**Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown | Morocco (Tangier) | S01 E05 | All Documentary — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-morocco-tangier/

Anthony Bourdain explores Tangier, Morocco, the former international zone and magnet for writers and artists, tracing its Beat Generation legacy and everyday life today.

## Key Takeaways

- Tangier's identity is shaped by its history as an international zone and its role as a port city.
- The Beat Generation and Paul Bowles mythology remain powerful but represent only a small part of the city's long history.
- Tangier's tolerance and cosmopolitan character continue to attract people seeking an alternative life.
- Local food, markets and everyday rituals reveal a Moroccan city that is far more than a literary backdrop.

## What the video covers

- Bourdain introduces Tangier as a former international zone (1923-1956) that attracted writers, artists, spies and expats seeking freedom.
- The Petit Socco is presented as a historic square and meeting place, with a history spanning Phoenician, Roman, Portuguese and English rule.
- The episode examines the romantic image of Tangier shaped by Paul Bowles, William Burroughs and the Beat Generation, and questions how much of that myth persists.
- Jonathan Dawson, a long-time expat journalist, describes his life in the city and the cafés where its old faces gather.
- Bourdain notes Moroccans' tolerance of eccentricity and madness, contrasting Tangier's Moroccan character with its European outlook.
- Expats' sense of belonging is explored, with some people finding home abroad rather than where they were born.
- The port city's role as a chokepoint between the Atlantic and Mediterranean is discussed, including traditional sein hall fishing.
- Burroughs' sensory description of the old native quarter, with its hashish, grilled meat and sewage smells, is contrasted with the present.
- The episode covers local food such as fig-and-raisin purees, bastilla pigeon pie and chopped mountain spinach, and visits the souk.
- Bourdain concludes that the Bowles-era dream still lingers, though many visitors who come to live the myth don't stay long.

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Introduction: Escaping Home
2. 00:29 Tangier's International Past
3. 04:29 The Petit Socco and the Beat Legacy
4. 06:28 Expat Life and Local Character
5. 10:59 Port City and Burroughs' Medina
6. 11:59 Food, Markets and Local Life
7. 21:20 Artists, Parties and Bohemian Dreams
8. 26:17 Reflections on the Tangier Myth

Answers

## Questions about this video

What was Tangier's status from 1923 to 1956?

Tangier was an international zone, loosely governed by major powers during that period. The episode describes it as a place where, for years, almost everything seemed permitted.

Why did writers and artists like Paul Bowles and William Burroughs come to Tangier?

The city drew writers, artists, spies and people seeking drugs, unconventional lifestyles and affordable living in an exotic setting. Bowles became the figure most associated with its romantic image through works like The Sheltering Sky.

What does Bourdain say about the Beat Generation's legacy in Tangier?

Bourdain suggests the Beat-era story is only a 15-year slice of a much longer history. He finds it overdone by visiting writers, who often repeat the same Paul Bowles and Beat narrative.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:08

Speaker A

ah i've always wanted to get as far away as possible from the place that i was born. Far both geographically and spiritually, to leave it the cool behind on my shoulders.

01:26

Speaker A

[Music] tangier it's morocco but from 1923 through 1956 it was loosely governed by the major powers an international zone for years it seemed everything was permitted nothing was forbidden at the northern tip of africa a short ferry hop from spain

01:57

Speaker A

Tangier, it's Morocco, but from 1923 through 1956 it was loosely governed by the major powers, an international zone. For years it seemed everything was permitted, nothing was forbidden. At the northern tip of Africa, a short ferry hop from Spain, Tangier was a magnet for writers, remittance men, spies, and artists. If you were a bad boy of your time, you liked drugs, the kind of sex that was frowned upon at home, and an affordable lifestyle set against an exotic background. Tangier was for you. Matisse, Genet, William Burroughs. Many have come this way, staying a while or hanging around, but no one stayed longer or became more associated with Tangier than the novelist and composer Paul Bowles. In works like The Sheltering Sky, he created a romantic vision of Tangier that persists even today, a dream that has become almost inseparable in the minds of many from reality.

02:12

Speaker A

tangier was for you matisse janae william burroughs many have come this way staying a while or hanging around but no one stayed longer or became more associated with tangier than the novelist and composer paul bowles in works like the sheltering sky he

02:41

Speaker A

I'm here to find that dream city, the place Burroughs referred to as the Interzone.

