I had been looking forward to our cooking class since I had decided to join Nicole on this trip. After meeting up with Gemma (the woman who runs Souk Cuisine) and the other four students taking the class that day, we headed into the markets to shop for the necessary ingredients for the pre-chosen menu. Then we went to the house where the kitchen is set up and chopped veggies and herbs, stirred up mixtures of spices, rolled meatballs, folded little triangle-shaped pastries, and mixed and mixed and mixed until we had a delicious Moroccan meal. After our very filling lunch, we met up with Yasmine for more sightseeing, and topped off our day with a little taste of the glamorous life. It was a wonderful way to end our time in Marrakech, and Morocco in general.
View of the Koutoubia minaret as we waited for our class to meet.
On our way to the spice market, we encountered this snail vendor. These creatures are sold for the spicy snail soup sold in the Djemaa el Fna square in the evenings.
Coincidentally, the same spice market we’d shopped at with the twins was also Gemma’s favorite.
Next stop was the vegetable market. We had walked by this quite a few times over the previous two days, as it was on the path between our riad and the square.
Waiting patiently to purchase our produce.
Diced onions and spices going into the tagine to make the sauce.
Cooking the veggies (diced carrots, zucchini, green bellpepper, onion), finely chopped herbs (parsley, coriander) and spices for the briouates.
Katy fried eggplant slices for zaahlouk.
Nicole was on meatball duty.
Meatballs (beef, onion, parsley, coriander and spices) for the kefta tagine.
Tagine sauce ready for the tomatoes.
Claire sifted flour and confectioners sugar for the ghribas, a light crumbly cookie.
Orange flower water, butter, baking powder and toasted sesame seeds for the ghribas.
Katy’s pureed eggplant, ready for spices, herbs and tomatoes.
Kate cooled our veggies and we got ready to cut ourka pastry dough into strips for rolling.
Nicole and Claire made ghribas.
Ruth made Moroccan salad (tomatoes, onions, parsley, coriander and spices), as well as the Sweet Carrot salad (carrots, garlic, parsley, coriander, sugar, vinegar and spices).
Rolling briouates was a challenge. You cut the dough, which is similar to filo, into about 1.5″ strips, place a round teaspoon of the veggie mix on one end, and roll and fold it along the dough into a triangle. But not quite like you would fold samosas. Or flags.
We all tried to roll briouates, so we got a variety of shapes and sizes. In the end, it didn’t matter, since they were fried and delicious!
Meatballs in the tagine, followed by eggs. Soon after, it was time to eat!
Sweet Carrot Salad
Moroccan Salad and Zaahlouk
Briouates with vegetables (with spicy harissa for dipping)
Tagine with kefta and eggs
Ghribas
Our Souk Cuisine classmates and fellow chefs
After stuffing ourselves silly, we ran to meet Yasmine and head to the Medersa Ben Youssef before it closed.
The beautiful medersa was founded in the 14th century. This Koranic school once housed and taught 900 students.
A few of the dorm rooms upstairs show how students used to live. The rooms were very small, about the size of my Manhattan kitchen!
After the medersa, we ran across town to the Badi Palace, which was built in the 16th century. It was looted of its gold, jewels and other treasures 75 years later, and now all you can see is the ruins of the once extravagant palace. The only item of grandeur left is the Koutoubia minbar (prayer pulpit), with very intricately carved cedarwood details. Unfortunately we couldn’t take photos of that.
In the summer, the city holds concerts and events in the courtyard.
Along the ramparts, storks have built nests, where they enjoy spectacular views of Marrakech.
Storks have very large nests.
Nicole and I wanted to experience a little luxury, even though we weren’t really dressed for it. The newly remodeled La Mamounia hotel is as fancy as it gets, with well dressed staff throughout, beautiful interiors, high end shops in the main building, and a gorgeous garden in the back. Yasmine even ran into a friend from school who now works for the hotel.
Just days before we arrived, A-list celebs were at La Mamounia to help celebrate its reopening.
Fancy fruit juice for Yasmine, cocktails for Nicole and me. Now THIS is the way to end a vacation!
There are five lovely bars in La Mamounia, so we chose the Churchill Bar for its jazzy lounge feel. There was even a shiny red baby grand piano with bar stools set around it! What a fun way to celebrate our days in Marrakech and spend a last evening with Yasmine. Soon, it was time to say goodbye to our lovely friend.
Our last dinner at Riad Karmela started with an assortment of veggie salads (I loved everything except for the one on the upper right - some sort of sweet stewed tomatoes with sesame seeds) .
Tagine of chicken, potatoes, olives and preserved lemons
Dessert was a chocolate torte with whipped cream, baked apple and fresh orange slices.
And that’s the end of our adventure through Morocco! Though we didn’t know each other very well, and had never traveled together before, I’d say Nicole and I were pretty good travel partners. We were together 24/7 for the most part, and spent a lot of time sharing life stories. We both agreed that best part of our trip was experiencing the Eid al Kabir with the Cherkaoui family, and sharing the culture first-hand. I can’t say I would change, add or omit much of anything we saw or did on this trip. The long hours in the car were necessary to get to the places we wanted to see, and the tour company, Journey Beyond Travel, was extremely accommodating and helpful in all of our planning. I’d definitely recommend them if you’re planning your own trip to Morocco.
All in all, this was one of the most memorable travel experiences I’ve ever had, largely thanks to our driver and new friend, Hicham, and his amazingly generous and gracious family. I cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and willingness to share so much with complete strangers. I also loved the craziness of the cities, the calm of the desert and the coast, shopping in the souks, and making new friends in the cooking class. And now that I have a tagine of my own, I can’t wait to make Moroccan food for my friends and family at home!