Report
More than 1,200 new luxury hotels worldwide
Theodore Koumelis – 20 May 2013, 13:22
Currently more than 1,230 premium hotel projects in the first class and luxury category are in the worldwide pipeline.
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HAMBURG, GERMANY – The new luxury hotels, which are currently under construction or in the planning pipeline, will become more beautiful than ever. The luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton alone prepares the opening of 29 new hotels and resorts, two of them being dream hotels in Morocco, namely Marrakech and Rabat. Shangri-La, one of the leading luxury hotel chains from Asia, is currently developing the opening of 33 new hotels. Bayan Tree, another exquisite hotel chain from the Far East currently builds 26 new properties. This data has been derived from a global hotel market report issued by TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the worldwide leading provider of global b2b hotel data.
Currently more than 1,230 premium hotel projects in the first class and luxury category are in the worldwide pipeline. International hotel investors have clearly set their eyes on Asia and the Middle East – 770 hotels currently arise between Dubai and Shanghai. For comparison: in Europe 204 new first class and luxury hotels are being developed, in the USA and Canada just 112 hotels.
In December 2014 the Ritz-Carlton in the Moroccan capital Rabat should be ready to welcome its first guests. The resort will offer 120 rooms and 20 villas and is located nearby the most prominent golf course of the entire Kingdom: The Royal Golf Club Dar Es Salam was designed by Robert Trent Jones more than 40 years ago and comprises three courses as well as a 440 hectare sized oak forest. Idyllic lakes and a stunning flora complete the club offering. At hole 10 golfers have a direct view at the picturesque scenery surrounding the Ritz-Carlton Rabat. The hotel property owner will be the Moroccan Sienna Investment Group. The project is developed by WATG (Wimberly Allison Tong Goo).
Ritz-Carlton plans another resort in Morocco: in Marrakech a hotel with 60 suites and 20 villas will be developed under the leadership of the Saudi development company Jnan Amar Company. The building will be look like a Moroccan fortress and is located nearby the famous polo club “Jenan Amar”. The construction should start during the fourth quarter of 2013 and its termination is planned for the third quarter of 2016.
Other new hotels in the project pipeline in North Africa include the Ritz-Carlton Tunis, a resort with 129 suites which is located nearby the World Heritage cultural site Carthage as well as Tamouda Bay. Another Ritz-Carlton Reserve is also currently under construction at the Tamouda Bay. It is an exclusive high class resort that stretches along the unspoiled waters of the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 60 kilometers eastern of the city of Tangier. It will offer 98 rooms and 35 pool villa suites, a beach club and an 18-hole golf course (Nicklaus Design).
Photo caption: The Ritz-Carlton, Rabat Dar Es Salam.
Article source: http://www.traveldailynews.com/news/article/54818/more-than-1-200-new-luxury
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May 18th, 2013 Posted 10:55 am
Cape Verde, where Jews emigrated in late 19th century
It was an unlikely setting for a Jewish cemetery and the group, there to attend a rededication ceremony, was also out of the ordinary.
Among those gathered at the event in Cape Verde, an archipelago of islands 300 miles off the coast of Senegal, were high ranking Americans, Europeans and Moroccans, including a representative of King Mohammed VI, a major benefactor of the project.
Four cemeteries are almost all that is left of a community of Sephardic Jews who settled in Cape Verde in the late 19th century, when it was a Portuguese colony. They arrived following the abolition of the inquisition in Portugal and the signing of a commercial treaty between Portugal and Britain.
Individuals with surnames such Benros, Cohen, Levy and Wahnon immigrated to the islands from Morocco searching for greater economic stability. Many passed first through Gibraltar, where they obtained British citizenship.
Some of those attending the rededication
The Jews prospered in Cape Verde but because they were few in number and mostly men, they assimilated over time with the mainly Catholic population. As a result, Cape Verde has virtually no practising Jews.
However, the original immigrants took care to bury their dead according to Jewish law. The typical Sephardic headstones bear Portuguese and Hebrew inscriptions and are among the few vestiges of their presence.
Restoration of the cemeteries began in 2007 under the auspices of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project with major funding coming from the Moroccan monarchy and other non-Jewish and Jewish benefactors, with the support of the Cape Verde government.
The completion of the first stage of the project took place on May 2 at the Varzea cemetery in Praia, the Cape Verde capital. Attending the rededication were envoys from Portugal, America, France and Morocco and the Chief Rabbi of Lisbon, Eliezer Shai di Martino.
A Moroccan diplomat, Abdellah Boutadghart, praised the initiative. It was, he said, a reminder to descendants of Cape Verde Jews of their ties to Morocco. Also at the meeting were around 50 descendants of the original Cape Verde Jewish community.
The head of the Jewish Heritage Project, Carol Castiel, praised the role played by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. She said: “We find it very symbolic and important that a Muslim monarch saw fit to support restoring Jewish heritage in a predominantly Catholic country. We just think that this is a message that has to go out to the world.”