03:20

Speaker A

tajir like i said was a city of expats people with past people who simply didn't like where they were and craved somewhere and something else the grand soco is the gateway to the medina where you could find the casbah

03:37

Speaker A

Tangier, like I said, was a city of expats, people with pasts, people who simply didn't like where they were and craved somewhere and something else. The Grand Socco is the gateway to the medina, where you could find the Kasbah, which means fortress, by the way. The Port of Tangier is to the east, and right in the middle of it all is the Petit Socco, what Uncle Bill Burroughs called the last stop, the meeting place, the switchboard of Tangier. Reasons for settling in Tangier diverge, but everyone, sooner or later, since the beginning of memory, comes to Café Tingis.

03:53

Speaker A

tangier diverge but everyone sooner or later since the beginning of memory comes to cafe tingus [Music] jonathan dawson came to this city over 20 years ago as a journalist and he never left he lives a life not too distant from

04:12

Speaker A

Jonathan Dawson came to this city over 20 years ago as a journalist, and he never left. He lives a life not too distant from Burroughs' fantasy: cake and tea at four every day, served by his manservant. He may not have a gazelle, but a pet rooster will do. Every day he makes the rounds of the cafés, seeing all the old faces, ending up, sooner or later, here.

04:29

Speaker A

ending up sooner or later here so this is the petit soco this is the petty soccer yeah this soccer existed in phoenician times existed in roman times it existed in the portuguese times the english were here for 22 years then

04:46

Speaker A

So this is the Petit Socco? This is the Petit Socco?

05:00

Speaker A

the beat generation and uh there are there are lots of other stories in morocco apart from that but everyone likes the beats bill butters and all that stuff and tennessee williams and they were all here yeah but that's a

05:13

Speaker A

Yeah. This Socco existed in Phoenician times, existed in Roman times, it existed in the Portuguese times. The English were here for 22 years, then the International City until 1956, and now it's completely Moroccan. But this is a very historic square. As a writer, I've noticed everybody who comes here to do an article does the same article. Well, it's so damn boring. They all do Paul Bowles, the Beat Generation, and there are lots of other stories in Morocco apart from that. But everyone likes the Beats, Bill Burroughs and all that stuff, and Tennessee Williams, and they were all here. Yeah, but that's a small part of Moroccan history. That's a 15-year period. There's a life before that, and a life after that.

05:29

Speaker A

paul bold story and you can live it and if people do come here and try and live it but they don't stay very long right they smoke a bit of dope and they live in a cheap hotel and they go home

05:37

Speaker A

You're here, yeah. It was inevitable. Let's pretend those guys never came. What is this place?

05:49

Speaker A

tolerance of mad people you know uh but moroccans essentially are very tolerant people they quite like madness and as as well they kind of celebrate that a bit you know how moroccan is censored it's a moroccan city with a european

06:05

Speaker A

Well, the reality is, if you can read a Paul Bowles story and you can live it, and people do come here and try and live it, but they don't stay very long, right? They smoke a bit of dope, they live in a cheap hotel, and they go home with bedbugs. That's a great story, and a great story, but the attitude here is different than other parts of Morocco. I think they have a higher tolerance and tradition of bad or outrageous behavior. They have a higher tolerance of mad people. Moroccans, essentially, are very tolerant people. They quite like madness, and they kind of celebrate that a bit.

06:14

Speaker A

the international days which finished in 1956 but at that time i think europeans may have outnumbered moroccans in in the center of this city it's not the case now there are very few europeans actually living here full time

06:27

Speaker A

You know, Tangier is censored? It's a Moroccan city with a European outlook. You can stand up on the boulevard and see Spain and Gibraltar, so you see all sorts of people passing through, but it's a very Moroccan city.

06:41

Speaker A

but they're not entirely comfortable it's the the difference annoys them or is a burden it did and it frustrates them some people have to leave home to find their home i'm one of those people whereas i didn't feel at home in the country i was born

06:56

Speaker A

I'm 62 years old. I didn't know it in the international days, which finished in 1956, but at that time I think Europeans may have outnumbered Moroccans in the center of this city. It's not the case now. There are very few Europeans actually living here full time. The notion of living a life apart, of being somewhere else, there are those who like that feeling. I like that feeling. And then there are those who may live apart, they may live somewhere else, but they're not entirely comfortable. It's the difference that annoys them, or is a burden. It did, and it frustrates them. Some people have to leave home to find their home. I'm one of those people. Whereas I didn't feel at home in the country I was born in at all, but here I feel okay. I feel very, very happy.

