Original subtitles

MAYA RUDOLPH: On the Atlantic coast of Africa sits a city.

A city 12 travel blogs and your know‐it‐all friend

might tell you not to bother with,

to head straight to Marrakesh or zip over to Fez.

They've got it all twisted,

because Casablanca is not the kind of city you skip.

♪ upbeat music playing ♪

‐ The mosque is here.

The bar is here.

‐ Cheers.

MAYA: It's a city where culture and religion

mix like a heady blend of spices.

‐ Mmm. [woman laughing]

MAYA: It's a paradox of tradition and progress,

where the tagine is hot,

metal is loud,

and the snails, ooh, are kind of bomb.

You know, the Casablanca from that classic movie that everyone knows,

even if they haven't seen it?

Yeah, this ain't it.

♪ upbeat music playing ♪

Casablanca is a cornucopia of people, attitudes,

and a shit ton of cats... [cat mewing]

...mixing it up in Morocco's biggest city,

where they work,

party,

and feast.

For thousands of years,

this corner of Africa has been high traffic.

Romans, pirates, conquerors,

guys running game in the spice trade.

Portuguese named the place,

and the French built a lot of cafes,

and whole neighborhoods like Quartier Habous.

Whether you need a caftan

or new tires for your moped,

this market's got you covered.

From classic pastries

to homemade pastillas

to camel heads, strawberries...

Wait. Wait, go back.

Okay. Yep. Yeah, that's a‐‐ that's a camel head. [Samir speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Meet Samir, the butcher.

♪ lively music playing ♪

He's been chopping up steaks of all sorts at this stand for 30 years,

so his knife skills are pretty sharp.

Fresh meat has long been a staple of Moroccan cuisine,

and this dude has it all. [Samir speaking foreign language]

MAYA: You know it's good when the butcher kisses the meat, okay?

But in case there are any doubts,

Samir does custom cuts on demand. [both speaking foreign language]

‐ Like, like... Really?

MAYA: Yeah. That's just how Aissam rolls.

You may recognize Aissam from John Wick 3,

where he helped Keanu Reeves shoot, stab,

and maim his way through the back alleys of Casablanca.

[laughing]

In real life, the only thing he's about to maim

is this meat platter.

[Kamar laughs]

He and his friend, comedienne Kamar, are not just celebrities.

They're fellow meat enthusiasts. [Kamar speaking foreign language]

[in English]: Basically, now we have the meat.

So we're going to do a barbecue.

This is one of the best places to buy meat in Morocco, in Casablanca.

So this is pretty cool.

KAMAR: This is pretty cool 'cause I'm paying, right?

‐ Yes, exactly, I feel like a king. ‐ Yeah. I got it. Let's go.

[both laughing]

MAYA: In Casablanca, spots like El Baladia are full service.

Just around the corner from your butcher,

your personal barbecue chef will spice those little lamb chops,

and char 'em up right. [Khalid speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Barbecue, or shwaya in Darija,

is a major part of the market dining experience. [Khalid speaking foreign language]

♪ pleasant music playing ♪

[Aissam chanting indistinctly]

This is too cool.

Yum, yum, yum.

Cheers. ‐ Yeah.

So this is how we do it.

Take the lamb meat and some salt,

a little bit of cumin,

and if you want a little bit spicy,

then you take some spice and then you just eat with your hand.

Mmm.

‐ Really good. ‐ Mm‐hmm.

It's nice to eat with bread as well, with some onions and tomatoes.

And it gives you a kind of acid taste, which join the meat perfectly.

Mmm. I don't want to talk. I just want to eat.

This is so good.

‐ Shut up. Eat.

MAYA: Yeah, what she said.

‐ It's like mmm. [laughs]

‐ Like mmm.

MAYA: Sometimes the best way to describe a good meal

is with no words at all.

KAMAR: Like mmm.

Like mmm. ‐ Mmm. Mmm.

