Singer Faouzia’s Personal Guide to Morocco

Run, if you're not ready to get lit.

So, this, you hear that? [drum thuds]

You hear that? Yeah? [drum thuds]

[drum thuds]

You hear that?

[drum percusses]

Hey, I'm Faouzia,

and I'm gonna show you around Morocco.

We're gonna try some snacks, [upbeat percussive music]

and make some mint tea, show you some local instruments,

and, also some fun things you can do when you visit Morocco.

[upbeat percussive music]

So, Morocco's actually pretty small,

but there are so many different places that you can visit,

and they're all equally full of culture,

and fun new things that you can see.

So, I was born in Casa, which is known as Casablanca.

And, my dad is also from Casa,

and my mom is from Fes...

Right there.

[Faouzia laughs]

And, my older sister was also born in Casa.

My younger sister was actually born in Canada.

It's okay, we'll forgive her.

In Morocco, there are some touristy spots

that you can visit like Marrakech,

a place that has fun, like, nightlife markets you can visit.

In these markets, you can basically find literally anything,

like, you can find an iPhone, but...

[whispers] it's not an iPhone.

But, it is, it works just as well.

You can also go there for your everyday needs.

Lots of people go there for clothes.

There's also a lot of food and we have, like,

some fun little snacks that you can get.

There's this drink that's my favorite drink called Poms,

and you can find it there.

Another fun thing about Morocco

is that different cities have different colors.

And, so, Fes, Fes is red,

Essaouira's blue, also Chaouen is blue, too.

Each city you go to will have a different taxi color,

and that's something you can look forward to

if you're gonna be exploring.

[gentle upbeat music]

So, Morocco has a couple traditional instruments,

and this is known as an oud.

[oud strumming]

Whoa.

[Faouzia laughs]

That was super out of tune.

[Faouzia giggles]

That really caught me off guard.

[oud strumming]

Yeah...

I can't play it, but someone can.

And it sounds really beautiful [oud music]

And, it's in a lot of, like, traditional pieces.

And, we also have like these really big, like,

ensembles of musicians called [foreign word]

and they'll play, like, traditional music,

and sing, and they'll have someone playing their oud.

[oud strumming]

Yeah... [fingers snapping]

Not me though.

[Faouzia giggles]

I would just hear this music all the time,

on the way to school, on the way back from school,

at night, and on cleaning days.

My parents would blast it in the morning

when all of us, like, kids were asleep.

And, I knew that it was a cleaning day just based

off of the volume of the music.

'Cause it was, like, prepping us, it was, like, go time.

So, this is a darbuka and this is called the lit machine.

All right?

You see one of these,

and everyone's about to get lit.

And, you run if you're not ready to get lit.

So, this, you hear that? [drum thuds]

You hear that? Yeah? [drum thuds]

[drum thuds]

You hear that?

[drum percusses]

[percussion continues]

This is the life of the party, without one of these,

it's snooze-fest.

[drum percusses]

[Faouzia vocalizes]

[Faouzia laughs]

I'm gonna shut up.

But, yeah, that's what this is.

So, get one.

[drum percusses]

[Faouzia hums]

[drum percusses]

Yeah...

[Faouzia giggles]

Everyone's like ready to get...

[Faouzia laughs] [crew clapping]

Are y'all feeling lit?

[Crew Member] Hell yeah. Yeah!

[jazzy music]

So, these are some must try snacks

if you're gonna be in Morocco.

So, this is chebakia.

This is such an intricate process to make them.

I've tried to make them with my mom before

and, she's, like, You just have to...

And, then she's like, Yeah, and then that's it.

And, I'm like, Mama, you have to do that again.

This is also a very popular snack

that we have during Ramadan.

And, you can put it inside this Moroccan soup called harira.

You can mix it in.

So, it's like a sweet and salty vibe.

So, this is it. It's so yummy.

[faint crunching]

This is really good.

[Faouzia giggles]

I don't know who made this but...

You really did something.

And, the next step we have the briwats.

It has like a similar vibe,

and it's almonds inside of, like, a thin pastry.

And, then you have the sesame seeds on top,

and then you fry them, and then you dip them in honey.

My favorite shape is actually the triangle, so it's perfect.

These are also very popular snack that we have

during Ramadan, but also all year round.

[faint crunching]

I really like this one.

[Faouzia giggles]

Next up, we have olives.

And, olives are also a really, really big thing in Morocco.

I'm gonna try to open this with these nails.

[nails tapping]

I'm sweating.

[Faouzia giggles]

I'm so stressed right now.

Wait, gimme a second.

[Faouzia exhales]

[jar thuds] They're open, now.

There's different types of olives,

like, there's stuffed olives,

and he says they're spiced olives.

Let's try this.

Okay, these ones have a pit.

These are so good.

So, these snacks are commonly made at home.

People just are born with the knowledge

about how to make them.

You have like these Moroccan gatherings,

and you'll literally have, like, six tablecloths

and for each meal they'll take off a tablecloth,

and you can literally tell

how many meals you're going to eat

by the amount of tablecloths on the table.

And, so these ones were always,

like, a nice light dessert after...

Or, if somebody's coming over just for fun,

you'll have these on the table

with the Moroccan mint tea as well.

[upbeat jazzy music]

Moroccan mint tea is probably the most popular drink

in Morocco, so I'm gonna show you how to make it today.

This is a berrad.

[Faouzia giggles]

You can get like really funky with these,

like, there's, like, fun colors,

but this is a pretty standard berrad.

