Moroccan Food Tour

In November 2015, I was fortunate to travel to Morocco on a culinary adventure. This was my first visit to Morocco and I must say I loved it! The country was so interesting from a cultural and culinary perspective, and every city boasts its own ancient landmarks and traditional dishes.

I will share my experiences and photos of Morocco over two posts, this being the first will focus on Rabat and Fez. I hope you enjoy reading about my travels.

We land in Casablanca, Morocco, and drive an hour to the capital city of Rabat. Here we enjoy a couple of days to relax, explore, and generally take it easy until the jet lag eased. If you can, hit the ground running, and immerse yourself in the local area. I came across Carol Prior and her bespoke tour company By Prior Arrangement via Instagram and was so impressed with her company that I asked her to plan a day tour of Rabat for me. Carol organised a fantastic day of sightseeing with an experienced local guide and driver. In an unfamiliar country, I highly recommend hiring a local guide as they can help you find your bearings and show you the best the city has to offer.

Our first stop was the ancient ruins of Chellah, first settled by the Phoenicians, then occupied by the Romans, and is located on the edge of the river bank. Here Roman ruins sit beside Islamic ruins in a peaceful setting of fruit trees. Below is a photo of the beautiful minaret in the Islamic section and you can see the stork’s nest sitting on top. These birds have made the Chellah their home and their gurgling sounds add to the atmosphere of this amazing site.

We then headed to the Kashah les Oudaias which occupies the oldest part of the city and sits high on the clifftop providing ultimate protection for the city in times gone by. Today this is predominately a residential area and is reminiscent of Greece with its white and blue buildings. We weaved our way through the cobblestone alleyways, admiring the beautiful doors and knockers that adorn the homes in this area.

One of my favourite finds was the communal bakery, which bakes traditional Moroccan bread for the people who live in this section of the city. The baker explained that he can bake up to 4000 loaves each day, some prepared by him and some prepared in the homes of the locals and delivered to the communal wood-fired oven for baking. The smell, as you can imagine, was heavenly.

After a couple of days’ rest, we joined the food tour and made our way to Fez. This is a very popular tourist destination with many wonderful sights to take in. On our first morning, we were treated to an amazing Moroccan breakfast which included many, many dishes both sweet and savoury. This was a special spread put together by the hotel’s head chef and our tour coordinator Geoff Jansz. We feasted on Harira soup, spiced sausages, eggs cooked in a tagine with the local cured beef known as Khili, Moroccan bread, house-made yoghurt, cheese and sweets. It was a wonderful sight and a privilege to be able to sample so many different foods from one table.

After a fortifying breakfast, we headed into the ancient medina of Fez, a maze of narrow alleyways and shops. The city is a contradiction in times – donkeys with carts are used to transport goods within the medina but you’ll see their handlers talking on mobile phones. The rooftops are littered with satellite dishes that sit alongside the age-old minarets that call the faithful to prayer five times per day. It truly is a feast for the senses – it’s overwhelming, exciting, and breathtaking all at once. In the market you will find fresh produce, meat, spices, shoes, leather goods, carpets, fabric, clothes, books … it’s all there but you may need a guide to help you find it.

As we were on a culinary tour our days included cooking classes too. Our first cooking class was held in the kitchen of a traditional hotel, known as a riad, where we prepared a classic lamb tagine (using a pressure cooker! – it’s quicker), along with a selection of salads. Lamb, chicken, eggplant, tomato, onion, cumin, coriander, saffron, ginger, and fresh herbs feature strongly in Moroccan cooking. It was fun to roll up the sleeves and help with the chopping and cooking in a kitchen on the other side of the world! Although language was a small barrier, the universal language of cooking, along with a few laughs meant we were able to prepare a shared lunch together. This was a wonderful morning that will stay in my memory for a long time.

The universal language of cooking is shared to create a wonderful lunch!

The afternoon was spent visiting the ‘new’ parts of Fez including the royal palace and the Jewish quarter, and walking through the streets which come alive in the afternoon and early evening with people shopping and eating.

If you’d like to continue to follow my Moroccan adventures I encourage you to read the second instalment which includes the beautiful ‘pink’ city of Marrakesh.

So, if this story has inspired you to travel to Morocco I would love to share the journey with you. As I mentioned earlier I was so taken with Morocco that I have put together my own culinary tour, with the help of Carol from By Prior Arrangement. This tour will take in the amazing cities of Rabat, Fez, Marrakesh, and Essaouira, along with a side trip into the desert. There will be cooking classes, visits to restaurants and markets, and of course visits to many of the incredible cultural sights that Morocco is famous for. Our group will be intimate with a maximum of 12 guests, which allows us to stay in traditional accommodations, many of which we will have for our exclusive use, and makes for a more spontaneous and flexible itinerary.

When travel resumes we plan to visit Morocco again. If you’d like to hear about upcoming tours please send me an email.

Happy travels x