Moroccan Cooking Class and Fez Market Visit and Meal

Moroccan cooking class in a riad with a local family. Ghita was my instructor, joined by her mother and aunt, and together we prepared their Fes-style chicken tagine. What stood out to me was their generous use of eight red onions, along with plenty of garlic and lots of oil, which cook down into an incredibly rich, creamy sauce. Ghita added her own twist by grilling the chicken topped with butter after removing it from the pressure cooker, giving it a beautiful finish. The dish was served with traditional Moroccan flatbread and topped with red olives and preserved lemon. We also made a fresh Moroccan salad of cucumbers and tomatoes with cilantro stems, olive oil, and vinegar. In addition, we prepared two cooked salads—both grilled—featuring roasted green peppers and tomatoes, with one version including eggplant. For dessert, we enjoyed fresh plums and sliced bananas.

Ghita was an amazing host and helped answer all of our questions. The cooking class was held in a very cute and intimate riad style building. The dish was very easy to make and didn’t take a lot of time. Most importantly the food was delicious. I struggled with food everywhere else in Morocco but this was absolutely worth it.

Thank you Ghita for such an amazing experience. Learned the specific Moroccan cooking techniques, and how to achieve better tastes than what we have had at restaurants. Definitely trying these new skills back home.

Awesome adventure, highly recommend you experience true Moroccan food in a traditional style in the Medina of Fez. Nassim and staff at the Riad Fes Ziyat were great. I look forward to cooking a meal with what I learned and reminisce about our new found friends.

A very nice meal. Found a riad restaurant we would not have found and had one of our better meals in a lovely place. Stumbled through our fractured French for some laughs.

the experience was super nice but we didn’t make the deal ... the chef was very nice

Three of us had a wonderful time learning to cook Moroccan dishes in a tiny, well-run kitchen at the very beautiful Riad Fes Ziyat and Spa. Three others joined us in eating what we had prepared, and the event included an entertaining trip to the market for meat and vegetables. Our chef Nassim was wonderful -- entertaining and informative -- and he even supplied recipe details at our request. A thoroughly enjoyable experience and highly recommended!

We went to the souk to buy ingredients, which was especially interesting as they explain why they choose certain ingredients over others (there are many types of olives, spices, etc.). They were also very punctual in picking us up. Then I cooked several dishes with Chef Nassim, who involved me in every step of the process (very patiently on his part) and was always happy to explain. We prepared chicken tagine, Moroccan meatballs, eggplant, peppers, a carrot salad, and sweet apples with cinnamon. I’m actually a very bad cook, and I loved it. He was extremely kind and welcoming. Rania accompanied us in case any translation was needed, and she was delightful. It’s an experience worth keeping as a special memory, not only for the cooking but also for the time spent with them. Totally recommended.

Great experience. We enjoyed the class about how to cook vegetable couscous from Nassia , who was a chef there. He was super nice and helpful.

The staffs are friendly and welcoming! I made cuscus and learned spices and techniques which makes it easy to recreate the dishes later. Highly recommend this experience.