KAMAR: Like mmm. ‐ Mmm. Mmm.

KAMAR: Like mmm. ‐ Mmm. Mmm.

That's what I call an orgasm.

‐ No.

[both laughing]

MAYA: Whoa, easy now. There are impressionable...

[cat mewing]

...cats around.

Come on, man.

♪ traditional music playing ♪

♪

Communal ovens, like this one, that Ahmed's running,

like a boss,

were common across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Europe for centuries.

And Morocco has held tight to the tradition.

Here, for a few dirham,

the oven master will cook...

Well, whatever the hell you want. [Ahmed speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Small but mighty,

almonds are a powerful ingredient in many Moroccan snacks.

Ah! I‐I love snacks.

Like these gazelle horns,

almond cookies made with a hint of orange blossom water,

and celebrated pies like pastilla.

The name comes from the Spanish word for pastry.

And though the exact roots of the recipe are up for debate

among hotheaded meat pie historians,

the way to make it hasn't changed much.

A mixture of tender chicken, caramelized onions,

and a rich spice blend that includes ginger, cinnamon, turmeric,

get wrapped in thin sheets of warka dough

kind of like Moroccan filo.

Next, they crush up those almonds with sugar.

Oh, my.

Bite through those crispy layers,

and you'll taste the sweet, salty, savory combo

that is quintessentially Moroccan. [Laila speaking foreign language]

MAYA: You better believe Laila serves a lot of party pastillas.

She's a self‐made caterer, cafe owner, and all around powerhouse. [Laila speaking foreign language]

[chuckles]

[seagulls cawing]

MAYA: Yeah, Morocco has those desert dunes,

but it's also got a stunning coastline

from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea.

For the surfers here, the ocean isn't just postcard material.

It's a haven,

a way to escape the noise of the city

and focus on the rhythm of the waves.

SAAD: When I was seven, eight years old,

I asked my father to buy me the first surfboard.

And that was, I think, the best day of my life.

Casablanca, it offers a variety of different waves.

The game is to find them.

I prefer long point breaks,

like this one.

MAYA: This is Saad.

And this is his wave.

He's a passionate ocean activist and pro surfer.

His parents have always been supportive about it,

but not every Casablancan surfer is so lucky.

SAAD: I can give you two different stories.

I know a girl from a really conservative family.

She wears the hijab and everything.

A nd she had to lie to her parents every time she wanted to go surf.

And she used to go in the water with the hijab.

And I can give you the story of Fatima.

She's from a conservative family,

but the parents, they understood that she was doing, like, sports

and not something else.

MAYA: Fatima was a 10‐time national boogie board champ,

but when she got pregnant with her second daughter,

she switched to surfing

and went on to win six more national titles,

standing up. [Fatima speaking foreign language]

MAYA: She shredded a whole lot of expectations

for what women can do in and out of the waves. [Fatima speaking foreign language]

SAAD: Even if we are, like, a Muslim country,

it tends to be more open, especially in cities like Casablanca.

I'm Muslim, and I believe in God.

I don't pray five times a day.

I don't go to the mosque often,

and it doesn't make me feel bad.

For me, religion is what you do.

Basically, the mosque is here,

the bar is here, the beach is here.

As long as you don't impose anything on other people,

this is freedom.

MAYA: The Atlantic coast offers

more than just beach vibes and point breaks.

It's also a source of some mouth‐watering seafood.

SAAD: Now, it's low tide, so there are a lot of squids.

In Morocco, usually, because of our religion,

we kill the sheep and everything,

we are, like, meat eaters, you know.

But me, I'm, like, more a fish eater than a meat eater.

I love fish.

MAYA: Right by the port,

and where this cat hangs out,

dang, there are a lot of cats in this city, guys,

is Marche Central,

the place to grab the freshest seafood around.

