Recipe for Msemen (Moroccan square pancake)

Layla Dahamou, writing for Morocco World News has an authentic recipe for Msemen. Msemen is a square-shaped Moroccan pancake known also to some Moroccans as “Rghaif” or “Mlawi”. They are dough-based and take quite considerable time to be prepared in the traditional way. Generally, Msemen is prepared for breakfast and sometimes as an evening snack. It always goes with Moroccan tea, but some people would serve it with milk-coffee. It may be sweetened by honey or jam for those who would like it sweet.

Ingredients

500g flour
200g fine semolina
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp yeast
1.5 cups warm water
Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, gradually adding water while kneading. Add more water when necessary just to make cohesive dough, for 10 minutes (or knead the dough in a stand mixer for 5 minutes), until the dough is very cohesive and soft .

Set out some oil, fine semolina flour, and soft butter. They will be used when shaping the dough to make balls of equal size.

Make balls of equal size
Prepare a large, smooth surface for working with the dough. A large plastic tray is very useful. So as not to have the dough stuck on the surface, spread some oil on it.

Keep your hands and the dough well-oiled and grasp a large portion of dough and squeeze off a ball between your thumb and forefinger to form small balls of nearly equal size.

Put the balls on an oiled tray. To keep the balls in good conditions, spread oil on them, and cover them loosely with plastic so as not to be dry.

Pat the balls to from thin discs
Set aside the balls for few minutes before working with them .

Take a ball, dip it in oil, and flatten the balls to make very thin discs.

Grease the discs with butter and then sprinkle the dough with a little semolina. This will help keep the folded layers separate when the Msemen is cooked.

Fold the edges of the discs into the center to make a square, and place them aside on an oiled surface.

Fold edges to make squares
Repeat the process until all the balls have been folded into squares.

Heat a frying pan or an iron skillet over medium high heat.

Work on every square of dough separately by patting it with your fingers or palm of your hand to extend to nearly double size.

Place the Msemen in the pan and fry it. Flip it regularly until the two sides are well cooked. This should take several minutes.

make sure the two sides are well cooked
Repeat the same procedure for all the rest.

Serve hot with honey or jam and Moroccan tea.

Bonne Appétit!

.





FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES VISIT THE VIEW FROM FEZ COOKBOOK

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Ryanair v Morocco - So Far a Scoreless Draw

There is no doubt that there is a tough game of bluff being played between Morocco and Ryanair. However, as The View from Fez suggested (see story here) , the ambit claims are simply opening moves in a longer tussle. Ryanair's cuts, of 34 weekly services from October, represent about 15% of its seats – less dramatic than it would like the public and ONDA (the Moroccan Office National Des Aéroports) to believe – and still leaving it #2 after Royal Air Maroc. Ryanair disputes the imposition of a new monopoly handling company claiming it will mean “a massive increase in charges.” The airline has had a combative relationship with many European airport authorities in recent years and has not hesitated to reduce services when faced with higher costs.

There is no doubt that, for a number of reasons, airline growth in Morocco has stalled and that now is probably the wrong time for ONDA to be trying to stare-down Ryanair. 

After a phenomenal period of growth that saw passenger numbers Morroccan airports double from 7.7 million in 2004 to 15.4 million in 2010, last year saw passenger traffic grew just 2%. The rapid growth can be almost completely explained by Morocco’s decision to sign an ‘open-skies’ agreement with the EU in December 2005, opening the way for Europe’s route hungry low-cost carriers to explore a new, tourist-friendly region only just a little bit further away than the south Spain resorts.

Closer analysis of the figures for 2012 provided by ONDA shows that the French market is down only 4%, but that demand from the rest of Europe has dropped 12%. Curiously the domestic Moroccan market itself is down just under 10%.

Passenger numbers at the country’s three biggest airports (Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir) remained almost unchanged in 2011 with growth coming from Nador (+29%), Tangier (+11%) and Oujda (+10%). As a result Nador has leapfrogged Oujda to be the country’s sixth busiest airport. Casablanca handled 7.3 million passengers in 2011.

Ryanair Still #2 in Morocco

Morocco’s national carrier Royal Air Maroc still accounts for almost half of all scheduled seat capacity at the country’s airports, although its share has fallen slightly compared with last summer. Second-ranked Ryanair recently announced that it plans to axe 34 weekly services from 1 October, representing around 15% of its Moroccan summer seat capacity, including all flights at Oujda. However, this will still leave it as the second biggest carrier in the Moroccan market.

A significant development has been the decision by local TUI subsidiary, jet4you, to become part of Belgian TUI subsidiary Jetairfly. This explains the big jump in Jetairfly’s market share since last summer.