07:18

Speaker A

its smell was particularly notable to him including a mix of hashish seared meat and sewage tangier before anything else is essentially a port city with all the things that traditionally come with port cities it's situated at the choke point between

07:39

Speaker A

There is indeed something special about this place. Burroughs described the native quarter of Tangier as a maze of sunless, twisting streets filled with blind alleys. Its smell was particularly notable to him, including a mix of hashish, seared meat, and sewage.

07:55

Speaker A

across the bottom of the sea some of that fish the good stuff anyway ends up here the severe depression or restaurant populaire or popeyes the place has got a lot of names but locals and expats alike who've been coming here for years

08:13

Speaker A

Tangier, before anything else, is essentially a port city, with all the things that traditionally come with port cities. It's situated at the chokepoint between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Moroccan coast is a rich fishing ground, and a lot of people make their living from the sea. On shore, they use a method called sein hall fishing, where weighted nets basically drag fish across the bottom of the sea. Some of that fish, the good stuff anyway, ends up here.

08:27

Speaker A

room of the place is dedicated to sorting and drying various herbs which he blends into a secret mix he claims has all sorts of healthful and boner-inspiring benefits look if every dish i've been told over the years was gonna

08:41

Speaker A

The Severe Depression, or Restaurant Populaire, or Popeye's. The place has got a lot of names, but locals and expats alike who've been coming here for years say it's got some of the best tagine in town. Mohamed Belhaj, the owner and head chef, is from the nearby Rif Mountains, and he sources a lot of his produce and his greens from there, and he's real proud of them. The back room of the place is dedicated to sorting and drying various herbs, which he blends into a secret mix he claims has all sorts of healthful and boner-inspiring benefits. Look, if every dish I've been told over the years was gonna make me strong worked, I'd have a permanent pup tent going on down there, so I take all that with a grain of salt.

08:59

Speaker A

some warm very good bread squishy the juice oh yeah and you get this stuff everybody gets it a pulpy puree of figs raisins strawberries and full of muhammad's potent herbs and spices of course all the night 24 o'clock

09:20

Speaker A

Hi. Hello. Hi, son.

09:36

Speaker A

tonight baby shark calamari and monkfish with fresh mountain spinach slowly cooked over charcoal in the classic clay pot that gives it its name the tajin's dome top is supposed to force the condensation back into the dish and keep it moist and tender that's

09:51

Speaker A

Hassan delivers the food. It all starts with fresh olives, they're in season now, and roasted walnuts, some warm, very good bread, squishy. The juice, oh yeah. And you get this stuff, everybody gets it: a pulpy purée of figs, raisins, strawberries, and full of Muhammad's potent herbs and spices. Of course. All the night, 24 o'clock.

10:13

Speaker A

salt and pepper and some coriander then grilled perfectly over the coals cuddled up next to the fish tiny shark kebabs cute wow spectacular it's a good value all of this for 20 bucks i think we did a pretty good job on mr

10:31

Speaker A

Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's supposed to make me more manly. You know what, I'm eating. Let's not talk about that.

11:05

Speaker A

since altamonte i told mick i said mate this is a bad crowd get back in the chopper but he's like all no man we can't disappoint the fans ah memories [Music] in tangier i lived in one room in the

11:40

Speaker A

Okay, sunshine, what is a tagine anyway? It's a traditional Moroccan stew that can include vegetables, meat, or fish. Tonight: baby shark, calamari, and monkfish with fresh mountain spinach, slowly cooked over charcoal in the classic clay pot that gives it its name. The tagine's dome top is supposed to force the condensation back into the dish and keep it moist and tender.

12:00

Speaker A

ampule boxes and garbage piled up to the ceiling light and water long since turned off for non-payment i did absolutely nothing i could look at the end of my shoe for eight hours i was only roused to action when the

12:15

Speaker A

That's delicious. I think it's these greens and aromatics and herbs. I have no idea what they are. Yeah, I've never had anything like that here. Here's your version of farm to table.

12:36

Speaker A

a homosexual and an inspiration to those proto-hipsters who came to be known as the beats burroughs however was not a hipster there was nothing beatnick about him he was a somewhat stuffy well-dressed st louis son of a good

12:52

Speaker A

Hi, and a whole turbot, brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and some coriander, then grilled perfectly over the coals, cuddled up next to the fish. Tiny shark kebabs. Cute. Wow, spectacular. It's a good value, all of this for 20 bucks. I think we did a pretty good job on Mr. Fish. That'll teach you. It's like that guy would, you know, you're dripping, and it goes like this.