Article source: http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/107621/on-atlantic-isle-morocco-honours-its-lost-sephardim
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May 16th, 2013 Posted 8:22 am
Today
Government targets tourism from Morocco and China
by Brian Reyes
The Gibraltar Government said over one thousand Moroccans had visited Gibraltar since visa restrictions were eased last march.
The changes mean that Moroccans with Schengen multiple entry visas are allowed into Gibraltar for a maximum of 21 days without the need to apply for any special entry permission. Prior to this entry into Gibraltar was only on a case-by case basis.
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told Parliament yesterday that 1,144 Moroccan tourists had visited the Rock in the short time since the change had been implemented.
The government is now looking to grow on that initial success and attract strengthen links with Morocco to grow tourism and commercial initiatives.
Officials also have their eye on developing the Chinese market in terms of tourism and other business initiatives.
Senior tourism officials represented Gibraltar at the recent World Travel Market Vision Conference in China and at the China Outbound travel and Tourism Market.
Tourism Minister Neil Costa told Parliament that the initial feedback had been very promising and that good contacts had been established.
“The feedback is that interest in Gibraltar was very strong indeed, as Chinese tourists are seeking new destinations to explore whilst in Europe,” Mr Costa said.
“Chinese visitors are not looking for beach destinations but require history, heritage and, as a list-topper, a quality shopping experience.”
Things…that Gibraltar rightly boasts of in abundance.”
“Much of the outbound tourism market from China remains in the luxury bracket with most tourists having high levels of disposable income.”
“Gibraltar’s product makes it ideal for this market and can be sold as the perfect add on to a trip to Europe.”
The WTM Vision Conference brought together senior tourism officials and travel professionals from all around China and other parts of the world. This event included a VIP workshop and presentation.
Gibraltar had its own stand featuring images of Gibraltar, with information in Chinese on all the key attractions.
Some 1000 brochures were printed for the event and over 700 were distributed.
In addition both delegates had bi-lingual business cards printed.
The visitgibraltar.gi website continues to be available in Chinese.
Article source: http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=29293
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May 14th, 2013 Posted 7:25 am
Abdellah Boutadghart, right, of the Moroccan embassy in Senegal, and Rabbi Eliezer Di Martino from Lisbon on May 2 at Praia’s main cemetery. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
PRAIA, Cape Verde (JTA) — A Portuguese rabbi and a Moroccan diplomat stood shoulder to shoulder in a Catholic cemetery here while 200 mourners howled in grief as they buried a resident of this island off the western coast of Africa.
The foreigners had come to Cape Verde’s main cemetery earlier this month not to bury a local, but for the rededication of 10 gravestones of Moroccan Jews — members of an extinct community whose roots trace to the 1860s.
With virtually no practicing Jews on Cape Verde today, the cemeteries had fallen into neglect. Now a Washington-based nonprofit is spearheading their restoration.
The Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project has a board stuffed with prominent Jewish Washingtonians, but its funding comes almost entirely from one man — King Mohammed VI of Morocco. According to the group’s U.S. tax filings, the king was the organization’s sole donor in 2011 and 2012, giving $100,000 each year.
Andre Azoulay, a senior Jewish adviser to the king and a member of the project’s advisory board, told JTA that the effort is reflective of the king’s “deep commitment” to preserving Jewish heritage in Morocco and elsewhere. But even if, as some speculate, it is motivated by a desire to attract tourists and curry favor with American Jews, the king’s drive clearly sets Morocco apart from other Middle Eastern countries where Jewish sites have faced increasing threats under new Islamist governments.
“This is all part of a strong push from His Majesty the King that started three, four years ago, when we saw cemeteries have become vulnerable because of lacking care by all of us,” Azoulay told JTA.
Approximately 3,000 Jews are living in Morocco, a North African monarchy about the size of Texas that had been home to a large and thriving Jewish community for centuries. In the 19th century, a number of Moroccan-Jewish families resettled in Cape Verde, attracted by the financial potential of this transatlantic hub.
Over time the families totally assimilated, though their Creole-speaking, Christian descendants include some of Cape Verde’s most prominent businessmen and politicians, including the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, Carlos Alberto Wahnon de Carvalho Veiga.
Unlike many Arab countries with once sizable Jewish communities, Morocco has taken wide-ranging steps to preserve its Jewish history. The Casablanca Jewish museum was restored, the small but colorful 17th century synagogue in Fez was renovated, and dozens of former Jewish schools and more than 100 synagogues were rehabilitated with funding from the crown.
In 2011, in a move that Azoulay calls unprecedented in the modern Middle East, the Moroccan constitution was changed to note that the country has been “nourished and enriched … [by] Hebraic influences,” among others. The Moroccan parliament adopted the new language along with amendments that transferred some powers from the king to elected parties.
“I am not trying to paint a one-sided rosy picture. There are some difficult and maybe black pages in the book of Moroccan Jewry,” Azoulay told JTA. “But there are many, many more beautiful chapters.”