Inside, we already have green tea.

Once that's done, it's basically so simple,

and that's what makes this drink,

like, so fun and so amazing.

So, then you put the mint leaves inside.

And, then you'll normally put it back, like,

on the stove to keep cooking.

But, right now this is all we got.

So, we're just gonna let it sit there for a second.

I've never done this, like, dressed like this.

[Faouzia laughs]

Normally I'm like...

Two seconds after waking up making this.

So, it's a new environment for me, so bear with me.

And, you can put the sugar inside as well.

Sometimes we'll just have it on the side,

and people can put it in their teacup.

So, this is a Moroccan teacup.

And same thing with the berrad.

There's different designs, different colors,

different patterns, and they're so beautiful.

[sugar thuds]

All right.

[cup clinks]

Listen...

How high you pour the tea matters.

You basically wanna go as high as possible,

and make it as like frothy as possible.

And, it's kind of, like, a fun little competition

that you can, like, show off your skills.

People judge you, low-key, they're like...

All right guys, so wish me luck.

I'm gonna see how high I can pour this tea.

So, you do a little...

[tea trickling]

Yeah. [tea trickling]

Yeah. [tea trickling]

Yeah. [tea trickling]

And, then you bring it down.

Give it a little...

Mixey mix. [glass clinks]

I think I put too much sugar in this, but...

And, also the color of the tea is important too.

'Cause you can like tell if it's gonna be, like,

the best tea you've ever had in your life,

or if it's, like, just put it away.

So, let's try it out.

[Faouzia sips]

[lips smacking]

So yummy!

It is very standard for you to have Moroccan mint tea,

I'd say, at somebody's house.

And, it's a very just, like, social setting type of drink.

Like, you drink it, and you just have your little, like...

Mhm!

[lips smacking] Yeah!

[speaks foreign language]

Wow!

[speaks foreign language]

You know?

Growing up we lived in a really small town in Canada,

and so my dad would literally plant, like, mint leaves

in our garden, and he would cut them every morning

so he could make Moroccan mint tea.

So, that's how important it was to us.

[quirky upbeat music]

Hamman beldi, it's, like, it's a bath.

It's also, like, a sauna.

You walk in and it's just extremely hot.

It's so common.

My mom wanted to take me to one and I was eight at the time,

but I had never experienced that.

And, the way that these bathhouses work is that

you just go in and you're completely naked.

I was not used to that and I walked in with a bathing suit,

and I was like, This is all you're gonna get from me.

You have people in there that actually

just, like, scrub you to the bone.

You walk out and you have like rosy cheeks

and you're so spotless.

It's so hot in there.

It's also super hazy so you can't really see anything.

But, even in my bathing suit, I was like,

Don't look at me. [Faouzia giggles]

But, it's a really relaxing and fun experience,

if you're down for something like that.

[upbeat music]

One of the biggest festivals that you can see live music

is actually called the Festival Mawazine.

It's in the capital, Rabat.

It is a massive festival.

It's kind of like the Coachella of Morocco.

They'll bring a lot of international artists,

as well as local artists.

And, I actually really hope to play there one day.

I think that would be, like, a dream come true

to have my first performance be at the Festival Mawazine,

or even one of my performances to be there.

Because, that is somewhere that

I've always wanted to sing at as a kid.

[upbeat quirky music]

Tagine.

Tagine is basically a slow cooking method,

and it all just kinda, like, brews together

in like a really delicious dish.

And, then you also have like the sauce.

I always called it the sauce, which is, like,

basically, like, the juices of, like,

the vegetables and whatever...

Yuck, the juices. [Faouzia giggles]

Anyway, you can have tagine's and [foreign word],

You can have tagine's and djedj,

you can have tagine's and [foreign language],

you can also have veggie tagine's.

A really popular one is actually

tagine's djedj and [foreign word],

which is lemon and chicken.

Specifically, what tagine is, is the dish.

And, this comes in so many

fun different designs and patterns.

Some are really small and cute,

and then they'll serve, like, a really small portion in one.

And, then some are really big,

and, yeah, it just depends on what you want.

[paper crinkling]

This, my friends, is pastilla.

It's, like, a pastry, puffy type of exterior

with insides of vegetables.

And, the bastilla dyal djaj is, like, more sweet

'cause you're gonna have powdered sugar sprinkled on top,

and bastilla dyal [foreign word], is just, like,

salty, like, seafood,

whether it's like shrimp or fish.

And, you're gonna have, like, these, like,

angel hairs as well inside.

[paper crinkling]

This is one of my favorite Moroccan dishes.

It's zaalouk...

[Faouzia clicks tongue]

But I call it zaa-louk-ah.

'Cause you know she's that girl.

Just chopped red peppers and tomato paste,

mix 'em all together.

You also can sometimes add lemon, and it's really delicious.

[paper crinkling]

This is a very popular soup called hirara.

And, it's made of tomatoes, tomato paste,

chickpeas, angel hairs.

And a lot of the time, it'll have red meat.

I like the veggie version of it and it's so delicious,

and some people will put the chebakia,

which is something I really like to do,

'cause it adds a little sweetness to this salty soup.

It's another dish that is very common all times of the year,

but it's very present in Ramadan.

Just talking about Morocco made me so nostalgic.

I hope I can visit soon and I hope you can also visit soon,

and experience the beautiful culture that is in Morocco.

[upbeat music fades]