The day started young. The cafe is extremely cute, owned by a super energetic and happy Brit, mike. There is wifi and a fabulous roof terrace with amazing views; it's the perfect place to relax. They even have movie nights and live music during the week. It is the kind of cafe i would go to at home, but being so unique here, it draws all the tourists.
I was given an entire menu to chose the 3 courses that I wanted to make and then we headed out into the medina to purchase the ingredients for my meals, and the guys gave me a great tour! I got to taste some goat cheese and lebne which is just milk whey that they drink. I learned that meat is stamped with 3 different color stamps: green is the best quality; blue is good; and red is the lowest quality ( but still good). We actually went to choose our chickens for the bastilla--- as in choose chickens and then have them killed and defeathered right there. I saw the way that filo dough is made and sampled sweets, an everything in between. It was excellent! The ingredients were so fresh and taste completely different than ours. In fact, the onions were so fresh, I cried for about 10 minutes. I had to wash my face to get the sting out. I never have this problem!
The class was fun and in the end I learned to make very classic Moroccan dishes that I know I will recreate: harira soup, chicken bastilla, and moroccan cookies. I learned that the spices used in all moroccan cooking are salt, pepper, tumeric, ginger, sometimes paprika, cinnamon and cumin. There is also a spice mix called ras al hanout that is used in tajines. I bought some in the market of course. When we finished preparing the cookie mix, we took it to the community oven to bake them. For centuries, this oven has been the place where the locals deliver their dough for baking. And the bakers know exactly whose bread is whose and how long everything needs to be baked for. It's a great concept.
When i finished cooking, i sat up on the terrace and ate my delicious meal there was even a package of leftovers made for me. :-) The boy who translated between me and the chef is a student of English literature, so interesting. He was so cute and nice.
Although the class was a bit pricey (600 dh $75), I thought I got a lot of value from it and would highly recommend this to everyone.
I came back the next day excited to try their camel burger, yes, camel, and it was delicious!! One of the best burgers I've ever had, honestly.
Anyone who visits fes should come here.
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