The Moroccan low-cost airline Jet4you, was started in 2005, but "since its inception, the Moroccan airline ran at an annual loss," says Hans Vanhaelemeesch, a spokesman for Jetairfly.

Due to its small size Jet4you was hit hard by the economic crisis. This strategic merger will involve staff, flights, and planes as well as costing 39 Moroccan jobs with another 259 at risk. Jetairfly carried 2.2 million travellers in 2011. In 2012, its fleet will comprise 20 aircraft, mostly new generation Boeing 737s. The close collaboration between the two companies will enhance their position as well as create an opportunity to strive for further growth.

Air France has almost doubled its market share thanks to the launch of services to Casablanca and Marrakech from its new regional bases in Marseille and Toulouse. Another carrier to significantly increase its market share in Morocco since last year is British Airways, which has taken over bmi’s Agadir, Casablanca and Marrakech services, although the Marrakech service does not operate in winter.

Emirates is now ranked inside the top 12 and has gained market share by replacing its daily A340-500 service with the larger 777-300ER. Qatar Airways and Etihad also serve Casablanca from their hubs in the Middle East.

New routes this summer from five Moroccan airports

Compared with last summer there have been rather fewer new airline services starting this summer but Air France, germanwings (which has not previously served Morocco), and Ryanair, have each launched three new services.

Airport	Destination (Airline, start date, weekly frequency)
Casablanca	Cologne/Bonn (germanwings, 6 June, 1) Malaga (Hellitt Lineas Aereas, 4 May, 4) Toulouse (Air France, 2 April, 3)
Marrakech	Marseille (Air France, 25 March, 3) Toulouse (Air France, 1 April, 2)
Nador	Cologne/Bonn (germanwings, 30 March, 1-2) Frankfurt Hahn (Ryanair, 27 March, 2) Girona (Ryanair, 25 March, 2)
Oujda	Madrid (Air Europa, 24 July, 1) Marseille (Ryanair, 27 March, 2)
Tangier	Cologne/Bonn (germanwings, 7 June, 1)

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Latest Additions to ALC Bookshop in Fez

The American Language Center bookshop in the Ville Nouvelle is situated at 2 Ave Ahmed Hiba, (just ask the taxi driver for the "American Centre"). While the shop has text books for the students at the Arabic Language Institute, and carries a range of dictionaries and some books for the Moroccan students learning English, the range of other books is impressive.

There are some handsome photographic books on Moroccan architecture and design,as well as wonderful cookbooks. The shop focuses on books about Morocco such as Edith Wharton's In Morocco, Fatima Mernissi's Dreams of Trespass, Peter Mayne's A Year in Marrakech, Paul Bowles' The Sheltering Sky and some of his short stories, and has some non-fiction by writers such as Fatima Sadiqi. Books written in English by Arab writers are also represented. Thankfully, with the expansion of titles, there is now a Paul (and Jane) Bowles section. There is also an interesting selection of modern fiction that will make perfect reading during the hot weeks ahead.

LATEST ADDITIONS

Ahmad al-Mansur: The Beginnings of Modern Morocco
Author: Mercedes Garcia-Arenal
Publisher: Oneworld
Price: 330 dhs
Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603) was one of the most important rulers in the history of Morocco, which to this day bears the mark of his twenty-five year rule in the sixteenth century. Though famed for his cunning diplomacy in the power struggle over the Mediterranean, and his allegiance with Britain against Spain in the conquest for the newly discovered Americas, he was more than a political and military tactician. A descendent of the Prophet Muhammad himself, al-Mansur was a charismatic religious authority with ambitions to become Caliph and ruler of all Muslims. Spanning four continents, Dr. Garcia-Arenal places this fascinating figure in a context of political intrigue, discovery and military conquest. With insightful analysis, a glossary and a guide to further reading, this book is the ideal introduction to a multifaceted figure that fully deserves the epithet “Maker of the Muslim World”.

 The Arab Spring
Author: Toby Manhire
Publisher: The Guardian
Price: 125 dhs
Spontaneous, unforeseen and contagious, the uprisings of the Arab Spring took everyone – participants included – by surprise. Like revolutions in other times and places, they seemed impossible beforehand and inevitable afterwards. The Guardian has been running, often breathlessly, to follow the story and to explain it ever since. This is a tale of many chapters, told by the journalists, bloggers and citizens who have lived through this incredible time.