13:14

Speaker A

burroughs was apparently high for much of the process on heroin or a locally available prescription opiate called yukidol and of course the daily staple of many in these parts hashish keef and majoon hashish is the concentrated thc rich

13:32

Speaker A

For dessert, you: strawberries, pine nuts, and honey. Like the whole meal, it's eccentric and delicious.

13:45

Speaker A

the strongest concentration of psychoactive ingredients majun is a confection made from keef fruits nuts chocolate and honey i was of course fascinated by this product since reading about it and inquired of some local contacts who shall necessarily go unnamed how was it made

14:08

Speaker A

Thank you. You're welcome. I haven't had so much fruit, some nuts, since Altamont. I told Mick, I said, mate, this is a bad crowd, get back in the chopper. But he's like, all, no man, we can't disappoint the fans. Ah, memories.

14:26

Speaker A

within while the binder element of the mahjoon is slow cooking in the pan a combination of spices are blended with cashews almonds walnuts and dried fruit this will be the framework to suspend the thc laden goodness in the

14:42

Speaker A

In Tangier I lived in one room in the native quarter. I had not taken a bath in a year, nor changed my clothes or removed them, except to stick a needle every hour in the fibrous gray wooden flesh of terminal addiction. I never cleaned or dusted the room. Empty ampule boxes and garbage

15:13

Speaker A

of course network standards and practices prohibit me from even tasting this delicious and reportedly mind-altering treat i'm guessing anyway so until i see chris john and wolf doing bong rips in the situation room i will of course abide by these rules

15:29

Speaker A

because that's the kind of guy i am [Music] there is one particular cafe in the heart of the casbah that has drawn in foreign dignitaries rock stars aristocrats and artists since it opened its doors in 1943 cafe baba

15:50

Speaker A

sweet mint tea in a thick slow moving haze of smoke it smells like my dorm room 1972.

15:57

Speaker A

good evening hello hi i'm george this is george bajalia and zidab benjalun thank you for having me yeah i think welcome to cafe baba i should say right now i have no direct knowledge or awareness of either george or zineb

16:09

Speaker A

smoking any illegal substances nor do i have any contemporaneous recollection at this time of me doing anything untoward in their presence because that would be like wrong dude george is here on a fulbright scholarship and zinab is an artist from

16:23

Speaker A

rabbat others in the room however well don't give me that innocent look you young punks i know somebody in here smoking reefer so how stoned are people here well we can ask just ask ah you know you're not getting

16:38

Speaker A

totally ripped here no it's a functional part of daily life for a long time the rest of the country and the government didn't really like tangier a whole lot because it was cd there were these foreigners who came

16:50

Speaker A

here and did it he likes yeah it makes money he sees it as a future economic superpower as i understand he's talking condos boutique hotels is that good or bad for moroccans it's it's work but of course expats want to

17:06

Speaker A

keep tangier like they know it before i mean this cafe is very similar to the way it was but there's a tv right there that's green and that's why a lot of people come here they come to watch soccer games you can

17:17

Speaker A

well imagine the american guy who's lived in in tangier for 30 years okay he comes in and there's a flat screen tv on the wall you've ruined the authenticity and integrity but the moroccan guy at the next table

17:33

Speaker A

he said wait a minute wait a minute you have a flat screen tv at home i want one too what's wrong with that yeah there are people here who've probably never heard of pablo's right if you only follow that there's no

17:45

Speaker A

progression there's no progress there's no change the thing about cafe baba is that just sitting here taking in the atmosphere you begin to appreciate the place there's something something different is happening here contact hi whoa i'm hungry wait until the spanish

18:03

Speaker A

tortilla dude across the street opens for business this is abdullah he specializes in making one thing and he makes it well an omelet well it's actually more like a spanish tortilla but like stone ear the potatoes are boiled diced

18:23

Speaker A

then mixed with beaten eggs and cooked in a cast iron skillet oh yeah the eggs the eggman i am me and we are you and where's my omelet dude cause i am hungry salam we're late from the city

18:35

Speaker A

here one two three abdullah is just waiting for you right when you come stumbling out of cafe baba coincidence or not you be the judge ketchup and mayonnaise everything ketchup and mayonnaise sure why not condiment options i would be hard-pressed to turn down at

