PRESS RELEASE

The culinary centre in Morocco is now open

Marrakesh, 9 June 2022.

The Melting Pot Foundation, Oxfam IBIS and the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme inaugurates a new culinary centre in Marrakesh today. During the next year, a total of 100 young Moroccans will undergo an intensive gastronomy training course with the aim of improving their employment opportunities in a country affected by inequality and high rates of youth unemployment.

”It has been a long run-up, so I am extremely excited to see the culinary centre open and for the first trainees to put on an apron as they step into a new future,” says Morten Gøbel Poulsen, responsible for Oxfam IBIS’ work in Morocco.

This initiative goes far beyond education; it is about catalysing a revitalisation of the Moroccan cuisine with the aim of also creating better employment opportunities for young people in a more innovative and attractive restaurant scene.

”We stand on the shoulders of an extremely rich Moroccan culinary tradition, and this may be one of the reasons why hardly any renewal has happened for hundreds of years. The young trainees will be introduced to historical Moroccan dishes by the most gifted mentors, but we will also introduce them to the values, aromas and flavours of the Nordic Kitchen. Together with the trainees and local collaborators, we will explore what gastronomic innovation could look like in a Moroccan context,” says Claus Meyer, founder of the Melting Pot Foundation.

Democratic forces and green jobs
This innovative collaboration is part of the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme which works towards strengthening democratic forces in the Middle East and North Africa and contribute to a peaceful and stable region. By upgrading young peoples’ gastronomic competences, the culinary centre specifically aims at strengthening young peoples’ access to meaningful jobs, motivate them and create opportunities for a positive change in their own lives and in society. In addition, this progamme has a particular focus on creating green jobs in the sense that the training will enable the young people to work with gastronomy in a manner that is environmentally sustainable and inspires them continue to integrate aspects of sustainability going forward.

Nordic flavours and values meet Moroccan traditions at Um Mami
The new culinary centre is called ’Um Mami’ meaning ’daughter grandmother’ in Arabic. The name refers to the transfer of knowledge and craft from one generation to another while also resonating with the essence of deliciousness, namely ‘umami’. The interior of the Um Mami culinary centre is decorated with a mix of clean Nordic lines and classic Moroccan style containing a cookbook library, lounge, an outdoor barbecue, and seating area as well as a few tastefully decorated rooms for guest teachers and other visitors. In these surroundings, the trainees will learn to cook food that is visionary, exciting, tastes wonderfully and which is based on the Moroccan culinary tradition, Moroccan produce and the universal values that unfold when people from different walks of life gather around a meal. The notes about local seasonal produce, climate, biodiversity and the social responsibility of the chef are characteristic from the New Nordic Kitchen. Chef and Training Director, Marie Sophie Grønlund, will be heading up the conversations with guest teachers and the trainees about how the Moroccan cuisine can once again be regarded as one of the most attractive and relevant cuisines of the world.

An 8-weeks training course
During the first year, a total of 100 young people will attend five 8-weeks training courses. The first group of trainees began at Um Mami on 30 May and will graduate by the end of July. The training programme has been developed by experienced chefs and gastronomy advisors from Meyers Madhus and from Melting Pot projects in Bolivia and Brooklyn, New York.

The programme covers basic culinary skills including planning, hygiene, and food safety followed by health and sustainability. Focus will then turn to New Nordic Cuisine, world cuisine and then eventually to Moroccan culinary history, produce, classic dishes and the potential for innovation. Towards the end of each course, the trainees will be challenged to plan and execute an event putting their recently acquired skills into practice in the real world.

As part of the programme, Um Mami will gather leading Moroccan and international chefs and organise events to focus on the potential for revitalizing the Moroccan cuisine.

Um Mami officially opens on Thursday 9 June at an inauguration event at Um Mami where Claus Meyer, Jesper Kammersgaard, Danish ambassador to Morocco and a number of renowned Moroccan chefs will attend.

About DAPP
The Danish-Arab Partnership Programme is Denmark’s collaboration program with the Middle East and North Africa. The program helps to strengthen good governance and ensure economic opportunities, especially for young people and women in the region, through partnerships. Countries of focus are Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan. See more at dapp.dk

About Oxfam IBIS
Oxfam IBIS is the Danish member of the Oxfam confederation. Oxfam IBIS is working for a just world in which all people have equal access to education, influence and resources. Together with our partners, Oxfam IBIS combats global inequality and poverty. See more at oxfamibis.dk