5 things about Tangiers: Atelier des Italiens

By Laura and Dario of Atelier des Italiens:

I have in the past shared some of the wonderfully creative images from Atelier des Italiens, and in fact some of their work is hanging on my wall, so it made sense to ask them where they like to spend spare time in their home town Tangiers.

PETIT SOCCO

As many expats we are fascinated by the artistic and literature heritage of Tangier : in the past, Petit Socco was the most notorious crossroads of Tangier and favourite places of writers, artists and adventurers. Although today Petit Socco is lost most of it old appeal, but this beautiful square remains always a nice spot for enjoy the local colour and have a mint tea at Cafe Tingis. We love start from here to venture in old Medina alleys and its wonders.

ST ANDREW GARDEN

Near the Berber Marker and right at the base of Hotel de France, going through a little gate can be accessed in a magic place. Here is located an English Church surrounded by a graveyard- well groomed garden oasis. We love sit here under a shady tree and enjoy the peaceful beauty of the place. 

MINT TEA AT CAFE HAFA

A mint tea at historical Café Hafa is a pleasant habit for us. Here does the best mint tea of the city, we love sit here tasting the tea and admiring the landscape on the strait. A good place for people-watching, meeting and meditation.

DARNA RESTAURANT

 Darna’s friday couscous is an institution for Tangier’s expat community. We love the sunny courtyard of the restaurant and its old-style atmosphere. Darna is a woman no-profit community and  also offer nice local handicraft and clothings.

ACHAKAR BEACH

Not so far from the city, below Cap Spartel. the Achakar beach on Atlantic Ocean is our favourite spot in summertime. The beach is clean and set in beautiful nature.  In a mild winter like this, the beach is a great place for a refreshing walk.

click on the links below to see more of their creations and online shop

Atelier des Italiens

E-Shop

a boucherouite & a helping hand

The Boucherouite carpets, traditionally made from scraps of fabric by the resourceful women of Morocco, have been on trend and featured in magazine shoots and Pinterest boards for some time now.

And at the risk of sounding a little cliched, 

they are, in my opinion, the perfect element to add a colourful note of "boho-chic" to a contemporary home far away from the Atlas mountains.

 I have sent personally sourced rugs from the medina of Assilah to America, South Africa and England where they sit prettily in their foreign surrounds.

image via 

With this in mind I thought I would try a little boucherouite designing myself in collaboration with Darna Womens Community Centre in Tangier which provides both a safe harbour and a training centre for women and girls in the community. 

And this is what we came up with . . .

A taupe, chartreuse and chocolate boucherouite which is beautifully woven and is as pretty underneath as it is on top - traditionally sides were changed according to the season.

This Boucherouite is now on sale in my shop SHOUF! and can be proudly labelled FairTrade!

and

10% of Boucherouite sales will go straight back to Darna and their training programme.

more information and images of Boucherouite carpets can be found HERE and HERE

x

Harissa #1

Since we have been selling our secret recipe Harissa on SHOUF! I have been asked on more than a few occasions for ideas and recipes on how to use it   . . . well, I use it it on pretty much everything as it sits quite comfortably on the table next to the salt and pepper (and believe me , this is not a sales pitch!)

 

 but

that being said

we saw the new year in in time-honoured tradition

with good friends

and of course 

good food

and this aubergine played a key role!

a little scoring, salt and olive oil

a generous amount of harissa

a very hot fire

 

 and . . . voila

 

delicious - smokey, aromatic . . .

 {apologies for the photographs but a celebratory amount of champagne was consumed in the process}

HAPPY 2016 

x