18:56

Speaker A

this precise moment anyway [Music] a lot of mayonnaise dude that's awesome i'll have 12 more paul bowles lived in tangier for over 50 years and sherry nutting was part of his inner circle near the end of his life she was his

19:32

Speaker A

friend record keeper of sorts and photographer you arrived when i came in the 70s but i went down to marrakech and then in 86 i wrote a letter to paul bowles and said i had to meet him and

19:43

Speaker A

take his picture and he wrote back and he said come and visit well i never left like a lot of people came here to live that dream or to live that life has the reality come to resemble his perception of the

19:54

Speaker A

reality or the tangier that i see is paul balls and i still see it i still feel it you can still find the magic the market or souk in tangier is one of the best in all morocco the food stalls and vendors are still

20:09

Speaker A

pretty impressive wander the markets long enough and you're sure to stumble across the unexpected who's sure how about a lamb's head here nothing goes to waste char-broiled to crispy burnt perfection the meat is scraped off and served on a

20:25

Speaker A

crusty lunch bread not so adventurous the grand soccer's indoor market offers a variety of smoked cured and fresh meat smells good in here this stuff looks good oh i've heard this cheese is amazing it's good yeah can i have one

20:47

Speaker A

a berber favorite fresh goat cheese wrapped in palm leaves yeah they're beautiful aren't they that's good a little cheese a little flatbread the perfect moroccan breakfast to go [Music] we're headed into the jabala foothills of the rift mountain range

21:09

Speaker A

about 85 kilometers south of tangier to a place called jajuka the village is home to the people of the al sharif tribe which loosely translated means the saintly people jazooka is also home to one of morocco's better known musicians

21:31

Speaker A

bashir attar [Music] jazz and rock and roll musicians have traveled from all over the world to jizuka to meet this guy bashir is part of a lineage of master musicians all from this small mountain village [Music] famously dubbed as a 4 000 year old rock

21:53

Speaker A

band by william burroughs bashir his son and these musicians maintain one of the oldest still living musical traditions on earth we're invited for dinner it's family style of course beginning with braywood like a kefta pocket hand-formed envelopes of dough filled with seasoned

22:24

Speaker A

beef baked until golden then crisped in oil oh good for now well one more uh-oh here we go the main event tagine of chicken welcome tony thank you [Music] gorgeous first chopped onions garlic parsley and turmeric are blended with olive oil

22:56

Speaker A

[Music] the bird is generously coated and stuffed then after simmering in a touch of olive oil and water the chicken is fried till crispy served with roasted almonds and olives paprika and ginger nice he smells the food like anywhere else in

23:16

Speaker A

the arab world eating with your hands always the right one is proper dining etiquette [Music] is chopped mountain spinach garlic cilantro hot and black peppers finished with lemon and olive oil [Music] that's delicious i heard you are the

23:49

Speaker A

the greatest taste for a food in the world man i love good food no this is good after dinner some fruit some mint tea and let the music begin for centuries the master musicians of jazuka have been the musical choice of

24:08

Speaker A

the royal families of morocco excused by the country's rulers for manual labor to devote themselves to musical training [Music] hey [Music] their powerful style of sufi trance music has inspired many musical seekers including most notably perhaps paul bowles who wrote about them

24:54

Speaker A

and recorded them and spread the word brian jones was here and recorded the pipes of pan at jajuka with these musicians the word spread and the master musicians have ended up being featured on albums by maciel parker ornette coleman and the rolling stones

25:24

Speaker A

for years if you were a rock god you had to come here dig the crazy percussion and strings and pipes that took you to another place it's intricate hypnotic beautiful and if you're in the right frame of mind

25:41

Speaker A

mesmerizing [Music] anyone who comes to tangier inevitably ends up lost in the old part of the city the medina is just what you want it to be the ancient world residing just next to and around the new one

26:07

Speaker A

[Music] you can walk around inside the movie in your head play the bogey character you never were all against an all-too-willing all-too-genuine backdrop ordinarily just about the last thing in the world i'd be interested in doing is antiquing but buried in the network

26:26

Speaker A

of twisting narrow streets of the old city is boutique majid owned and operated and personally curated by this man abdel mahjid hello how are you here's one interesting guy thank you come in when he was a little kid back in the 60s