The king’s restoration activity already has brought benefits in the form of increased Jewish tourism. More than 19,000 Israelis entered Morocco in 2010, a 42 percent leap from the previous year, according to Israel’s Tourism Ministry. The World Federation of Moroccan Jewry says the kingdom receives another 30,000 non-Israeli Jews annually.
Among them was Joel Rubinfeld, the Brussels-based co-chair of the European Jewish Parliament, who spent 12 days in Morocco in March meeting with government officials and visiting his mother’s hometown. Rubinfeld believes the government’s intention to honor the country’s Jewish past is sincere, but he said other considerations are at work as well.
“There may certainly be pragmatic incentives: attracting tourism and investments down the line,” Rubinfeld said. “For some, it is a political calculation to improve Morocco’s international standing.”
A Moroccan diplomat, who spoke to JTA on condition of anonymity, said the restoration project could bring political dividends for Morocco, which has been accused of human rights abuses in Western Sahara, a disputed territory to which the kingdom lays partial claim.
“To Morocco’s great consternation, the U.S. last month proposed the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara help monitor human rights,” the diplomat said. “It’s very useful for us to have someone — a strong lobby group, perhaps — to help talk the State Department out of this idea. The Jewish lobby is a very strong one.”
The board of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project includes Howard Berman, a former California congressman who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee until his defeat last year; Daniel Mariaschin, the executive director of B’nai B’rith International; Herman Cohen, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state; and Toby Dershowitz, who heads a Washington public affairs consultancy.
But Azoulay grows indignant at any suggestion the king has his eye on the economic or political benefits of his largesse.
“This effort is the concrete manifestation of a consensus in Moroccan society, that our society is partly built on Jewish culture, a culture deeply rooted in three millennia of history,” he said.
“You have to understand the purity of it,” Azoulay added. “Those who think it is to attract tourists are just out of order.”
As popular revolutions have swept the Arab world since late 2010, Jewish heritage has suffered under newly empowered Islamist governments. Two Jewish cemeteries were desecrated earlier this year in Tunisia, prompting Israel to express concerns for the safety of the country’s Jews, the daily Maariv reported.
In Egypt, the government prevented several dozen Israelis from making the annual Passover pilgrimage to Alexandria’s main synagogue, one of the few properly maintained and functioning Jewish sites in the country. Egypt also briefly censored a film about the flight of its Jews following Israel’s establishment.
But in Morocco, a similar film, titled “Tinghir-Jerusalem: Echoes from the Mellah,” won a prize last month at the Tangier Film Festival. It also triggered protests from a few hundred Islamists and left-wing activists saying the film promoted “normalization” of ties with Israel, The Associated Press reported.
Still, many Jewish visitors speak of Morocco as a friendly place. Nuno Wahnon Martins, the director of European Affairs at B’nai B’rith International, said he felt safe enough to abandon all caution when asking for directions to synagogues during a recent visit. And Rubinfeld said he was surprised to hear a Hebrew song blasting from the stereo of a shop in Casablanca’s main market.
“Being a Jew in Morocco is safer today than on some streets in Brussels,” said Rubinfeld.
Article source: http://www.jta.org/2013/05/13/news-opinion/world/moroccan-king-funding-preservation-of-cape-verde-jewish-heritage-but-to-what-end
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May 12th, 2013 Posted 7:09 am
Despite recent political and economic conflicts which have created turmoil in many parts of North Africa, leader in luxury hospitality The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C has unveiled plans to open its first property in Rabat, Morocco. The new hotel will bring the number of properties in the brand’s North African portfolio up to three. Construction is now underway, and The Ritz-Carlton expects the resort to open in December 2014.
The Ritz Carlton, which saw its businesses drop by 50 per cent in Egypt, stated that it will continue to work on its hotel which overlooks Tahrir Square to open during the first quarter of 2014, a senior company official reported this past Wednesday in Dubai. Moreover, the brand is continuing to develop its North African presence seen through the construction of two new properties in Rabat and Marrakech, Morocco.
The Rabat resort will be situated approximately 10 minutes drive from the city center and within the grounds of the prestigious golf course, The Royal Golf of Dar Es Salam which was designed by Robert Trent Jones now over 40 years ago. The golf estate boasts three courses set within a 440 hectare oak forest enclosed by stunning natural landscape. The resort will feature 120 guest rooms, 15 one-bedroom and five, two-bedroom villas aimed at appealing to dignitaries and government delegations from around the world. Commissioned to design the property is Scape Design Associates as the Landscape Designers, and Architects, WATG.
The owner of the urban resort is Moroccan investment vehicle Sienna Investment Group. The company noted the importance of working with the Ritz Carlton in such a pertinent and prestigious place for Rabat. The owner stated in a recent press conference that “We selected The Ritz Carlton to manage this property as it was essential to select a brand with the same caliber of prestige as the city of Rabat itself, and one which maintains the grandeur of The Royal Golf of Dar Es Salam.”
