Moroccan influencer and chef, Fatine El Bouni, has received massive support from the Moroccan community in Paris following a boycott campaign that targeted her event.

Paris Salon Expo: Moroccans Support Influencer after Algerian Boycott Campaign

Rabat – Moroccan influencer and chef, Fatine El Bouni, has received massive support from the Moroccan community in Paris following a boycott campaign that targeted her event.

Fatine El Bouni, known to her Instagram followers as Fatine in Paris, was targeted by a boycott campaign from a group of Algerians who claim that her recipes are copying that of an Algerian chef.

El Bouni organized on March 2-3 the Salon Expo event to showcase the rich diversity of Moroccan cuisine. Following the announcement of the event, a group of Algerians started online a hashtag #stopappropriationsherazade that called for boycotting the event and accused El Bouni of stealing traditional recipes from Algerian chef Sherazade and presenting them as Moroccan.

The boycott only resulted in an increase in the influx of visitors to the expo as dozens of Moroccans flocked to the event to show their support for the Moroccan influencer.

In addition, Moroccan netizens took to social media to decry the false accusations of cultural appropriation, sharing videos of the Algerian chef Sherazade explaining how she came across those recipes while visiting Morocco.

“Sherazade, before she lost her memory, used to come to Morocco and learn to steal (recipes), now details of Moroccan cuisine are being traced back to Algeria,” one netizen wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The commenter attached to their post a video of the Algerian chef sharing her journey through Morocco and learning local recipes from her visits to cities like Casablanca and Marrakech.

In response to the outpouring of support from the Moroccan community, El Bouni posted a video expressing her gratitude.

“Thank you to the Moroccans in Paris…,” she said in the video while expressing her pride in Moroccans. “Saying thank you is too little for you, the queue (for the event) is at least one Kilometer.” The event garnered widespread acclaim from fans who thanked the influencer for promoting Morocco’s intangible heritage.

“Hats off to Fatine for orchestrating a fantastic event showcasing the beauty of Moroccan culture in the heart of Paris Her unwavering patriotism is truly inspiring,” one netizen wrote on X. “Let’s continue embracing and sharing our cultural richness.”