26:44

Speaker A

majid left his hometown of fez and came here where he'd earned a few dirham a night emptying ashtrays at the wild and extravagant parties being thrown here by wealthy expats he saw what these people would buy for themselves and how

26:57

Speaker A

they decorate their homes and he started to look around for himself scoring then reselling art and antiques wow it became something of an obsession now his artifacts from morocco and all across northern africa are bought by collectors from all over

27:13

Speaker A

the world carpets antiques wood carvings jewelry and old doors wow these are incredibly beautiful tell me about that amber coral shells this used to be currency this year how old is this this is early 20s late 19th the amber is

27:36

Speaker A

millions of years old how much are you selling this piece by weight by weight it's quite heavy piece this one 429 grams so it comes like uh 42 000 dirhams so that's how much in dollars like almost five thousand four thousand

27:52

Speaker A

five hundred about five thousand dollars almost so we look at another floor oh yes follow me yeah there is a nice collection of uh things from the sahara so you travel a lot not like you oh this is uh for pounding uh manual yes

28:13

Speaker A

this is from the gun tribe from mali how much will this sell for do you think around three hundred dollars really for this that's very reasonable yes i'll be buying that that's gonna be an old friend also memory and i'm averaging

28:31

Speaker A

[Music] suggests lunch at andalus a locals only place nearby as a moroccan well so many westerners who come to tangier come with a romantic notion of attention they read about in books do people have a realistic expectation when they come here are they looking for

28:49

Speaker A

morocco are they looking for this phantasm no it is a fantasy it is when you get here you if you know morocco you feel that you in morocco but you're not there's a lot of mediterranean touch to this town and also the history

29:03

Speaker A

people hear story about tanji that it was like when i first came in 60s everybody said to me you can you came late 10 years no i'm saying the same thing as these young now they come and they say wow i said what

29:18

Speaker A

was better about those days well you see for me at that time i was young and it was the boom of hippies and it was uh the destination uh you know cafe baba you meet above dylan you go here got

29:31

Speaker A

steven and the parties what's going on we i miss this kind of parties people fly from everywhere to the party and they make the whole town move blue and white party white and gold party a hat party you know it's amazing and you see people

29:46

Speaker A

coming with amazing hats like a cage with a bird extravagant hat you know it's like people put so much energy and time into these parties you know look at uh oh now that looks good tomatoes brushed with local olive oil

30:04

Speaker A

garlic and coriander liver kabobs beef liver to be exact grilled over charcoal oh now that looks very nice for fish a bit of swordfish and some orange roughy that is just beautiful how do you like the tomato oh oh and the swordfish is amazing yeah

30:27

Speaker A

so how else have things changed you saw how many tourists there was today they were in a hurry if they come to the shop they even try to avoid your eye contact they're afraid if i if you get my eye contact i'm gonna rip

30:41

Speaker A

you off or make you buy something that they don't want i don't know i don't know they have this uh do they buy they don't even say hello they don't buy of course we call them penguin they have short hands doesn't get to the

30:54

Speaker A

pockets i'm just kidding [Music] [Music] when tangier was in her zone back in the day it seemed to some i'm sure as if the expats outnumbered the locals that was never true but you certainly could live a life

31:35

Speaker A

apart make your own world within the existing one reinvent yourself and live entirely within a universe of your own creation far from the grand soco is a 14-acre estate owned by christopher gibbs a well-known dealer of antiques and long

31:54

Speaker A

time expat today he's having a garden party who's coming jonathan you know maggie dean is from scotland she's been living here for more than a decade g.p darishma a frenchman who has his hands on a lot of businesses

32:12

Speaker A

including a cafe and the casbah years living in tangier unknown bianca hamri an american she's been here forever led many lives i gather and occasionally translates books from mugrabby to english and the dashing and mysterious baron de coquita

32:28

Speaker A

gundarias an artist from chile who's been living and working in the casbah since a hasty exit from puerto rico for reasons never fully explained [Music] on the menu bastia a meat are often pigeon pie as traditional moroccan as it gets

32:53

Speaker A

today made by gibbs full-time cooks jamila and farima in bastia the meat on this particular day is chicken which is slow cooked in broth and spices pulled or shredded and then folded into an egg mixture cooked in the reduced stock from the

33:07

Speaker A

boil this is layered with blanched almonds powdered sugar and cinnamon and then the whole lot is then wrapped in foida brick a crepe-like dough after baking to a golden crispiness the final touch is a dusting of even more cinnamon and sugar

