Both Mark and I love to cook and consider ourselves to be reasonably competent in the kitchen, but there is so much still to learn. Whenever we are in a new city, we try to attend a cooking class. The first place we look for such classes is Cookly, a brilliant website which showcases lots of different cooking courses, classes and schools all in one place. This is how we found the superb cooking class we took in Marrakech. What follows is a review of a memorable morning in this fascinating city.
In this article
Essentials
- Title of Class – Choose your own Moroccan menu with a traditional market (souk) tour
- Run by – Clock Kitchen
- Location – The Kasbah in Marrakech
- Chefs – Abdelmoula, assisted by translator, Mounia
- No. of People – Maximum 6
- Duration – approximately 4-5 hours
- Programme – Meet and greet, 1/2 hour shopping trip to the local souk, 3-hour cooking class, 4-course lunch.
- Cost – $64/€60 per person.
What Happened Before the Day
Having booked our cooking class in Marrakech through Cookly, I immediately received a confirmation e-mail and a receipt, along with information on what would happen next. In due course, I was contacted by the staff at Clock Kitchen who were running the class. They gave me the joining instructions and all seemed well. Unfortunately, a couple of days later, they got in touch again to say that the class was overbooked and that we wouldn’t be able to attend. Luckily, I was able to re-book for a later date but, had I only been in Marrakech for a day or two, I’d have been very disappointed.
What Happened on the Day
Meeting and Greeting
We were thirty minutes early for our class, but it was raining quite heavily (the only time we saw rain in our month in Morocco) so we went straight into Cafe Clock. We were greeted by restaurant staff who directed us to a comfortable covered seating area on the roof and served us coffee and bottled water. Mounia, our translator for the day, came to introduce herself and brought us menus to peruse while we were waiting. Before long, we were joined by our fellow students, Anka and Thomas, a brother and sister from Germany.
When our class was due to begin, we were shown into the teaching kitchen and introduced to our chef, Abdelmoula. Both he and Mounia were very friendly and put us at our ease. The first task was to choose what we wanted to cook from a pretty extensive menu. We all had to agree, which wasn’t a problem for us, but I can imagine it could be amongst groups of strangers!
The dishes we chose were:
Taktouka – a warm salad of peppers and tomatoes
Harira – a traditional hearty Moroccan soup
Tangia – lamb with preserved lemons traditionally cooked in a clay pot in the hamman, but which we were going to cook in a pressure cooker
Vegetable Tagine
Caramelised Prunes and Apricots
Blighat b t’mer – date and pastry rolls
Shopping
Having selected our dishes, we had to go shopping for the ingredients we needed. Mounia was very concerned that it was raining and offered to go by herself while we waited in the dry kitchen. No way! We explained to her that we were used to rain in Europe and that we wanted to go shopping.
As it turned out, we really didn’t get wet at all. The cookery school is situated in the heart of the Kasbah, so all the shops we needed were very close by. We bought vegetables, dried fruits, spices, local bread, and lamb. The lamb was quality stamped and cost 75 dirhams/kg, which we thought was inexpensive, but which would be unaffordable for most local people. It was really interesting to see how the local ladies shop – just buying one or two items from each of their preferred vendors.
For a complete guide to the souks of Marrakech, including the prices you should expect to pay, click here.
Cooking
Back in the kitchen, we started our prep. There was an awful lot of chopping to do and Abdelmoula was very particular about how he wanted it done. Having said this, the atmosphere was very relaxed and the morning passed by very quickly as we chopped and chatted. We learned a lot about the local way of life and culture, as well as about the food.
Eating
At about 2.30pm, we sat down to eat what we had prepared. We had a table on the roof terrace. It looked beautiful! There was so much food!! Everything was delicious, but we really couldn’t finish it all. We ended up with a doggy bag full of pastries to take home with us. We shared these later with our fellow passengers on our Intrepid trip.
What did we Think of the Day?
The cooking class at Clock Kitchen in Marrakech was thoroughly enjoyable and informative. We came away with a booklet of all the recipes (including the dishes we didn’t get chance to cook on the day) and loads of ideas for things to cook at home. I would definitely recommend it to anyone spending time in the city.
BOOK A COURSE NOW!!
READ MY COMPLETE MOROCCO TRAVEL GUIDE
Check out my Morocco colouring books!
Unlike most colouring books on the market, mine, suitable for both adults and older children, are full of line images created from photos I have taken on my travels. This means that they are highly detailed. They are not line drawings where you can colour between every line. The pictures invite you to be creative. Apply a colour wash with watercolour. Use coloured pencils to create texture. Blend colours together. Add detail with a fine ink pen. The choice is yours! Create your own work of art! When you’re happy, remove it from the book. Stick it on the fridge as a reminder of a place you’ve already been to or somewhere that’s on your bucket list. You could even get it framed. Display it on the wall for people to admire.
Here is a selection of my Morocco titles:
LIKE WHAT YOU’VE READ, PIN IT!!
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What a super post, and super idea about taking cooking classes abroad and truly venturing into the unknown. This is a most mouth-watering post.
Thanks, Doreen – and thank you for taking the time to comment. It’s one of our favourite things to do when we are in a new city. Not only do you learn about the food of the area, but you also get to know about the culture and, often, you make new friends as well 😀