[fishmonger speaking foreign language]

MAYA: This place is also the home of Morocco's real national sport,

fish bargaining. [Saad speaking in English]

MAYA: You got to know your limits,

and you got to have stamina. [fishmonger speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Like the Casa surf scene,

this place has some legends of its own.

This portrait honors Malika,

who worked in the market from 1969 until...

Actually, until today.

Her name means "queen" in Arabic,

and from her throne, she sells the same sweet briny oysters

that have kept her family going and growing for generations. [Malika speaking foreign language]

MAYA: You know what? Make it two dozen.

♪

MAYA: In typical Casablanca style,

they handle the cooking on site.

♪

♪

♪

[Saad speaking foreign language]

Enjoy.

Hmm.

‐ Mmm.

SAAD: We have the best sardines in the world.

‐ From Safi.

MAYA: Safi is a couple hours south of Casa,

and it's the heart of Morocco's big industry of canning these tiny fish.

But these sardines skip the tin and come fresh and direct

from the deep waters of the Atlantic to Saad's mouth.

‐ If you eat fish, you cannot use a fork. You need your hands.

[Fatima speaking foreign language]

SAAD: The most important thing here is the juice inside.

FATIMA: Mmm.

MAYA: Yeah, Saad, get in there.

[laughs]

‐ Mmm.

MAYA: Got to love that head juice. [Saad speaking foreign language]

SAAD: I like the vibe here.

You sure that you eat something good, you know?

Everything is fresh. This is the Casablanca I‐I love.

♪ pleasant music playing ♪

MAYA: Just down the beach in Ain Diab,

you can snack a favorite Moroccan street food,

snails.

♪

[Aicha speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Aicha is a little tight‐lipped on the spices.

That was only three out of seventy, but who's counting, right?

The soup is called babbouche. [Aicha speaking foreign language]

MAYA: So to recap,

Aicha sells snail shells down by the seashore,

and this guy is buying them. [Nassim and Aicha speaking foreign language]

NASSIM: The texture is like... like a soft meat,

but the taste is not like meat at all.

I think while it's cooking, the snail gets the spices in the soup

and it just kind of tastes like that with a texture of meat.

That's pretty good.

MAYA: You know what else is pretty good?

Nassim's tray flips.

He's one of the few Moroccan skaters to turn pro.

[speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Like nipple tattoos,

skateboarding was an unusual sight in Casablanca until recently.

NASSIM: I remember we got caught once, like, caught by the cops,

telling us that we were, like, satanics or whatever, you know?

And they took our boards away and stuff,

but we were just, like, 13 years old kids, you know?

But nowadays it's different.

Like, people are getting more used to seeing skaters

and not see it like a bad thing.

It's just changing lately.

MAYA: Oh, snap.

NASSIM: Damn it.

MAYA: You good?

[groans]

[groans]

‐ It hurts.

I think with all those spices that are inside it,

Moroccans think that it cures everything,

and I'm pretty okay with that.

MAYA: A soup with healing powers?

That could come in handy for this guy.

‐ Aah.

[grunting]

Moroccans think that it cures everything.

[echoing] Cures everything... Cures everything...

I agree with them.

MAYA: Boom.

There you go, Nassim.

Nice.

♪ pleasant music playing ♪

MAYA: Beyond ancient recipes,

Casablanca offers up modern fusions.

Taki is the chef at Le Rouget De L'isle.

He uses as much local produce as possible for his menu,

which skews French Mediterranean with Moroccan flavors.

‐ As you can see,

this is caramelized plums and pears in onion marmalade to pair with the duck.

And here we have beef stock with honey and Sichuan pepper grains.

‐ Mmm.

It's very typical Moroccan when they mix salty with sweet...

‐ Oui. Oui. ‐ Like the mix of the two in the same taste, in the same...

‐ In the same plate, o ui.

‐ Oui, oui.

MAYA: Said knows a thing or two about good taste.

He's one of the country's most famous fashion designers.