Additional properties under construction in North Africa include The Ritz-Carlton,Tunis, Carthage, a resort featuring 129-suites, situated close to the world heritage site of Carthage and a further property in Morocco – The Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Tamuda Bay, an exclusive upscale resort situated along the Mediterranean approximately 60 kilometers east of the city of Tangiers. It boasts a 98-luxury room hotel with 35 pool villa suites, a beach club and an 18-hole Nicklaus design golf course.
Article source: http://www.hauteliving.com/2013/05/the-ritz-carlton-unveils-plans-for-a-new-property-in-rabat-morocco/357743/
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May 10th, 2013 Posted 5:39 am
Related:
Press Release, Morocco, News
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., the leader in luxury hospitality, has announced the brand’s latest property in its growing North Africa portfolio. The Ritz-Carlton Marrakech is owned by Jnan Amar Company, a subsidiary of Al Amal Investment Company (SIAMA) part of AzmiAbdelhADI Group of Saudi Arabia.
The resort will be developed around the Jenan Amar Polo Fields, which is part of an upscale community on the Takerkoust Road, 20 kilometres from the city centre of Marrakech and 12 kilometres from the Lalla Takerkoust lake and nature reserve. The stunning fortress style resort will feature 60 hotel suites and 20 hotel villas of two, three and five bedrooms, bars and restaurants, a luxury spa and related leisure facilities. Jnan Amar Polo Resort development is envisaged as a powerful growth driver for tourism in the Marrakech region of Morocco, and the varied luxury components of the project coupled with its world-class polo fields will create a new lifestyle dynamic to the region.
Godwin Austen Johnson is the lead architect and interior designer, with the project already at the detailed design stage. The master development of the community has been completed including the roads, and the main polo field. Construction of the property is due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2013, with completion of the hotel projected for the third quarter of 2016.
“We are honored to have been selected by Jenan Amar, SARL to manage this unique property,” said Herve Humler, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. “We believe that the unique location of the resort, with stunning views on the High Atlas Mountains, within such an upscale community of Marrakech, coupled with the diverse culture and rich heritage of the wonderful city itself, will offer our discerning guests an incredibly attractive and aspirational destination to explore.”
Mr. Ammar Abdelhadi, Chief Executive Officer of the Jenan Amar SARL, said, “We are delighted to partner with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company to manage the resort. The long and storied legacy of The Ritz-Carlton is a natural fit with Morocco’s own historical heritage, and the prestige of the brand is akin to the exclusivity of the community in which the resort will be located.”
Asked about additional growth in the North African region for The Ritz-Carlton, Humler added, “The Ritz-Carlton, Marrakech will be our fourth property in North Africa, each one offering a different proposition, indigenous to the style and location of the hotel or resort. Expansion in this region is unquestionably an essential part of our future growth strategy.”
Further properties currently under construction in North Africa are The Ritz-Carlton, Rabat, a 120-room hotel situated within the prestigious Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, The Ritz-Carlton, Tunis, a resort featuring 129-suites, situated close to the world heritage site of Carthage and Tamouda Bay, and Morocco a Ritz-Carlton Reserve,Morocco a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Tamuda Bay, an exclusive upscale resort nestled along the unspoiled waters of the Mediterranean, approximately 60 kilometers east of the city of Tangiers, featuring a 98-luxury room hotel with 35 pool villa suites, a beach club and an 18-hole Nicklaus design golf course.
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Article source: http://broadwayworld.com/article/The-Ritz-Carlton-Hotel-Company-LLC-Announces-New-Resort-In-Marrakech-Morocco-20130507
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May 8th, 2013 Posted 5:03 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., the leader in luxury hospitality, has announced the brand’s latest property in its growing North Africa portfolio. The Ritz-Carlton Marrakech is owned by Jnan Amar Company, a subsidiary of Al Amal Investment Company (SIAMA) part of AzmiAbdelhadi Group of Saudi Arabia.
The resort will be developed around the Jenan Amar Polo Fields, which is part of an upscale community on the Takerkoust Road, 20 kilometres from the city centre of Marrakech and 12 kilometres from the Lalla Takerkoust lake and nature reserve. The stunning fortress style resort will feature 60 hotel suites and 20 hotel villas of two, three and five bedrooms, bars and restaurants, a luxury spa and related leisure facilities. Jnan Amar Polo Resort development is envisaged as a powerful growth driver for tourism in the Marrakech region of Morocco, and the varied luxury components of the project coupled with its world-class polo fields will create a new lifestyle dynamic to the region.
Godwin Austen Johnson is the lead architect and interior designer, with the project already at the detailed design stage. The master development of the community has been completed including the roads, and the main polo field. Construction of the property is due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2013, with completion of the hotel projected for the third quarter of 2016.