33:23

Speaker A

it's got a sweet savory thing going on and it's quite tasty [Music] if you get nervous when you go in a room and you touch the light switch and the lights don't come on you shouldn't be in this country what

33:39

Speaker A

was that first moment he said you know i could live here i i i'm still quite unsure about that um now i came here first in 1958 when it was quite different everyone wore native dress yes but islam

33:55

Speaker A

still the throbbing motor of life here i have a very tender feelings for morocco and the friendliness and courtesy of the people and the children who you know if they didn't say oh granddad like we do in england they

34:09

Speaker A

say i always feel welcome here i never consider that this is mine it's theirs and they've allowed me to live here in a very nice way and i feel recognition they know who i am they know who i

34:26

Speaker A

am there is a side-by-side aspect to life here that's very unusual very unusual it's mostly you can do whatever you want if you do it with good manners but it is a sort of a station of the cross for you know

34:41

Speaker A

the bad boys of culture i mean verlaine rambo piggy pop the stones thoros he came here to be a writer he was a joint before you the writer as so many of us were but i think this was a place if you wanted to think of

34:56

Speaker A

yourself as a writer you would come here and somehow you were working within a romantic tradition yes burroughs said right up front to me a writer from when i was a little boy a writer was a guy who lounged

35:06

Speaker A

around in a smoking jacket or a caftan smoking hash pipe or an opium pipe in a beautifully anointed house littered with uh sleeping boys yes or girls to what extent did that world exist and to what extent did

35:19

Speaker A

was that world created by the people who showed up with that expectation since bill departed rip dear wonderful marvelous man since he's gone it's been tame now well he he was gentile he was uh he was the very opposite of

35:37

Speaker A

gentile he was an outlaw for every society my husband knew him very well and he was telling me yes bill and i said he said i cured him of being a drug addict i said how he said i turned him into an alcoholic

35:49

Speaker A

[Laughter] who smokes how she this table but please raise your hand is the camera on that's right [Music] it's my last night in tajir and i'm headed out does that blanket one thank you yes most cities of the islamic world

36:24

Speaker A

getting a beer can be difficult not here long as you're outside the medina nearly anything goes tangier reverts to its libertine past here western influences become very apparent [Music] any night of the week is a good night for young moroccans to take to the

36:56

Speaker A

streets of the ville nouveau oatman nosaere is from a generation of moroccans far removed from the romantic conceits of the boles barozera he's invited me out for a casual snack bocadillos spanish style sandwiches with tuna veggies hard cooked eggs

37:15

Speaker A

and a healthy wad of mayo a crispy layer of french fries within the sandwich this is delicious by the way the bread here is very good you work in a magazine journalist yeah i'm not a journalist but i i own an urban magazine here in

37:32

Speaker A

tangier to inform moroccans we are living in a place that's pretty special it's not for any purpose that william bars or pol balls or matisse all these people came to tangier the city has something which makes it different from other you

37:45

Speaker A

know from other cities well what about young artists young writers young musicians did they come here expecting this romantic paul balls wonderland of the 50s some were somewhat i'm going to say to bohemian to bohemia yeah because they thought

38:02

Speaker A

that like you know coming and being an artist is going to be enough it's going to be enough it's not today it's not enough right yeah it's pretty tough for them and most of them pack their bags right today we have so

38:14

Speaker A

many investments going on here in tanzania thanks to our king investors are here been attracted tourists are attracted but the most important part of it is that we should keep the all parts of the city intact the casbah the medina medina

38:28

Speaker A

that's what's hard to to do because when you have a european purchasing power coming over here to tangier they come well like we come we embrace it other people want to come and then we crawl up will will tenshi's unique

38:44

Speaker A

character survive i hope so i really hope so [Music] tangier is morocco always was morocco and recently the country's leadership seems to have embraced it in all its ill-reputed glory the days of predatory poets in search of literary inspiration

39:20

Speaker A

and young flesh are probably over for good [Music] hippies can just as easily get their bong rips in portland or peoria but the good stuff the real good stuff the sounds and smells and the look of tangier but you see in here when you lean out

39:39

Speaker A

the window and take it all in that's here to stay [Music] um [Music] now [Music] [Music] you

Topics: Tangier Morocco Anthony Bourdain Paul Bowles Beat Generation Petit Socco expats Moroccan food travel documentary William Burroughs

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