The Moroccan Soul: French Education, Colonial Ethnology, and Muslim Resistance, 1912-1956
Author: Spencer D. Segalla
Publisher: Nebraska
Price: 330 dhs
Before French conquest, education played an important role in Moroccan society as a means of cultural reproduction and as a form of cultural capital that defined a person’s social position. Primarily religious and legal in character, the Moroccan educational system did not pursue European educational ideals. Following the French conquest of Morocco, however, the French established a network of colonial schools for Moroccan Muslims designed to further the agendas of the conquerors. The Moroccan Soul examines the history of the French education system in colonial Morocco, the development of French conceptions about the “Moroccan Soul,” and the effect of these ideas on pedagogy, policy making, and politics. Spencer D. Segalla also reveals how the resistance of the colonized shaped the ideas and policies of the school system and how French ideas and policies shaped the strategies and discourse of anticolonial resistance.

Unveiling Traditions: Postcolonial Islam in a Polycentric World
Author: Anouar Majid
Publisher: Duke University Press
Price: 210 dhs
In Unveiling Traditions Anouar Majid issues a challenge to the West to reimagine Islam as a progressive world culture and a participant in the building of a multicultural and more egalitarian world civilization. From within the highly secularized space it inhabits, a space endemically suspicious of religion, the West must find a way, writes Majid, to embrace Islamic societies as partners in building a more inclusive and culturally diverse global community.
“An important book. Coming from a different intellectual perspective, Majid qualifies and expands the ordinary terms of postcolonial discourse and he does so from a genuinely international intellectual position. There are few academics writing today who draw on the cultural and literary range that Majid does here.”—Leila N. Ahmed, author of Women and Gender in Islam.


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Advancing Women's Rights in Morocco

Renowned professor, author, scholar and women’s rights advocate Fatima Sadiqi will be speaking this Thursday, July 5, at the Annex of the American Language Center/ ALIF

"With all modesty…, I consider myself the first female linguist in the Arab world and the first to tackle the issue of women from a gender and language perspective in Morocco. The moment you gain languages you also gain access to the language of the media, the government, the mosque – and you start speaking the language of authority."

Fatima Sadiqi, speaking to The Guardian

Fatima Sadiqi is a former Fulbright Scholar and recipient of a Harvard Fellowship. She is Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies, author of, among other works, Women, Gender, and Language in Morocco (Brill, 2003) and co-editor of Women Writing Africa. The Northern Region (The Feminist Press, 2009), Women in the Middle East and North Africa. Agents of Change, and Gender and Violence in the Middle East (Routledge 2010 and 2011).

She founded the first Moroccan Centre for Studies and Research on Women in 1998 and the first graduate program on Gender Studies in 2000 at the University of Fez. In 2006, she founded Isis Centre for Women and development (with the aim of bridging the gap between the university and civil society) and in 2009 she was elected President of the National Union of Women’s Associations. In the same year, she co-founded the International Institute for Languages and Cultures (INLAC).

Fatima Sadiqi was appointed by Kufi Annan as a member of the UN Council for Development Policy (E.C.O.S.S.O.C.), and was appointed by the king of Morocco as a member of the Administrative Board of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM). From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Sadiqi served as Director General of the Fes Festival of Sacred Music.

For anyone interested in gender studies and women’s rights, this is a talk not to be missed.

When: Thursday, July 5 at 6:15 PM
Where: ALC annex, across from the ALC

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Veiling Young Girls is Child Abuse Say Activists

In recent years the number of young women choosing not to wear a headscarf has grown. This number may soon increase as a new campaign is underway. It has been a long time coming, but finally feminist activists in Morocco have launched a campaign against the veiling of Muslim girls at young age, describing the practice as a form of “child abuse”.

“Girls at this age know nothing about religion and what is prohibited and what is not,” the Center for Woman’s Equality said in a statement cited by Al-Arabiya television. The center says that girls at the age of three to 10 are forced by parents to take on the headscarf (hijab).

The activists argue that the veiling of young girls amounted “child abuse”. “Islamic bodies need to interfere to make things clear and tell people that forcing young girls to wear the veil is not part of Islam,” the center says. The activists cited the case of a 10-year old child, Mariam, who was said to have taken on the hijab at the order of her father. “He said that it will protect me from harassment,” she said.

The girl also says that she was told by her mother that hijab is a religious obligation. “She said I have to get used to it while I am still young, otherwise I would go to hell,” she said.

Conservative Muslims Islam still see the hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations and say that a Muslim woman is obliged to wear hijab as soon as she reaches puberty and Muslim parents should encourage their daughters to wear it.

However, forcing underage girls into wearing hijab is against the Islamic teachings and  activists argue that forcing girls to wear hijab at a young age would threaten their psychological stability. “Their inability to distinguish between those concepts will put them in a constant state of confusion and eventually drive them to isolate themselves from the outside world.”