“We are honored to have been selected by Jenan Amar, SARL to manage this unique property,” said Herve Humler, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. “We believe that the unique location of the resort, with stunning views on the High Atlas Mountains, within such an upscale community of Marrakech, coupled with the diverse culture and rich heritage of the wonderful city itself, will offer our discerning guests an incredibly attractive and aspirational destination to explore.”
Mr. Ammar Abdelhadi, Chief Executive Officer of the Jenan Amar SARL, said, “We are delighted to partner with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company to manage the resort. The long and storied legacy of The Ritz-Carlton is a natural fit with Morocco’s own historical heritage, and the prestige of the brand is akin to the exclusivity of the community in which the resort will be located.”
Asked about additional growth in the North African region for The Ritz-Carlton, Humler added, “The Ritz-Carlton, Marrakech will be our fourth property in North Africa, each one offering a different proposition, indigenous to the style and location of the hotel or resort. Expansion in this region is unquestionably an essential part of our future growth strategy.”
Further properties currently under construction in North Africa are The Ritz-Carlton, Rabat, a 120-room hotel situated within the prestigious Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, The Ritz-Carlton, Tunis, a resort featuring 129-suites, situated close to the world heritage site of Carthage and Tamouda Bay, and Morocco a Ritz-Carlton Reserve,Morocco a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Tamuda Bay, an exclusive upscale resort nestled along the unspoiled waters of the Mediterranean, approximately 60 kilometers east of the city of Tangiers, featuring a 98-luxury room hotel with 35 pool villa suites, a beach club and an 18-hole Nicklaus design golf course.
About the SIAMA
SIAMA has been operating in Morocco since 1985 and has achieved numerous developments. AzmiAbdelhadi Group’s main business in Saudi Arabia is in oil gas engineering services, in addition, owns a portfolio of diversified interests in trading, contracting, manufacturing and insurance companies.
About the Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. of Chevy Chase, Md., currently operates 82 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. More than 30 hotel and residential projects are under development around the globe. The Ritz-Carlton is the only service company to have twice earned the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award which recognizes outstanding customer service. For more information, or reservations, contact a travel professional, call toll free in the U.S. 1-800-241-3333, or visit the company website at www.ritzcarlton.com. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR)
SOURCE The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.
Article source: http://www.dailymarkets.com/stock/2013/05/07/the-ritz-carlton-hotel-company-l-l-c-announces-new-resort-in-marrakech-morocco/
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May 6th, 2013 Posted 4:02 am
A fairy tale beginning: Germany celebrates anniversary of Grimm brothers’ stories
7
By Mary Bergin
Midwest Features
My new book, “Eat Smart in Germany,” is about how to cook genuine German dishes at home and eat authentically when traveling to that country. A chapter about culinary history acknowledges the importance of two unlikely sources, brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm.
We know of their literature as popular fairy tales for children: Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White and others assume leading roles. We also debate the themes of violence and abuse in these bedtime stories, and Hollywood refuels that dark discussion with the recent release of “Jack the Giant Slayer,” a weakly received PG-13 spinoff of the Grimm brothers’ “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
Between 2012 and 2014, filmmakers will release about 20 fairy tale adaptations for adults. The Boston Globe refers to this as a “Grimm obsession,” but in Germany these tales are a proud source of heritage and reason to travel, especially this year because the first edition of the brothers’ 86-story book is 200 years old.
Germany’s 375-mile Fairy Tale Route, which is decades old, begins in Hanau (near Frankfurt), where the brothers were born. It ends north in Buxtehude (near Hamburg), the setting for “The Hedgehog and the Hare,” a tale that is lesser-known in the U.S. This self-drive trail passes forests, farms and many small, medieval towns in the states of Hessen, Lower Saxony and Bremen.
The route’s 50 communities include Alsfeld, gateway to “Little Red Riding Hood” country; Bad Wildungen, home to “Snow White” sites; Hameln, home to “Pied Piper” shows; Kassel, home to a Grimm brothers museum; Lahntal, home to the fairytale illustrator’s studio; Oberweser, home to “Puss in Boots” and “Snow White”; Sababurg, home to the “Sleeping Beauty” castle; and Trendelburg, where the “Rapunzel” tower also is a hotel.
These are tourist attractions every year, but Germans have turned 2013 into a months-long celebration of the fairy tales’ bicentennial. Consider that a reason to travel now or wait a bit, depending upon how much you love fairy tales and crowds.
The area’s Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Festival includes outdoor performances May 1 to July 1 in Hanau, concerts and theater July 18 to Aug. 18 in Kassel and a puppet festival from September to October in Steinau. A special “Expedition Grimm” exhibit stays open until Sept. 8 in Kassel.
What about the Grimm brothers as food historians? Food often wove its way into fairy tales, which documented the fables and lifestyles of average people. Simple foods — not gluttonous feasts — were a reward for virtuous living. Over and over, these stories teach that food is not to be taken for granted.
To Germans, the Grimm fairy tales reinforce core values. Happy endings are the result of hard work, obedience and making the right choices when faced with adversity.
