I continued strolling, I had time and the place is not large, so it is easy to get an overview once and then focus on the interesting things. It is not only a market where goods are being sold. Butchers still do the slaughter and cut the meat, pastry makers produce the dough on site (see photo gallery).

I am always fascinated to see butchers working. I eat meat but I would not like to kill animals, so I am happy when others do it. In the market still a lot of live poultry was available. The chicken live in cages under more or less simple conditions and are being slaughtered on the spot. Hard to get it any fresher in the city.

The pastry makers fascinated me. Two guys prepared a round dough for further processing. The first guy took a lump of soft, shiny dough and dabbed it on a bass drum sized heated steel plate to create a very thin layer, filo like. This took maybe 30 seconds, then it was turn of the second guy who took the thin layer of the steel plate and swirled it in the air like a pizza baker. The whole process looked very artistic and left me with mouth open – while I was trying to take pictures.

I made my way through the spice, flower, vegetable and fruit stalls, everything presented to please the eye. Somehow I had the feeling that the quality of the produce was superior to what I experience in Germany. It looked more ripe, not so industrial perfect but more “robust” and “healthy”. This is the moment where I ask myself why I rarely do vacation in a flat with its own kitchen.

Epilogue

And yes I went back at the end of our trip to see Tarek, he recognized me, we both smiled and chatted again. I brought some nice food gifts back to Germany. It was green harissa, black tapenade and ras el hanout a spice mix and some pastry from another shop. I kept most of it.

All in all: A gem, discover what is part of the Marrakesh cuisine and chat with the friendly vendors – you will have a good time and find something to bring back home

A little link list:

• A blog post on the Marrakesh markets from Summer Tomato
• A short video giving first impressions
• My other posts on markets in Morocco

The post Local in a tourist area – Covered market in Marrakesh / Morocco appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

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“20 minutes before we continue” our guide told us. Well we just couldn’t respect it despite all our efforts, too much to see.

Coming from the Atlas mountains to Marrakesh the road passed a huge open field full of trucks, tents and people: market day galore in Azilal. The market or “souk” as it is called takes place every Thursday in this commercial hub. Rolling down the hill the view was just mesmerizing, the place exuded such a busy, chaotic ambiance. Coming closer the order became very clear.

The main alley went straight from the entrance for a couple hundred meters or so to the end no curve no nothing. The stalls were grouped by the products being sold. First came the area where everything second hand can be found. At the end the butchers and barbecue guys worked under their tents. In between home & beauty products, a healer, dates and popcorn. Yes, popcorn and plenty of it!

Piles of popcorn as I have never seen before, even in the US. Are they being eaten in front of the TV? I don’t know. But the display was amazing: one stall had them colored party balloon like and pressed in blocks. Looked almost like a cake or bread to be sliced. Another stall had popcorn piled up in a huge white mountain shining like diamonds in the bright sun. And the vendor still continued producing them. You have to see it to believe it, so check the picture gallery above.

Walking further we came by a quacksalver. A crowd formed a circle around a bold fifty year old man who talked loudly and fast to a lady with her child, touching its head. After a while they went out of the center but did not look much happier than before, but who knows. A few more people gave him some coins, but before continuing his job, he took a drum, talked even louder and soon I discovered that he had a fat snake at the ground as well. She was not moving, apparently having been fed beforehand. Somehow I felt like being part of a movie on medieval times, the show was great.

At the end of the souk, the butcher section was in full working mode. Unlike the other sections this area was covered with white sunshades to keep the open hanging meat fresh. The sights are definitely different from butchers or supermarkets in Europe or North America where things are presented in cuts often packaged in lots of plastic. Here often the whole animal can be seen, poultry anyway, but also sheep are hanging down from hooks, their fur having been taken off, but still the cut in the throat to be seen. Whole beef was a bit to heavy to be hung under those constructions. Strangely enough there were not so many flies sticking on the meat, maybe they do not like mountain areas? The whole scenery was very archaic, but gave me a clear reminder that an animal has to be killed when I eat meat. A clear contrast to my usual life.

We stumbled across the date guy on the main alley. He showed a great variety of them and with his elegant hat he looked almost like a professor. Here in the deep rural Berber areas, French is not widespread making communication a little bit difficult especially when wanting to know more about the produce. We tried it, but could not get the right explanations for all the different colors, shapes and consistencies of the dates. They ranged from light and firm to very dark and soft, all with distinct tastes. The were a very good snack as we continued the road.

I looked out for a souvenir, and I found something which seemed interesting enough without getting potentially to much attention by any airport customs. I could not really identify this thing at the beauty product stall which was just a cover on the ground with assorted products. I was about 25cm long consisting of some branches and “hay” in the middle wrapped with a 2 cm large bark strip of something. As it was explained to me later, that not the inside was the merchandise, but the wrapping was. This wrapping, bark is used to clean the gums and to give them a nice color. Not sure if I will try it, as the thing looks really unique.

We were much over the promised twenty minutes but there was so much to see …. Our guide forgave us for being late, his generosity will be remembered forever.

All in all: A must see when you are in the area. take your time, there is so much to discover, a great experience.

A little link list:

• Extensive geographic documentation of the Azilal province in French (PDF)

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Make sure that there is market day when you stop to have a break. Even for 20 minutes or less, it is worth it.

We were traveling from Marrakesh to the Atlas mountains to hike for a few days. We made a short break in Demnate and luckily parked next to the souk (market). A good chance to see, smell, buy and take pictures in that rural area. I got a bit stressed at the beginning to find the right balance between having “good” pictures and enjoying the scenery, the people and the produce. Then I calmed down, made less photos and was able to enjoy the moment.

Despite the intensive sun it was not hot, trees and houses gave some shade. Flies were not really present, so the openly hanging meat looked appetizing. Funny enough a vendor of remote controls (don’t ask me) was the only one who poured some water over his merchandise. They had to look fresh apparently in midst of the competition with the colorful surrounding.

There was an abundance of seasonal fruits & vegetables: oranges, mandarins, onion, melon, watermelon, eggplants and more. The colors so bright … just a pleasure to see this. Hard to imagine that such produce do not taste great.

Indeed it was not the right time to buy eggplants which you cannot eat on the go – though I never tried. Mandarins are the right stuff I thought. I got a kilogram for about 50 Euro cents, the attached leaves proved their freshness. Immediately I peeled one and an infusion of mandarin essence rose to my nose, absolutely beautiful, absolute aroma therapy! I cannot remember the last time when I had such an experience. And then the taste: very different to the ones I buy in German super markets, just a different world, many layers of taste not just sweet or sour, a beautiful balance. And we had to move on, the aroma filled the car.

Even as it was only a quarter of an hour or so, it was worth the souk visit. This quick stop at the souk gave me one or two nice photos and wonderful mandarins, very satisfying!

All in all: stop here if you are on the road and get some great tasting fresh produce

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