Whether you want to keep it modest or show off some of that skin,

a handmade custom Said Mahrouf design will have you looking your best.

SAID MAHROUF: In general, I think in Morocco,

there are only a few designers that, uh, make modern clothes,

and there was a need for the type of work that I do.

I don't make traditional clothing, I make modern clothing.

And I love the fact that women here wear these type of dresses.

They're very flexible with their religion.

They do have an occasion where you need to cover your shoulder,

but these women that come through my door, they‐‐

they make the choice for themselves.

‐ I met you. [laughing] I come to knock at your door.

‐ Yeah, you knocked on my door.

‐ I was looking for a dress.

‐ We made two dresses.

‐ Yes, because for the... For the... My son's wedding...

One was for the religious moment,

so he understand that you must be covered, not so sexy.

And the other one, Paula! ‐ It could be sexy.

‐ No, more, more. Paula!

MAYA: Yes, Paula, show him what you're working with.

‐ No, but I like how, even in the Muslim community,

people play with religion the way they define their own way...

‐ Yeah, of respecting of‐‐ Yes. ‐ ...of experiencing it.

‐ It's because it's quite modern here, I think, you know?

Like, other places are much more...

‐ Typical. ‐ Yes.

‐ I think there is Casablanca, and there is Morocco.

‐ I think so, yeah.

‐ You have melting pot here in Casablanca. ‐ Yes, yes.

PAULA: You have different sort of communities

and different sort of food.

‐ Mmm.

MAYA: A good meal, like a new dress, can brighten your day.

‐ I always told him, you're my, uh...

Like I say, um, antidepressant.

‐ Antidepressant.

MAYA: Now that's a power lunch.

[man singing in foreign language]

MAYA: Casablanca has an amazing live music scene,

from old school classic jams to something a little...

♪ heavy metal music playing ♪

Something a little louder.

♪

Not that long ago, you could get in serious trouble

for playing heavy metal.

In 2003, 14 metalheads were sent to jail for it.

But today, the city's in the midst of a small but passionate metal resurgence.

♪

Give it up for...

[in deep voice] Into the Evernight.

After a night of circle pits and breakdowns, they're ready to eat.

‐ It's a party town. There's a lot of things to do,

but not for people like us.

We want to drink beer, we want to go to rock places.

Here it's not possible. There is no rock bar but this one.

MAYA: If you want to turn it up to 11 in Casablanca,

head to Backstage.

While drinking is illegal for Muslims, it's tolerated in discretion,

and bars are allowed as long as you keep the alcohol indoors.

And tonight, there's plenty of booze.

ALL: Cheers!

MAYA: Plenty of booze and plenty of paella.

Paella is an easy reminder that Spain is Morocco's close neighbor to the north.

It's actually the Moors who introduced them to rice and saffron

way back when, like way, waaay back when.

But the past is the past, and paella is the present.

This one is slow cooked with rich spices,

peppers, and piled high with seafood.

It's a meal fit for a king

or a band.

MAMOUN: Wow.

‐ Yeah. Paella.

‐ Chef. Woo‐hoo‐hoo.

♪ lively music playing ♪

[laughter]

It's the best dish ever, because it's a family dish,

and I hate to eat alone.

And normally you eat with your hands.

Us Moroccans, we always say in Arabic...

[speaking Arabic]

We love that the food we eat in our street tastes like our mother's food.

‐ See the socarrat, man?

MAMOUN: Yeah, socarrat.

FAYSSAL: This is the best part of the paella.

It's when it's burned,

and you have like a... It's make like a kind of a crust.

MAMOUN: Yeah, if you don't have it, it's not a real paella.

‐ Yeah. I know a little bit about paellas because I lived in Spain for a while.

I did my studies in Spain. I, uh... I've been to many countries.

I've traveled Europe, traveled to the States.

So many people think that Morocco is like a... So like a...

I don't know, that we travel on camels, that, uh...

MAMOUN: We have lions.