What we call bedtime stories in the U.S. began as German folklore and legends, recorded (with footnotes, at first) by two brothers who were librarians and university professors, not fiction writers.
For complete details about Germany’s Grimm anniversary celebration, consult grimm2013.de (click on the British flag, at the top right corner, for an English translation). The range of activities is designed to interest families to intellectually curious adults.
The Fairy Tale Route is one of 200 themed trails for tourists in Germany. For more: germany.travel.
‘Eat Smart’
“Eat Smart in Germany: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods and Embark on a Tasting Adventure” ($14.95, Ginkgo Press) is the 12th installment of the Eat Smart culinary guidebook series. Other installments address food in Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Norway, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Sicily and Turkey.
We’re celebrating the completion of “Eat Smart in Germany” with book signings from 3:30-5:30 p.m. May 9 at Clasen’s European Bakery, 7610 Donna Drive, Middleton, and 5-7 p.m. May 23 at Mader’s restaurant, 1041 N. Old World Third St., Milwaukee. Please join me for a chat and a treat. clasensbakery.com, 608-831-2032; madersrestaurant.com, 414-271-3377
If neither location is in your neighborhood, let me know where you’d like a signing or book talk to occur. I seek locations with or without local chefs who present authentic German dishes from their own menus or using recipes from my book.
Sauce recipe
For many of us, warm weather means a resumption of the brat-grilling season. Instead of the usual ketchup and mustard, consider this sauce recipe from the Deutsches Currywurst Museum in Berlin.
Currywurst is a popular fast food, especially in Berlin, where vendors typically slice a hot dog or pork sausage into bite-sized chunks, then douse them with this sauce. This recipe serves many.
CURRYWURST SAUCE
3/4 cup water
1 heaped teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 heaped teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon red chili paste
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Heat water in pan. Add sugar, curry powder, paprika, salt, chili paste and tomato paste. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat, stir in ketchup and vinegar, then bring to a boil once more.
To serve, cook the sausage of your choice, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Arrange on a plate, top with sauce and sprinkle with additional curry powder, to taste.
— Your column feedback and ideas are welcome. Write to Midwest Features, PO Box 259623, Madison, WI 53725 or mary@roadstraveled.com.
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Article source: http://www.kenoshanews.com/lifestyles/a_fairy_tale_beginning_germany_celebrates_anniversary_of_grimm_brothers_stories_471332283.html
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May 4th, 2013 Posted 2:59 am
05/02/13
Colette Apelian
Living not far from the train station in central Rabat means I do not have access to a fresh vegetable market unless I walk five to ten minutes down Avenue Mohammed V into the madina. The old vegetable suq that used to be in an unique plaza under the streets in my area is now a lovely open space lined with an art gallery and restaurants. This kind of gentrification is great for children needing a park of sorts to play under the watchful eyes of parents desperate for coffee and sweets.
It may have also supported the Moroccan government’s successful application to have Rabat become an UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the outdoor cafes, customers can also enjoy nearly unobstructed views of some early twentieth century French colonial structures. The new designation makes me laugh a little when I think of Resident General Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey’s policies of preserving Moroccan madinas by building new cities outside their ramparts during the first decades of the French Protectorate (1912-56). Documents from the Rabat application at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1401/reveal that not just the pre-twentieth century monuments like the Chellah and Tour Hassan but also the surrounding and quite modern urban fabric of Hay Hassan are now officially valued as part of the Moroccan and global heritage. However, while all this is fine and well for feasting one’s eyes, it does make eating healthily a little difficult for inhabitants in the area. The wilted cucumbers and perpetual lack of cilantro in small hawanits here are not very appealing, apologies to any hawanit owners, who probably also shop in the madina, if not in al Akkari.
So, Sunday mornings, like many of my neighbors, I walk down Avenue Mohammed V past the expensive Marché Central stalls to some of the side streets of the old city where one can find better priced and much fresher veggies. One winding street is pretty well stocked. I like to find it by turning right off of Avenue Mohammed V in the madina onto Rue Sahraoui (Zanqa al-Sahrawi). I keep walking straight until the street turns into Rue Faran Zitouna (Zanqa Farran al-Zaitun). Soon, I see a line of vendors with wares spread on plastic tarps, wheeled carts, or wooden stands. As I walk along in the direction of the Oudayas, I can usually find everything from countryside eggs (“’bldi’ NOT ‘rumi,’ madam”) and bags of shelled peas to overpriced broccoli (“20 dirhem a kilo, really?”) and fish of all kinds, all sold under the watchful eye of neighborhood kitties (“scraps, please?”) and the occasional suq policeman. Usually, I fill two large plastic woven bags (mika or mikat in plural) with several kilos and carry the haul home with one mika in each hand.
On the way back this Sunday, I was stopped by a lady who looked like she was originally from Southern Morocco (like Los Angeles, everyone here is from somewhere else). Though she was even shorter than I, she insisted on carrying one of my bags since it was heavy, and then she grabbed it out of my hand quick as lightening before walking forward. There was nothing I could say to talk her out of it.
