Set: Our guests arrived through swirling fog of the Casablanca airport. We set up some "runway" lights and added fog machines and war surplus gas cans, netting and other WWII looking items.
Costumes: Anyone can join in the fun of dressing the part of Rick or Ilsa by donning on a trench coat, white tuxedo coat or white suit or dress. Add a 40's hat for flair and you will most certainly be greeted with "Here's looking at you kid"!
Catering: Visit your favorite food website and you will find recipes for lamb, couscous, hummus and other wonderful Moroccan dishes. Don't skimp on the unique spices that make these dishes so tasty. Score: We had three sets of music and effect CDs going in various areas of the party. For the Casablanca airport arrival area, we had a SFX cd of WWII planes taxi-ing and taking off. In the lobby we found some Arabic song and dance music to set the Moroccan mood and once in "Rick's Cafe", we played French cafe music such as "Edith Piaf" and other collections.
Action: Just have Rick work the room in his white tux, Elsa helps lead the audience in French anthems and patriotic tunes and the ambience kicks in....Remember, it doesn't have to be difficult or expensive! Just Lights, Camera and Party!
Club Sommelier Craig offered these comments: "Vineyards cover now a fifth of the area they did when Morocco reached its independence. SODEA, a state-owned company, dominates Moroccan wine industry but it has to rise above years of mistreatment. There is hope for the future in the form of foreign investors, but wine still has a long way to go in Morocco .
Moroccan wines are predominantly red and dominated by Carignan grapes, with some Cinsaut and Grenache. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah varieties have been introduced, being responsible for some of the country’s best wines. The best regions are the high altitude vineyards Menkés-Fès and Berkane. The wines are pleasant when served chilled. Most of the wine is drinkable when it leaves the cellars of the winery but poor storge conditions inevitably spoil ALL wine in Morocco . Moroccans do drink wine – but the annual consumption is less than a quart. But the religiously sensitive official estimate is ZERO.
So as there are not really any wines that anyone of us will find or like from Morocco … I will be recommending wines that have the same grapes as Moroccan Wines but from a country who can grow grapes AND enjoys drinking… FRANCE .
The Cotes Du Rhone AOC is the generic appellation that covers the entire Rhone River region. The red wines are the most successful from this area. A minimum of 40% Grenache, plus Syrah and/or Mourvedre, with up to 30% in total of Carignan, Cinsault and some lesser grapes. These wines are well paired with Lamb" |