Palmer Rob - Colour of Maroc A celebration of food and life

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Sharing absinthe tea with a nomadic shepherd on a remote cliff top - Morocco is brimming with unexpected moments like this.

rob

I first met Sophia on a food photo shoot for an advertising agency. Shed only recently made the move out from France by herself. Ive always admired people with the courage to leave behind all theyre familiar with and set out on their own. We happened to be living a few streets away from each other in Bondi so I introduced her to a few of the local crew. I think within a few months she was feeling more at home in Australia than she ever did during her time in France. I knew little of her Moroccan heritage then. Sophia always had this warm, easy-going and engaging personality, but it wasnt until the first time she took me to Morocco to meet her family that I really saw where shed inherited these characteristics.

That first visit wasnt easy. I was totally overwhelmed. The noise, the crowds, the culture, the language and the gestures were all so foreign to me. It was exciting but it was also extremely tiring and sometimes frustrating. One thing you eventually learn in Morocco is that people truly enjoy sharing moments. They enjoy interaction and conversation but at first I was missing out on a lot of this because I was too uptight or worried about their intentions. However, Sophias family and friends showed me the way, they taught me to let go and to relish that interaction. Slowly I could feel my attitude changing.

That allure of the magical and unexpected brought us back to Marrakech for our wedding. I still remember the look of pride in the faces of many of Sophias family during the celebrations when they saw all these Aussie blokes having a ball and enjoying every Moroccan moment. For Sophia and me, our wedding was a defining moment, not only in our relationship but also in our vision for our future together. Standing on a little dusty soccer field next to our wedding location surrounded by excited local children, we could see the broad smiles of our friends whod travelled so far to be there and we could see the possibilities for sharing this experience and hopefully encouraging others to explore this land. The idea of this book was born.

It was simple really. Wed travel the country, guided by Sophias family and friends, using food as the vehicle to meet people, share their stories and explore new places. In Morocco, anythings possible, is a saying that is probably used a little too liberally, but Sophia really did live by that motto, earning her the nickname of The Door Opener. Even the most hardened locals found it tough to resist the allure of Sophias charm. A smile, a pat on the back and a few sentences in Arabic had them hooked (almost) every time. The thing about Sophia is that she genuinely wanted to chat and learn about their lives. Being genuine goes a long way in making connections in a country like Morocco. A simple smile goes even further.

Throughout the book you can read some short accounts written from my perspective. Sophias memories of her country were triggered by the food so her voice is heard through the recipe introductions. These two perspectives offer a portal into our two (sometimes contrasting) interpretations of this marvellous country.

Our real hope for this book was to make Morocco, a country so culturally distant from many of our own, feel tangible and accessible.

sophia

During my years working in advertising in Paris, the photographers Id met were usually older and big accounts were never risked on young up-and-comers. However, in Australia, at a production meeting for a shoot I was greeted by a 20-something in an old T-shirt, a pair of shorts and flip-flops, dressed like hed just walked straight in off the beach. During the meeting and the following week of shooting I quickly discovered that Robs happy-go-lucky demeanour was a faade for a very motivated and confident photographer with acute business acumen.

Although most of my recent years have been lived in France and Australia, my roots are planted in Morocco. My mum is Moroccan and my father is French and I spent the first 13 years of my life in Casablanca.

Every time I go back to Morocco I feel alive. I love the noise, the heat, the colours, the flavours and the crowds. Its a country that awakens all the senses. You never know what youll come across and thats the beauty of it. Each day spent in Morocco is a journey of discovery. Morocco is a cool fusion of old and new: its a modern Arabic country, open-minded and constantly evolving while keeping its traditions and values family, sharing, authenticity, generosity and hospitality.

I first brought Rob to Morocco so he could meet my family and get a sense of the country at the source of our cultural differences. I wasnt sure how hed cope but in the centre of Marrakech, surrounded by snake charmers, storytellers, dancers, musicians and steaming food stalls, I realised he got it. As the Moroccan theatre of life unfolded around him he had a twinkle in his eye and I could sense his fear of the unknown being replaced by excitement. He couldnt resist the charm of Morocco. Rob will tell you that it was at our wedding a few years later that we realised we wanted to do a project together, but I knew right from this moment.

Rob being a food photographer gave us an obvious starting point for the book, coupled with the fact that cooking and sharing meals together is such an important part of Moroccan culture. Food really is the gateway into the lives and homes of the people its such a simple way of connecting. On each visit its not until the preparation for the meal begins that I really relax and feel at home with my family, its a simple act that reminds one of what we all have in common, its all about sharing and celebrating food and life together.

However, collecting the recipes hasnt been easy! When I asked Mum to email me the family recipes, I received a long list of ingredients, like a shopping list. After explaining to her that I also needed cooking methods and measurements, she gave a loud laugh. Aynek Mesanek, (your eyes are your measure) she replied. In Morocco you learn to cook through experience and therefore nothing is written down. No self-respecting Moroccan cook will ever admit to following a recipe from a cookbook. If you want more detail, you will have to come here and watch, was Mums solution. So we did. We watched Mum and we watched her Mum then we travelled and watched everyone from chefs in famous hotels to women in mountain-top villages and we developed a few easy modern recipes inspired by what we had learnt along the way.

So if you ask me what Colour of Maroc is about, I will say that its about delicious traditional yet contemporary Moroccan food, but its not a cookbook. Its about amazing destinations, but its not a travel book. Its about the journey itself and the people we met. Its a book about experience.