‐ Even in Spain, man, like, we have seven kilometers between us.

‐ 14, 14. ‐ 14 kilometers.

And people in the south of Spain,

like, they tell me, "Oh, yeah, you go on camels to school."

‐ Yeah.

FAYSSAL: People have to go out from their bubble.

Like, you have to, like... ‐ I agree.

‐ That's... That's what's good about Moroccans.

Moroccans are always striving to go out from this bubble.

So they're always, like, trying to learn new languages. MAN: We have to!

‐ They speak a lot of languages.

People should travel more and, like, be more open.

And it just, like, uh...

try to spread more love and you're going to get more love.

MAYA: In this case, the best way to spread love

is to scream loudly into your friend's faces.

♪ heavy metal music playing ♪

[audience applauding]

FAYSSAL: Thank you, my family. You are all beautiful, my friends.

♪ pleasant music playing ♪

MAYA: Did you think I would suggest leaving Morocco

without trying some tagine?

[in high‐pitched voice] Get out of here!

Tagine is one of Morocco's most well‐known dishes.

They're varied in flavor and infinite in possibilities,

with meat that's braised and slow cooked till tender.

Tagine is to Morocco what hamburgers are to the US,

part of the national identity.

Unlike burger joints though,

you won't find tagine spots on every corner in Casa.

Here, it's mostly cooked at home,

but Le Gatsby comes through for ex‐pats, tourists,

and anyone else who just wants to sit down and enjoy a tagine dream.

[Tarik speaking foreign language]

[chuckles]

MAYA: Tonight, this traditional dish is being made

exclusively for one of Morocco's most iconic faces.

NOOR: All things that I do, I do it because I love it.

It can be like, of course, dancing, acting, modeling, everything.

I'm like a queen of Casablanca, you know?

MAYA: Noor is not just a tagine connoisseur,

she's a model, belly dancer, and regular on the red carpet.

Her energy and stardom outshine conservative values.

NOOR: Whatever you are,

the most important things, it's what you have on your heart.

For me, that's more important. Not what you have on your sex.

You can be a good persons, whatever you are.

I'm very passionate about Moroccan foods.

Casablanca, it's mixture between modernity and tradition.

So Morocco, it's very rich cuisine.

[call to prayer on loudspeaker]

We have to stop it because now we have Allahu Akbar.

I'm sorry. Yes.

Yeah.

[call to prayer over loudspeaker]

MAYA: Le Gatsby is situated right across the street from Hassan II,

the second largest mosque in Africa.

Outside, the call to prayer blasts over the loudspeakers

five times a day.

But back inside,

Chef Tarik is hard at work on a chicken and olive tagine

for our girl, Noor.

[Tarik speaking foreign language]

MAYA: Noor does not accept less than the best.

‐ Wow.

Yum, yum.

Thank you, thank you. Shokran.

Yum, yum, that's mine.

This is typical Moroccan dish.

It's really, really, really amazing and so delicious.

It's my favorite.

Mmm.

Mmm, yummy.

So yummy.

I'm a woman, I love eating, and I love life.

Unfortunately, in this century,

we feel less love and more hate.

But maybe if I give a smile, sometime only one smile,

it can change the world.

I'm scorpion, by the way.

So all those scorpions women, they are, most of the time, very special.

And whatever I do or wherever I go, everybody tell me, "We cannot forget you."

MAYA: An unforgettable face in an unforgettable city.

♪ upbeat music playing ♪

[laughing]

Wind your way through Casablanca,

and you'll find all of its cultural contrasts...

well, refreshing.

It's a port city that harbors acceptance,

that revels in defying expectations,

and honors tradition.

And if you don't trip over all the cats,

you'll stumble upon a diverse and delicious dining oasis.

ALL: Cheers!

‐ I'm going do a little bit of off‐roading and sand.

So get ready.

[engine revs]

Oh, [bleep].

Full adventure.