§01 The experience
This is not a demonstration kitchen. You cook in a family house inside Fes el-Bali, with the woman whose kitchen it is, and you eat what you made at her table or on her roof.
We start at the market — not the one on the postcards, the one your host actually uses. The herb seller she has bought from for fifteen years. The butcher who keeps the good lamb behind the counter. The man who presses olive oil. The stall where preserved lemons sit in their own brine. You learn what things cost, what a good tomato looks like in February, and why smen, aged butter, is worth the smell.
Then you carry the bags home and cook. Depending on the season and what you would like: a tagine built in layers so nothing burns and everything steams; khobz kneaded and sent to the neighbourhood wood-fired oven the way the whole street still does it; the seven small plates of a Moroccan salad course; and mint tea poured from a height, which is harder than it looks.
Eating is the point. You sit down to a full meal, usually on the roof with the medina below, and it takes as long as it takes. You go home with the recipes written out and a reasonable chance of making them again.
§02 Highlights
- 01Market shopping with your host — spices, herbs, olives, preserved lemon
- 02A family kitchen in the medina, not a cooking school
- 03Build a tagine properly, layer by layer
- 04Knead khobz and send it to the neighbourhood wood-fired oven
- 05Seven-salad mezze and mint tea poured the Fassi way
- 06Lunch or dinner on the roof, with the recipes to take home
§03 Day by day
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0:00
Meet and walk to the market
Your host collects you from your riad, then a short walk to the souk she shops in every day.
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0:45
Shopping, tasting, bargaining
Spices, herbs, vegetables, olives, meat or fish. You will be handed things to taste all the way round.
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1:30
Into the kitchen
Prep together: the salad course, the bread, the tagine base — everything explained as you go.
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3:00
Bread to the oven, tagine on the heat
The khobz goes down the lane to the wood-fired oven while the tagine cooks slowly.
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3:45
Eat on the roof
The full meal, mint tea, and as long as you want at the table.
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5:00
Finish
Recipes written out, and a walk back to your riad.
§04 What the price covers
- Included
- +Private cooking session with a Fassi home cook
- +Market tour and all ingredients
- +Full meal — salads, bread, tagine, dessert and mint tea
- +Recipes to take home
- +Riad pickup and drop-off inside the medina
- +Vegetarian, vegan, halal and allergy-aware menus on request
- Not included
- −Alcohol
- −Anything extra you buy at the market
- −Gratuities
§05 Questions
Is it private?
Yes. Just your group and your host. We never add strangers to a family kitchen.
Can you cook vegetarian or vegan?
Yes, and we do it often. Tell us when you book and the whole menu is built around it, not just the tagine.
What about allergies?
Tell us in advance and your host shops differently. Nut, gluten and shellfish allergies are all manageable.
Is it suitable for children?
Very. Kneading bread and carrying it to the oven is usually the highlight of their trip. Under-sixes are free.
Morning or evening?
Both work. Morning means the best market; evening means you eat as the call to prayer crosses the medina.
Do I pay now?
No. Reserve now and pay your host on the day. Nothing is charged online.
