A Moroccan Table

About This Tour

A Moroccan Table is eight nights with the food at the centre. Three nights in Fès — the spice merchants on Talâa Kbira, a private cooking lesson with a riad chef who taught the Moroccan canon to her daughters before tourism. Two nights in Marrakech, the tagine the way it should be made, the bread baked in the neighbourhood furnace. Two nights at a family house in Ouirgane — olive country southwest of Marrakech — with vegetables from the garden, bread on the saj, and mountain tea over a long afternoon. One night in Essaouira to close at the working port, the fish auction at six in the morning, a chermoula made from the day's catch.

• Day 1

  Arrive Fès

  Met at Fès-Saïs airport (FEZ). Transfer to a riad in the medina. Welcome dinner — the trip is briefed over a long meal with the lead guide and the riad chef.

• Day 2

  Fès — the spice merchants

  Walking tour of the Talâa Kbira with the chef. Stop at the spice merchants, the dyers' souk, and the herbalists. Hands-on session in the afternoon — knife work, mise en place, the seven-vegetable couscous.

• Day 3

  Fès — the cooking class

  Full-day cooking lesson at a riad with a chef who taught the Moroccan canon to her daughters before tourism. Pastilla, tagine, briouates, a long lunch eating what the group has made.

• Day 4

  Fès to Marrakech (train)

  ONCF first-class train from Fès to Marrakech (about 7 hours direct). Late afternoon arrival; settle in at a Marrakech riad. Light dinner.

• Day 5

  Marrakech — the bread oven

  Morning at the neighbourhood furnace where the medina's bread is baked. Each guest takes home a loaf they have shaped themselves. Afternoon walk with the chef through the Mellah spice market.

• Day 6

  Marrakech to Ouirgane

  Drive south-west to Ouirgane in the Atlas foothills (about 1 hour 30 minutes), olive country below the High Atlas. Settle in at a family-run guesthouse. Afternoon picking vegetables from the garden for dinner. Bread on the saj over the fire.

• Day 7

  Ouirgane — slow cooking

  A whole day with the host family. Morning visit to a working olive press in season. Slow-cooked tagine in the afternoon — meat in the morning, eaten at sunset. Mountain tea over a long afternoon.

• Day 8

  Ouirgane to Essaouira — the fish auction

  Drive west to Essaouira (about 3 hours 30 minutes). Settle in at a medina riad. Dinner at a small restaurant overlooking the port.

• Day 9

  Until you leave Essaouira

  A final morning on the ramparts or breakfast on the riad terrace before the transfer to Marrakech Menara airport (RAK, about 2 hours 30 minutes) for the international flight.