Morocco for foodies
Morocco is a food lover’s dream. While here, you must do your fair share of “bite-seeing.” Allow yourself to get lost in the medina and let your taste buds guide your journey. The food here is a fusion of cultures, spices and textures, where sweet, spicy and savoury flavours are all balanced harmoniously.
In Morocco it isn’t just about the food, but the experience that goes with it. Moroccans love communal eating, which is a great way to enjoy good food and good company with locals and fellow travellers. The entertainment is huge element of meals in Morocco. Musicians performing traditional music and belly dancers add to the exotic, lantern lit ambiance of your dinner.
Morocco isn’t just about unbelievable food and dining experiences, but tea. It’s an artform here. Served in ornate silver tea pots, spearmint leaves are steeped with a generous helping of sugar. This “Moroccan whisky” is served in small gold rimmed crystal glasses and perfectly complements Moroccan dishes.
From tasting fresh goats cheese in Chefchaouen to baking bread with a Berber family in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco is a completely exciting, immersive culinary destination.
Marrakech
For many, Marrakech is the first place in Morocco that comes to mind for foodies, and for good reason, from the carnival-like souk to incredible restaurants, Marrakech is a gastronomical paradise. The Jemma al-Fna is the largest market in the country and has fantastical goods that one could only dream of. Though you’ll have to have a hearty stomach to feast of the street food here, there are tons of delicious options worth a taste. Enormous piles of nuts, dried fruits, doughy breads, aromatic tagines, meat skewers slow cooked over an open flame and even braised camel hump. For a more refined meal, a must stop in Marrakech is La Maison Arabe. Guests here have included Winston Churchill, Jackie Kennedy and Ernest Hemmingway, so you know you’ll be served a meal that will satisfy even the most dignified palates. The menu features a blend of traditional Moroccan fare and modern cuisine like chicken with preserved lemons and olives, succulent kefta meatballs and savory-sweet meat pies. At La Maison Arabe you can even take a cooking class to learn skills and recipes to share with your friends and family once you return home. In Marrakech foods can range from the exotic, like sheep’s head to the accessible like hunks of cheese and bread, but one thing is for sure, no matter what you’re eating, it will always be delicious.
Located in the centre of Marrakech, La Mamounia is within walking distance of the famous Djemma el-Fna square and is close to the iconic Koutoubia Mosque. Despite its proximity to the medina, guests will feel a million miles from the busy streets of the Old City thanks to the hotel's tranquil gardens. There are four restaurants at La Mamounia, each of which serves dishes using fresh ingredients from the hotel's organic vegetable garden. Le Français is the most formal, offering gourmet French cuisine, while L'Italien is more atmospheric and its menu comes courtesy of two-Michelin-starred chef Don Alfonso. Le Marocain serves fantastic local delicacies with a contemporary twist and finally Le Pavilion de la Piscine offers pool-side lunches and delectable evening cocktails.
La Maison Arabe has a well established restaurant that opened in 1940 and its experienced chefs host cooking workshops. Have a go at making your own lemon chicken tagine and learn about traditional cooking methods using authentic Moroccan spices. Cooking classes at La Maison Arabe are conducted by a dada, a traditional Moroccan cook, in small groups of 8-10 people, and with a translator. Guests will learn to make traditional dishes such as pastries, tagines and couscous salads, all using locally sourced spices and meats. As well as the classic Moroccan recipes, your chef will teach you about Moroccan culture and its relevance to the country’s unique cuisine. During the workshop, you will visit a spice shop and communal bakery, and learn traditional cooking methods. Within the gardens, under the shade of the fig and olive trees, you can then enjoy the food that you have created.
The Villa des Orangers is a gorgeous boutique hotel located within a few minute's walk of the Djemma el-Fna. A long standing favorite, Villa des Orangers provides guests with an authentic Moroccan environment and luxury world class service. The riad's gastronomic kitchen serves delicious French, Mediterranean and local cuisine which can be eaten wherever you like, highlights being breakfast on the roof terrace, lunch around the pool and dinner under the stars.There is a variety of lounge areas and verdant patios, while the main sitting rooms have fireplaces as Marrakech can be chilly in the evenings. These are complemented by a large sun terrace which overlooks the High Atlas Mountains and the Koutoubia Mosque. Here there is a pool and an open bar where complimentary non-alcoholic drinks, refreshing mint tea and Moroccan pastries are served.
Get to know Morocco's fascinating culture first-hand through its delicious street food! With local foodies as your guide, head off the beaten track to sample delicacies that most visitors don't get to try. Explore the medina and kasbah of Marrakech with your local guide, discovering the city's thriving street food scene. Head away from the main thoroughfares to try some authentic delicacies and learn about the ancient communal cooking facilities that still exist to this day. After your mouth-watering tour, return to a restaurant close to the Djemma el-Fna square and learn how to create these delicious treats yourself!
Atlas Mountains
After eating your way through the cities, head out to the Atlas Mountains for a full sensory experience. The original inhabitants of Morocco are the Berbers (whose name means free people) they inhabit unique villages dotted across the Atlas Mountains. These welcoming people will invite you into their homes to learn how to bake bread and brew the perfect pot of mint tea. Or head to Kasbah Tamadot to learn the art of Moroccan cuisine with a cooking lesson. Hotel chefs will teach you how to prepare a three-course meal of the hotel’s most popular dishes, including a classic tagine and a tasty dessert. A culinary expedition to the Atlas Mountains is a way to disconnect for modernity and submerge yourself in a traditional way of Moroccan life.
Enjoy the chef's freshly prepared Moroccan and international dishes in one of the bars or in the stunning main restaurant, Kanoun or even on the Kasbah's roof terrace. For romantics, private dining is possible at any of the secluded locations in the Kasbah and its gardens. Ingredients are sourced locally and menus change according to the season. The atmosphere is relaxed and the service levels are as you would expect from one of Sir Richard Branson’s Limited Edition properties.
Discover the art of Moroccan cuisine with a private berber cooking class in the verdant Amezmize Valley. Before your lesson begins, you’ll have the chance to explore the pretty gardens, where locally-trained chefs will highlight the different spices, fruits, and vegetables that are available in the area and have become synonymous with Moroccan cooking. Using traditional Tagine pots, you’ll then learn the simple techniques used in traditional recipes to make a mouth-watering two-course meal. After all your hard work, relax and enjoy your tasty dishes for yourself!
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