Sounds like an exotic request, but all this and more can be found in your average spice shop in any Moroccan market.

Spice shops are becoming as common as carpet shops, all geared towards separating the tourist from their money. A walk around any of the tourist souqs of Marrakech or Fes will result in numerous invitations to view an array of weird and wonderful things. Many a tourist has stopped to take a closer look inside a spice shop, enticed by an invitation to try and buy some ‘genuine Moroccan aphrodisiacs’. Once inside you will be amazed at what actually passes as an aphrodisiac these days.

After half an hour of sniffing, feeling and squeezing, whilst allowing a chameleon to sit on your shoulder or run up your arm, your head will be spinning. You will probably walk away with a handful of small packets of common herbs and spices, cleverly sold to you as aphrodisiacs. The same things also exist on the supermarket shelf at home.

If you venture into the local market-place, where few tourists tend to go, you will find shops selling an amazing array of medicinal herbs and spices, as well as unique Moroccan spice mixes used in cooking. If you are lucky you will also find a shopkeeper who is willing to explain how it all works, such as I did in Meknes.

Meknes is a relatively quiet and hassle-free town, by Moroccan standards. Indeed, it is a welcome change after the hustlers, scammers and guides who seem to outnumber the tourists in Marrakech and Fes.

I followed the scent to the Place el-Hedim, or central square of Meknes. Food halls run along one side of the square, and this is where I found the shop of Younes Ben Moussa.

I was initially drawn to the shop by the colorful bags and baskets of spices lining the front counter. These contained common spices such as cumin, coriander and paprika as well as baskets of henna, cinnamon quills and anise stars. Their scent wafted around me, at once lulling and exciting my senses.

The walls were lined with hundreds of jars, containing ingredients of every colour and texture - powders, barks, leaves, resins and seeds. There were pots of fat and jars of oils. Hanging from the shelves were colorful talismans, used to ward off the evil eye. Hanging from the rafters were whole porcupine skins with quills intact, as well as snake skins and a few miscellaneous animal pelts.

Younes demonstrated the use of kohl, and ancient method for men and women to outline their eyes. A common ingredient in eye liner pencils, in Morocco kohl comes in powder form and is stored in a little jar. A stick made from olive wood, somewhat like an oversized toothpick, is moistened (usually by sucking it), dipped in the kohl powder and then held on the lower eyelid. A quick blink and you have perfectly outlined eyes, ready to glance enticingly at the opposite sex.

Another jar was brought down from the shelves. This contained little balls of what looked like dried mud. In fact, it was dried mud. Not just any old mud though, thiswas Rhassoul Mud. Found only in the Atlas mountains, Rhassoul Mud is used to clean the hair. Ground rose petals are added to give a desirable perfume. Apparently it is easy to use - just crush some mud to get a fine powder, wet it and rub it in your hair. Upon rinsing, your hair will be clean and sweet-smelling. Enough to entice the opposite sex for sure!

I was then presented with some blocks of solid perfume. These small nuggets were made from a heady mix of oils and powders, and shaped into blocks. Each scent had a specific purpose. ‘La Gazelle’ (musk) is for women and Amber for men, whilst children use Jasmine. A small amount of perfume is broken off and rubbed on your pulse points. The scent lasts for hours, and Younes insists that his perfumes are a guaranteed way to entice the opposite sex.

By now I could see a definite pattern emerging. I asked if there was anything in the shop not designed to encourage amorous advances from passers by. Thus came about my first encounter with a chameleon. He was put onto my hand and commenced to walk up my arm, all the time gripping my skin with his little claw feet. He reached my elbow and just stood there, his big eyes darting around , before marching back down my arm. Chameleons are believed by many Moroccans to have magical or protective powers. They also have a more practical purpose - to inhabit houses and eat insects. Apparently chameleons have no aphrodisiac properties, but they are a clever ‘tourist magnet’ just the same.

A customer arrived at the shop and placed an order, gesturing and talking animatedly as Younes listened and nodded gravely. Younes then began a mad dash around the shop, gathering a variety of powders, barks and leaves. These were weighed and wrapped in paper. I thought it must have witnessed a consultation - maybe a sick child or a sore throat. In fact the man wanted a special spice mix used for cooking sea snails, a popular snack in some parts of Morocco. Younes was known around town for his snail mix. About the only thing I had planned to buy during my trip to Morocco was saffron. Not really knowing much about saffron, I was wary of buying it from just anyone. Younes would sell me saffron, but not before explaining what it can be used for and how tourists rarely ever buy the real thing.

Saffron adds a golden yellow colour to cooking, and also a delicate but unique flavour. The taste is somewhere between musty and woody. It is very subtle, and often you notice the flavour of saffron not when it is added to a dish, but when it is missing.

Saffron comes in two forms - powder and stamen. True saffron powder is the more expensive version of the spice, but it is also the easiest to imitate. Tourists buy packets of yellow-coloured powder, paying saffron prices for something that is far from real saffron.

In fact it is the stamen of the crocus flower (crocus sativus linnaeus to be precise) which is more readily identified as saffron. They are expensive, but understandably so when you learn that they are hand-picked, and each flower yields only a few stamen. Though they can vary in size, if you can picture a long eyelash, you have an idea of how big a stamen is.

A popular claim is that saffron is one of those commodities which is worth it’s weight in gold. I had been quoted 40 Dihram (A$6.00) for 1 gram of saffron in tourist markets elsewhere in Morocco. Younes sold me saffron for the ‘real’ price, which was about 10 Dihram (A$1.70) for 1 gram. At 10,000 Dihram (A$1,700) per kilo, this makes saffron one of the most expensive spices in the world. The saying goes that if saffron is cheap, then it is not saffron.

I settled for 10 grams of saffron and also purchased some spice mixes so I could attempt to recreate tajines and soups in my kitchen at home. Armed with my unique insight into the use of Moroccan spices, I felt confident that I could either prepare a memorable meal, or at the very least encourage amorous advances from my dinner guests.