Sociologists also warn that forcing young girls to wear hijab has psychological ramifications. “They will start associating their bodies to shame which has to be hidden and this view contradicts the true essence of Islam,” sociologist Karima Wadghiri said.

She argued that when they grow up these girls will confuse conservatism with fanaticism and liberalism with immorality. “Society will later be divided not on class or financial status as is usually the case, but on religious and ideological basis.”

Koranic Law Does not Impose the Headscarf

Khaled Fouad Allam writes that historically speaking, the “hijab” (or Islamic headscarf) has never represented any form of Islamic dogma, legal obligation or religious symbol, even if today the impression is such.

Jurists during the classical period of Islam – who when Muslim law was first formulated for the four great legal schools of Islam – never presented any theories on the headscarf. The celebrated jurist and founder of the Theological University of Fez in Morocco, Qayrawin (died in 996), spoke about the headscarf only in reference to prayer rituals, when women enter mosques to pray on Fridays. And the word he used was “khimar”, a veil covering women from head to toe. He never used the term “hijab”. It is the same with other authors of the period.

There is indeed an explanation for all this. Classical Islam jurists warned of the need to formulate legal theory concerning the headscarf or veil, simply because a woman’s medieval world was that of a cloister, where she didn’t leave home, leading her life within the borders of private property. And when she did venture out, which was rare, she had to do so with the authorization of a male figure – whether it be her father, husband or brother –and only under exceptional circumstances, as for some formal ceremony or pilgrimage.

The hijab in an invention of the 14th century, and it has not real basis in the Koran. In the Koran, “hijab” comes from the root “hjb”, which refers not to an object, but an action: wearing a headscarf, pulling down a curtain or screen or reducing light so as to prevent others from prying or looking in.

GENDER EQUALITY

The timing of this campaign coincides with the European Union determining to promote Gender Equality in Morocco. The EU has granted the Morocco 45 million euros.

The grant will support the Moroccan government's plan to enhance equality between men and women in harmony with the cultural and family values of the Moroccan society.

Under the new arrangement, the Moroccan government aims to increase from 15 to 22 per cent the number of women managers in public administration by 2014.

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The Ryanair Crisis - What's the Real Story?

Back on Thursday June 28th Ryanair announced it was going to cut  a number of flights to Morocco. According to the airline's website the reason was a dispute over airport charges flights in row over charges. The carrier claimed the Moroccan government’s airports authority ONDA had “reneged” on an agreement “by imposing a new monopoly handling company on Ryanair which would have resulted in a massive increase in charges for the airline”.

Ryanair said it would cut a total of 34 weekly flights (adding up to 250,000 passengers per year) from October 1. Routes which will be cancelled include Stansted to Fez and Valencia to Marrakech, while flights between Luton and Marrakech will be reduced to twice weekly.

It is interesting to note that the move comes just days after it emerged that the Association of European Airlines had compiled a report alleging Ryanair has benefited from state subsidies worth hundreds of millions of euros. The AEA document reportedly alleges Ryanair would have lost €305 million (£250 million) in the last financial year without government support.

Ryanair reported a profit of €503 million (£406 million) in the 12 months to the end of March. The budget carrier’s chief executive Michael O’Leary denied the carrier received any state aid.

Ryanair Press Release

RYANAIR ANNOUNCES REDUCTIONS IN SERVICES TO MOROCCO AS ONDA BREAKS AGREEMENT ON COSTS

Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra low cost airline, today (28 June) announced the cancellation of 34 weekly flights (250,000 annual passengers) to/from Morocco because ONDA, the Moroccan Govt’s airports authority, has reneged on its agreement with the airline by imposing a new monopoly handling company on Ryanair which would have resulted in a massive increase in charges for the airline. ONDA has refused to guarantee Ryanair the continuation of the cost levels of its original agreement. Consequently, Ryanair has no alternative but to announce substantial reductions to its flight programme to Moroccan airports which will include reductions of 8 weekly frequencies at Nador, 6 at Fez, 8 at Marrakesh, 4 at Tangier and the complete closure of its operation at Oujda Airport (8 weekly frequencies).

Announcing the reductions, Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley said;

“Ryanair entered into long term agreements with the Moroccan Tourism Authority and ONDA, as part of the Moroccan Govt’s 5 year plan to grow tourism. Ryanair has spectacularly over-delivered on all its undertakings under these agreements, becoming Morocco’s second largest airline and ensuring the Moroccan Govt achieved its 5 year targets within an earlier timescale. It is regrettable that ONDA has now lost sight of the key to the success of our partnership, offering low fares based on low costs. Ryanair cannot accept cost increases as it seeks to deliver more growth to Morocco. It is completely unacceptable for ONDA to increase the cost of Ryanair’s operation in Morocco and unrealistic for them to expect us to continue to grow our business in that context.