On our the way up the hill that follows the tram tracks towards Place Joulane in the Ville Nouvelle, I mentioned I should buy a carrossa like hers. She was dragging one of those two wheeled carts that have a flap-covered duffle-bag like container propped up inside. I often see ladies use them in madina suqs. She said she knew a place that sold them for 80 dirhems, and that is where she bought hers. Funny thing, I saw that store yesterday, but was not sure the carrossas were a good deal. However, here was a lady from the neighborhood quoting me the price in rials, telling me to buy it there, and using “ukhti” in her sentence (“my sister”). All of that meant that, unless she had part-ownership in the shop, which was kind of unlikely, a carrossa from this boutique was probably a good deal, at least in Rabat where prices are usually a bit higher than the rest of the country, except for Casablanca, of course.
We made a left turn at a roundabout before Place Joulane, and walked over to the shop along the route to Redal where we both pay our utility bills. Leaving her carrossa in front, the lady helped me choose the best color — “What, no more black?” After my purchase, she gave me an orientation. I’m supposed to cut off the outside corners of the interior bottom piece so I can easily take the carrossa around building corners and in narrow places without ripping a hole in the fabric. I can put my bizaam (small money purse) in one of the carrossa zipper compartments, no need for a large purse in the suq. No, a Velcro attachment is not necessary to keep the top flap closed.
She then helped to load all my groceries inside and followed me a bit to make sure I had the hang of it before heading off to her place in Hay Hassan. I would like to thank her properly if I ever see her again. Perhaps down in the madina suq next weekend?
Colette Apelian is an art historian (Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 2005) who writes about modern and contemporary art, architecture, and culture in Morocco.
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Article source: http://www.moroccoboard.com/our-events/5857-a-sunday-in-rabat-morocco
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May 2nd, 2013 Posted 1:50 am
ROME – It was hailed as a giant step forward for racial integration in a country that has long been ill at ease with its growing immigrant classes. But Cecile Kyenge’s appointment as Italy’s first black Cabinet minister has instead exposed the nation’s ugly racism problem, a blight that flares regularly on the soccer pitch with racist taunts and in the diatribes of xenophobic politicians — but has now raised its head at the centre of political life.
One politician from a party that not long ago ruled in a coalition derided what he called Italy’s new “bonga bonga government.” On Wednesday, amid increasing revulsion over the reaction, the government authorized an investigation into neo-fascist websites whose members called Kyenge “Congolese monkey” and other epithets.
Kyenge, 48, was born in Congo and moved to Italy three decades ago to study medicine. An eye surgeon, she lives in Modena with her Italian husband and two children. She was active in local centre-left politics before winning a seat in the lower Chamber of Deputies in February elections.
Premier Enrico Letta tapped Kyenge to be minister of integration in his hybrid centre-left and centre-right government that won its second vote of confidence Tuesday. In his introductory speech to Parliament, Letta touted Kyenge’s appointment as a “new concept about the confines of barriers giving way to hope, of unsurpassable limits giving way to a bridge between diverse communities.”
His praise and that of others has been almost drowned out by the racist slurs directed at Kyenge by politicians of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, an on-again, off-again ally of long-serving ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, and members of neo-fascist Internet groups.
In addition to his “bonga bonga” slur, Mario Borghezio, a European parliamentarian for the League, warned in an interview with Radio 24 that Kyenge would try to “impose tribal traditions” from her native Congo on Italy.
Kyenge on Tuesday responded to the insults, thanking those who had come to her defence and taking a veiled jab at the vulgarity of her critics. “I believe even criticism can inform if it’s done with respect,” she tweeted.
There was no racism 40 years ago because there were no non-white Italians
Unlike France, Germany or Britain, where second and third generations of immigrants have settled albeit uneasily, Italy is a relative newcomer to the phenomenon. France has several high-ranking government ministers with immigrant roots, and few French had a problem with the appointments: Former President Nicolas Sarkozy named a justice minister and urban policy minister, both born in France to North African parents, to his cabinet, while his minister for human rights was born in Senegal. Francois Hollande’s government spokeswoman was born in Morocco and raised in France, and his interior minister was born in Spain. He also has two black ministers from French overseas territories – one from Guyana and one from Guadeloupe.
Italy is another story. Once a country of emigration to North and South America at the turn of the last century, Italy saw the first waves of migrants from Eastern Europe and Africa coming to its shores only in the 1980s. In the last decade or two, their numbers have increased exponentially, and with them anti-immigrant sentiment: Surveys show Italians blame immigrants for crime and overtaxing the already burdened public health system. Foreigners made up about 2% of Italy’s population in 1990; currently the figure stands at 7.5%, according to official statistics bureau Istat.
Some of the most blatant manifestations of racism occur in the realm of Italy’s favorite sport, soccer – which for Italians and others has shown itself to be a perfect venue for displays of pent-up emotions. In the case of a handful of Italian teams, soccer is a way for right-wing fan clubs to vent.
