Paul Bowles in Fez, 1947

Paul Bowles’ contribution to The Artists’ & Writers’ Cookbook appeared under “Jams, Jellies and Confections,” opposite Robert Graves’ recipe for Sevillian yellow plum conserve. In it, Bowles explained how the people of Fez make one of his favorite treats: majoun keddane, a kind of jam that requires some dates, figs, walnuts, honey, spices, butter, and wheat, and at least two pounds of cannabis.

Embedded in this recipe was another, for an even more exotic and labor-intensive Moroccan dish called Beid El Beita F’kerr El Hmar. This was a kind of breakfast recipe said to bestow magical powers:

Buy an egg. Find a dead donkey, and the first night lodge the egg in its anus. The second night the egg must be put into a mousehole on top of a Moslem tomb. The third night it must be wrapped in a handkerchief and tied around the chest of the person desiring to perform the magic. The following day it must be given for breakfast, prepared in any fashion, to the other individual, who, immediately upon eating it, discovers that the bestower is necessary for his happiness. (Or her happiness; the sex of the two people seems to have nothing to do with the charm’s efficacy.)

More after the jump…

Rider
 
I don’t know a lot about these pictures of colorfully dressed Moroccan women posing with their motorcycles, but I sure do love them to bits. They’re the work of Moroccan-born photographer Hassan Hajjaj, and you couldn’t really ask for a better presentation of this material, from the cheeky poses to the arresting frames with colorful food products I can’t identify. The name of the exhibition is Kesh Angels, which runs through March 7 at the Taymour Grahne Gallery in Manhattan.

All the polka dots! It’s as if Yayoi Kusama did the costumes for a Gaspar Noé-directed remake of Al Adamson’s 1972 biker movie Angels’ Wild Women.

Here’s a small gallery of the awesome pics; there’s plenty more at this website.
 

LV Posse
 

Kesh Angels
 

Khadija
 

Nisrin
 

Nikee Rider
 

Kick Start
 

Odd 1 Out
 

M.
 

Romancia
 
via Nerdcore

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Bill Ray’s photos of biker women 1965

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Bill Ray’s photos of biker women 1965

 
Daniel Grabner’s 2003 documentary Haschich is a fascinating look into the world of hashish artisans living in Ketama, Morocco.

Simple yet filled with detail, the film reveals the daily rituals revolving around the production and business of hash and the centuries-old society of the men who make it. For many of us, hashish evokes a certain exotic mystique, but Grabner’s film shows us that the production of hashish is as ordinary as the work clothes worn by its producers. The end result may be something sought out by connoisseurs of mind-altering smoke willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a finger-sized chunk of Moroccan Caramello, but the process of its creation is far less romantic than the dreams that smoke will generate.  

Beautifully photographed and with a lovely soundtrack of traditional Moroccan music, Haschich is so intimate that you can practically smell and taste the sweetness of its subject.