I hear and read more and more about a chef in Casablanca, Marocco. It's a she and a very lovely specimen indeed if you ask me. Her name is Meryem Charkaoui, now cooking in her busy restaurant "La Maison du Gourmet". I saw her last week on a french TV channel. I guess we're going to hear a lot more about her since the culinary world is praising her into heaven already. Maybe now is the time to eat at her place before the Michelin stars hit her restaurant. She had her culinary formation in the Paul Bocuse institute in France. All I read is that she's giving the traditional Maroccan cuisine a new french -or is it fresh- twist and vice versa.

Here's a nice video about one working day which takes her to a Casablanca market and a place just outside Casablanca where they bread ducks for their foie gras. At the end of the video she's making a very simple pastilla, a typical pastry filled with pigeon. If you understand some french you will enjoy this video all the more;

Now for the second part of the video, even more interesting! She visits Fez for a cooking demonstration, goes to Rabat to visit her parents. Her mom explains that Meryem made her first dish at age 9; rabbit in a mustard sauce. And finally back to Casablanca preparing a dinner for 15 french chefs, all working in Marocco. I'm so drooling! Please enjoy;