Mario Balotelli, the AC Milan striker born in Palermo to Ghanaian immigrants and raised by an Italian adoptive family, knows all about it. Perhaps Italy’s best player today, he has long been the subject of racist taunts on and off the field: Rival fans once hung a banner during a match saying “Black Italians don’t exist” while the vice-president of his own club once called him the household’s “little black boy.”
Balotelli called Kyenge’s nomination “another great step forward for an Italian society that is more civil, responsible and understanding of the need for better, definitive integration.”
The racism situation is almost schizophrenic in Italy. In the same week Kyenge was made a government minister and Balotelli was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, AC Milan’s cross-town rival, Juventus, was fined 30,000 euro for fans’ racist taunts during a game against Milan in which Balotelli wasn’t even playing.
It is indecent that in a civil society there can be a series of insults – on websites but not only there – that are being hurled against the neo-minister Cecile Kyenge
“There was no racism 40 years ago because there were no non-white Italians,” said James Walston, a political science professor at American University of Rome. “You need the other in order to hate the other.”
“It will take a long time – probably there will never be a completely racism-free society – but it will take a long time for Italy to reach the sort of acceptance, multi-cultural acceptance that the rest of Europe has and North America has,” he said in an interview.
Kyenge got off to a rocky start with the Northern League when, on the day she was named minister, she said one of her top priorities would be to make it easier for children of immigrants born in Italy to obtain Italian citizenship. Currently, such children can only apply once they turn 18.
The issue has vexed Italy for years and previous center-left governments have failed to change the law even though most Italians – 72% according to a 2012 Istat-aided study – favor it. It’s not just a matter of a passport but has real impact on the ability of an immigrant family to integrate into Italian society: Children of non-EU immigrants born in Italy, for example, can’t take advantage of the EU citizen discounts at the Colosseum and other cultural treasures, having to pay full admission prices to get in to learn the heritage of the nation where they were born. If they were Italian citizens, they’d get in free until they were 18.
But raising an issue that so riles the Northern League – during an already tense political transition – was enough to set off Roberto Maroni, the interior minister in Berlusconi’s last center-right government and a top League official. Maroni immediately demanded that his successor as interior minister make clear his position on the law.
Other members of Maroni’s party were more blunt: Italian newspapers quoted the head of the League in Italy’s northern Lombardy region Matteo Salvini as saying that Kyenge was a “symbol of a hypocritical and do-gooding left that wants to cancel out the crime of illegal immigration and thinks only about immigrants’ rights and not their duties.”
La Repubblica newspaper on Tuesday, meanwhile, cited the vile insults directed at her on fascist Internet groups such as WWW.ILDUCE.NET. Repubblica said the antagonism was born from the League’s basic opposition to a minister who tends to favor immigrant rights. “But the racist origins had to explode. And here they are. True, they’re consigned to the stupid transience of the Web, but they’re a sign of the widespread climate of hatred” in the country, the paper wrote.
Coming to Kyenge’s defense was Laura Boldrini, the president of parliament’s lower chamber, who for years was the chief spokeswoman in Italy for the U.N. refugee agency. In that role she frequently defended the rights of immigrants – and squared off with Northern League leaders after they pushed through a controversial 2009 policy to send back would-be Libyan migrants without screening them first for asylum.
Like many people, watching her take her oath of office I felt that Italy was taking an important step forward, and not just for ‘new Italians’
“It is indecent that in a civil society there can be a series of insults — on websites but not only there — that are being hurled against the neo-minister Cecile Kyenge,” Boldrini said. “Like many people, watching her take her oath of office I felt that Italy was taking an important step forward, and not just for ‘new Italians.’”
Also defending Kyenge was the other foreign-born minister in Letta’s government, Josefa Idem, a German-born Italian who won five Olympic kayaking medals before retiring after the London Games. Idem is Italy’s new equal opportunities minister – one of seven women in Letta’s government – and in that role authorized an investigation by Italy’s national anti-discrimination office into the racist online slurs directed against Kyenge.
Italian news reports quoted Idem as saying she was doing so in her capacity as minister “but also as a woman.”
Sociologist Michele Sorice at Rome’s Luiss University said Italians have long harbored racist attitudes, stemming from the nation’s colonial past in north Africa, but that they stayed hidden until the Northern League “legitimized” xenophobic political rhetoric after entering the government in the 1990s. The League denies it’s xenophobic and says it is merely protecting the interests of Italians.
Italy has since become more sensitized to the issue, Sorice said, but it still lags behind its European and North American partners. Changing the law on citizenship, as Kyenge wants, “wouldn’t do anything more than to bring Italy into line with the great European traditions,” he said.
But he was doubtful that this particular government, made up of longtime political rivals, could pull it off when even previous center-left governments had failed to do so.
“It remains to be seen how this can be done on a practical level with a coalition government,” he said.
Article source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/01/italys-racism-problem-exposed-with-first-black-cabinet-minister/
