Planning a Food Centric Trip to Morocco

The excitement our first trip to Morocco is building. As we research and get recommendations, I’ll update this post with cooking school and dining finds we’ll be checking out.

Oh so many cooking schools in Marrakesh!

In addition to the official schools it seems many riads (historic buildings-turned-inn) are game to teach anyone motivated to learn Moroccan culinary arts.

Lonely Planet names Faim d’Epices as the best (and their combo cooking school and spa afternoon is…well, can life get better?) Other half-day pastry classes as some other mentioned schools have me drooling.

Rough Guides ditto the Faim d’Epices recommendation and also recommend La Maison Arabe (as do many Trip Advisor reviews AND Travel and Leisure.) Another school offers craft working classes in addition to cooking. At this rate we may never leave Marrakesh.

Elsewhere in Morocco

South of Marrakesh, in the Ourika Valley, Amy Sherman took cooking classes through Access Trips. 

Cafe Clock clocks in (yes, I had to) as the recommended experience in Fes. Lessons through Fes Cooking also get a rave from a local blogger.

In Essaouira l’Atelier Madada tops the cooking school recommendations. Will there be others? Weshall see.

There’s no shortage of recommendations for the best Morocco food and drink, and we will surely be perusing…

• TripAdvisor
• Epicurious
• The Hip Guide to Fez
• Telegraph UK’s off the beaten track picks
• Conde Nast Traveller’s food guide to Marrakech
• Peggy Markel’s Culinary Adventures presents a luscious sample itinerary
• Rick Steves’ Sahara desert account will guide us into a tent for a starlit meal.

And Amy Sherman’s discovery of lemon wood spatulas sounds like a must buy. (I wonder how often lemon trees are cut for wood, or do the branches get so big in Morocco they can cut them for wood? Can’t wait to find out.)

(How moderne that today we can save web pages offline on the iPad, in Safari’s Reader, in addition to our guidebooks.)

The excitement builds at the thought of a nation full of cooking teachers! Know of other cooking classes, anywhere in Morocco?