Consequently I regret to announce that we are making these substantial reductions which will result in up to 100,000 less tourists annually and an annual loss in tourism expenditure and job losses for the Moroccan economy of €50m. Ryanair will now allocate this capacity elsewhere to the many markets earnestly seeking Ryanair’s growth and that are offering long term, sustainable cost bases to underpin Ryanair’s guaranteed low fares. ”

Following the Press Release issued Ryanair the Moroccan National Airport countered with a statement they said was a matter of "clarification".

ONDA Press Release

There is no monopoly of handling in Morocco and has been since 2004, when the liberalization process of handling the activity began. In this context, relations ONDA / Handlers are governed by the laws and regulations that set the conditions for providing ground handling services. The exercise of these benefits are provided under market objects international tender launched by ONDA.

The open tender for selection and international operators handling culminated in 2012 with the selection of two operators, reference and international dimension.

The purpose of this strategic restructuring of the handling activity revolves around three main principles:
- The Establishment of competition at all airports: There is indeed today: two handlers in North and South 2 (RAM Handling and Swissport), and 3 handlers in Casablanca (Globalia RAM Handling and Swissport );
- The establishment of an optimum quality of service meets the highest international standards and measured by specific indicators;
- Improving the financial attractiveness, guaranteeing for airlines ground handling services at all price ceilings and very competitive in the concession agreement between the ONDA and handlers;

The pricing of handling services are not the responsibility of the ONDA who has no authority to interfere in trade negotiations between airlines and handlers. As mentioned in the point above, only a price ceiling may be fixed in order to secure the airlines.

ONDA has always been a major player in support of Government policies to assist and encourage airlines to serve Moroccan platforms, through the best quality and cost. Indeed, apart from the incentives granted since 2007 and have been extended until the end of 2013, the latest revision of the grid incentive tariff has increased significantly the attractiveness of Moroccan airports, which measures the low cost airlines are among the main beneficiaries, because of the nature of their traffic.

ONDA invites all airlines continue to be part of the regulatory process initiated by the Moroccan government as part of its policy of liberalization of ground handling activities while improving the quality of service worked with passengers.

Cancelled Routes
The following flights have been cancelled effective October 1st.
Nador - Girona 4 flights
Nador - Madrid 4 flights
Oujda – Marseille 4 flights
Oujda – Brussels Charleroi 4 flights
Fez – London Stansted 4 flights
Marrakesh - Valencia 6 flights

Route Reductions
As of October 1st weekly flights between the following destinations have been reduced to...
Tangier - Madrid 4 per week
Fez-Brussels-Charleroi 2 per week
Marrakech-London Luton 2 per week

Reaction in Morocco
This is not the first time that Ryanair have arm wrestled with the Moroccan authorities over pricing. The last time the flights from Britain were cut the economic impact on tourism was serious. However, this time local tourism operators appear to be more sanguine.  One reason for this appears to because from October on the number of tourist drops naturally due to the low season in Morocco and the ski season in Europe.

Guesthouse owners have been carrying on a lively discussion via Facebook with one contributor saying that the "Moroccan authorities need to do whatever they can to keep Ryanair onboard, legal or non-legal, cos there's nothing to replace them and it will have a devastating affect on the economy of Fes."

Others think that this is a game of brinkmanship and that Morocco will be the first to blink because like it or not, they need Ryanair. As another contributor suggested, "Ryanair won't take off any route thats making a profit..the last time it happened it was reported the dispute was about the cost of landing planes in Fes...And why would the ONDA be extending Fes airport? And also the speculation last year that Ryanair were going to base themselves at the new airport in Fes."

There is a lot of negotiating still to be done and what we see now may only be the first ambit claims in a much longer game. As they say - watch this space.

And a footnote
Sensing an window of opportunity, the airport Montpellier-Méditerranée has announced that the Air Arabia Morocco will increase the frequency of its flights to Casablanca,  Fez and Nador.

This increase is already effective for online bookings from Montpellier - Fez: since May 21, a third flight was added every Friday, in addition to flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

From July, Nador benefits from a third flight on Friday in addition to flights already scheduled on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Finally, Casablanca is now connected four times a week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The fare to these destinations are offered from 69 € one way.

NOTE: SEE OUR RYANAIR UPDATE HERE

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