Shoppers Anonymous

Napoleon allegedly called the British a “Nation of Shopkeepers”. I can’t help thinking that he hadn’t been to Morocco when he said that.

While tourists in Morocco are struck by the exotic spice stalls and the Aladdin’s Caves of shops selling jewel coloured tea glasses and silver teapots, richly decorated bowls and metal and glass lanterns, for most Moroccans shopping is a more mundane but none the less serious business.

It also seems to be the dream of many Moroccans to own just a little shop where they can while away the day chatting with customers and selling the occasional sachet of shampoo or sugar loaf. Walk along any street and you are sure to find at least two of these grocer shops, with a small counter at the front propping up the shopkeeper who sits surrounded by shelves lined with tins of sardines, apricot jam, tea and small packets of Tide washing powder - and a sprinkling of little toffees and chewing gum given as reward to the children who are sent out to the shop for those last minute essentials such as bread or milk.

Every neighbourhood has its quota of little grocers, chicken shops, greengrocers and butchers and every town has its souk and vegetable market. Large supermarkets are few and far between as most Moroccans live off small incomes and only buy what they need for one meal or one day – apart of course from the mountain of fresh vegetables that they buy at the weekly vegetable market. Since many Moroccan women do not work they can spend the time preparing fresh ingredients, using whatever their husbands arrive home with to conjure up a delicious and hearty tagine. The idea of serving up a Marks and Spencer’s ready meal is as alien to a Moroccan as buying your chicken while it is still squawking is to most British people.

The average souk will sell a range of fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices, terracotta tagines, pots and pans, teapots and tea glasses, pyjamas and djelabas. In larger towns you can also find souks selling second hand goods – everything from doors and windows, old televisions and kettles, prams and bicycles to bric-a-brac and odd shoes. Larger defunct objects are broken down to their component parts and sold off – finally just for the scrap metal. In the larger of the second hand souks you will come across little cafes serving tea and lentil stews, explaining the unique aroma of rust and cumin that permeates the air. You walk through these souks and feel as if you have entered an alternate dimension and finally found the last resting place of the world’s lost biros and teaspoons.

So if you have need of a replacement knob for your ancient but beloved hi-fi system, then come to Morocco. One day you will walk through a souk and find just what you need.