Cultural

“WHAT will we be cooking today?” I asked.

“Any Moroccan dish you’d like,” my host, Mohamed, grinned.

My eyes lit up, growing larger than my stomach. I was in his family home and we had just returned from the souks of Fes to buy fresh ingredients for our feast.

I had watched Mohamed expertly barter down the price of meats, olives and grains. The sights and smells of the markets were as lively as you’d expect.

Street cats gathered under the butcher’s stall, gazing up longingly for a spare scrap of meat.

Flatbreads were slid into wood-fired ovens with the warm waft of freshly-made dough.

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Behind the vegetable stand, a Premier League match played on a fuzzy old TV, the grocer keeping one eye on the game and one on the giant tomatoes he was weighing.

Back in their kitchen, Mohamed and his wife Jessica worked all six hobs in a perfectly-coordinated dance, darting between pots and pans to stir and toss in spices.

The couple host home cooking classes via the experiences site GetYourGuide, and you’d struggle to find a more authentic Moroccan experience for £34.

I chopped vegetables for a tagine, occasionally ditching the dicing to dance along to traditional music in an impromptu kitchen disco.

By the time dinner was served, we’d gone from strangers to friends.

This was just one of three local expert-led experiences I undertook in Fes, known as the cultural capital of Morocco. The city, which was previously the country’s actual capital, is a history-lover’s dream.

It’s home to the largest and oldest medina in the world, which is a maze to explore, with 9,000 narrow streets jam-packed with people.

So I was thankful to have an expert to show me around on a walking tour for my second excursion.

Local guide Fatah made sure to stop by all of the city’s key landmarks. We began at the Royal Palace gates, where seven grand, golden doors stood framed by intricate green and blue mosaics.

Next was the Mellah, or Jewish Quarter. Here, wooden balconies jut out over sun-dappled streets, housing the best handmade jewellery and metalcraft in town.

When it comes to exploring the ancient medina, the entrance alone is enough to take your breath away.

The grand Bab Boujloud gate welcomes you with its striking cobalt blue archway, a colour reflecting the famous pottery produced in Fes.

The medina is a wonderful whirlwind for the senses.

Inside its fortified walls, you’ll find donkeys transporting goods, as well as souks stocked with silks and spices.

And that freshly-baked bread scent follows you around the city, with 350 communal ovens marking each neighbourhood.

Fatah guided us to Mnebhi Palace, where an ordinary-looking brown door opens up to a lavish interior. Vivid geometric patterns jump out from the walls and a marble fountain at its centre is filled to the brim with rose petals.

I thought I recognised the bright pink patterned sofa sitting in the corner — it turns out Madonna had posted it on her Instagram a few months prior.

Next was the University of al-Qarawiyyin, the oldest higher education institution in the world. This beautiful building used to be a mosque and was founded in the 9th century.

We rounded up the walking tour with a visit to the Chouara Tannery, where leather goods have been hand-crafted for more than 1,000 years.

I was confused to be handed a sprig of fresh mint at the entrance, but the reason why soon became apparent — plenty of pigeon droppings are used in the leather tanning process!

Clutching the leaves to my nose, we head up to a viewing platform.

Here, you can look out over pools of vivid red, blue and purple dye, watching workers dip and soften the leather hides.

This view marked the end of the walking tour and I couldn’t believe the amount of value packed into an expert-led experience, which you can book from just £10.

My last activity was a hands-on pottery and mosaics workshop, starting with a tour of the studio to see the masters at work.

These artists are true professionals, constructing massive designs entirely from memory — no tracing or templates required. Then came my turn to hit the pottery wheel.

I had oodles of fun smoothing the clay into weird and wacky shapes, though I instantly knew that my work wouldn’t be sitting on their shelves any time soon.

But the endless supply of Moroccan mint tea and syrupy treats really sweetened the deal.

And at £35 with a handmade souvenir to take home, who can complain . . . 

When you think of your earliest memory of reality television, what comes to mind? Is it “The Real World,” “Survivor” or “The Bachelor”? Perhaps it’s other fare like “Project Runway” or one of the “Real Housewives” franchises.

Growing up in the ‘90s and early aughts, my first exposure to reality programming was MTV’s slate of shows like “Real World” and “Road Rules” — thanks to being the youngest of four siblings, I was exposed to shows that were, in hindsight, too risque for me at too young an age. But they left an indelible mark. I saw Irene McGee of “Real World: Seattle” get slapped by her roommate Stephen Williams, a moment that at the time sent shock waves. Genesis Moss, of the Boston cast, was one of my earliest exposures to a gay person on TV. And Melissa Howard of the New Orleans season showed me how you can be 5-foot-2 and unapologetically feisty — as someone with a similar build and demeanor, I took that to heart.

Over the years, I’ve sometimes dismissed reality TV because it felt a little too personal or a little too competitive. I often wonder about the psychological effect on participants as their lives are laid bare for all to see. However, I can’t deny their appeal and why fans have continued to gravitate toward these shows season after season. They make for excellent watercooler talk; in recent weeks, my co-workers and I have spoken endlessly about “The Bachelorette” and Taylor Frankie Paul, and who did or didn’t stay married from Season 10 of “Love Is Blind.”

Few of us knew in the early days what effect reality television would have on the culture or how it would create a new type of star. Reality TV personalities have become influencers, pop culture icons and even political figures. One is the president.

And many shows have not only endured, they’ve spawned universes, international adaptations and spinoffs. Bravo, a TV channel that used to focus on the performing arts, is now an unscripted powerhouse that even has its own convention, BravoCon, where its various universes come together in service of fans.

What does that say about us as viewers? There’s always been a fascination with peering into the lives of others, seeing how they react to everyday problems under the glare of a camera. Perhaps it is a way to deflect from the reality of our own lives, which under the guise of normalcy is straining with the weight of political upheaval and economic turmoil, not to mention personal strife. Seeing someone else onscreen deal with their reality is sometimes the best escape.

So like it or not, reality television is here to stay.