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Moroccan Flavors - NEW
Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Marrakech and Essaouira
About the location: Many food experts say that Morocco has the best cuisine in Africa, perhaps even in the top five of the world. From the narrow streets in the ancient medinas to the Berber villages down south, Morocco is a mysterious and alluring destination and should definitely be on your “must visit” list. While experiencing this diverse and yet culturally rich country, your senses will be stimulated; while learning, cooking, and tasting the flavorful tagines, salads and patisseries of Morocco.
About the lessons: This tour includes four cooking classes, each totally different in their styles; from cooking in a traditional dar (house), to cooking over the charcoal in the Berber village. Your classes will be taught by a number of different chefs, each with vast experience in Moroccan cuisine. Each of our teachers speaks fluent English and French, and their establishments are licensed by the government. After spending the days exploring Morocco, you will return to your accommodations (hotels or riads) for the evening.
Riads are beautifully restored houses, usually with a garden inside, that offer the perfect blend of luxury, comfort, and tradition. Where riads are not available, we have chosen high quality four and five star hotels. Seeing the country through the eyes of a Moroccan will open the doors into some of the secrets of the culture. Your driver/guide will accompany you for the entire tour and will escort you throughout the country and make your holiday memorable.
- Upon arrival in Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco, you will be met by your driver/guide.
- Enjoy a driving visit of Morocco’s largest city including a visit to the Hassan II, one of the world’s biggest mosques (optional).
- Depart for Rabat, the capital city and residence of the King and visit La Tour Hassan, Mausoleum and the King’s Palace.
- Dinner will be served in a local restaurant; your first taste of Moroccan cuisine.
- Following dinner, check into your accommodations and overnight.
- After breakfast, depart for Meknes, where you will have your first cooking lesson.
- Wandering down the small alleys into the medina of Meknes, you will be welcomed into a traditional house (dar) where you will learn to prepare some of Morocco’s finest foods.
- In the late afternoon, explore the 2000 year old Roman ruins of Volubilis.
- Following Volubilis, finish your day in Fes. Dinner will be served in your riad and overnight.
- After breakfast, begin your guided tour of the medina, one of the world’s largest walled cities. Explore the narrow streets lined with fresh fruit, mounds of spices, intricately woven Berber carpets and many other art objects of Morocco. A visit to the King’s Palace, the tanneries, and potters are just a few places you may experience.
- Enjoy today’s lunch in a traditional restaurant in the heart of the medina.
- After lunch, complete the tour and return to your hotel for the evening.
- Dinner will be served in a local restaurant.
- Overnight.
- After a traditional breakfast in the riad, you will have a full day cooking experience in Fes.
- Visit the local vegetable market to purchase the necessary ingredients for the day’s meal.
- Return to the riad to learn the art of Fes cooking. Lunch to follow based on your efforts.
- Dinner will be served in one of the local restaurants of the medina.
- Overnight.
- After an early breakfast, depart for Marrakech. The beautiful drive will take you up into the Middle Atlas Mountains and along the base of the High Atlas Mountains.
- Once in Marrakech, you will check into your hotel and depart for the famous Djemaa el-Fna, one of the center attractions of Marrakech. Coming alive at night with the local storytellers, entertainers and mouth-watering barbeque pits, the square is enticing, well worth a visit. A quiet cup of tea on the terrace of an adjacent café provides a spectacular aerial view of the bustling square.
- Return to the riad for dinner and overnight.
- After breakfast, a guided tour of Marrakech, the southern pearl of Morocco. Discover the Palace of the Bahia, the Saadian Tombs and many other hidden treasures.
- After lunch, continue to the magnificent Koutoubia Mosque and the town square.
- The tour will conclude with an exploration of the souk (market).
- Dinner will be served in the famous square at a local restaurant.
- Overnight at the riad.
- After a traditional breakfast in the riad, depart for a small Berber village where you will learn to cook as the Berbers do.
- Whether you are learning to bake bread in a clay oven, cooking tangine over a charcoal fire, or brewing mint tea, this experience is nothing like you have ever done before. Back to the basics of cooking!
- Return to the riad for dinner and overnight.
- Breakfast.
- Today visit Morocco’s most popular and picturesque fishing town, Essaouira, located on the southwest coast of Morocco. Many of the country’s wood carvers and artists make Essaouira their home.
- In the afternoon, a lesson preparing Moroccan pastries and cookies. (All proceeds from this cooking lesson, go to helping a local association working with “at risk women.”)
- Tonight’s dinner will be served in the riad.
- Overnight.
- Your last day of travel will take you back to Casablanca following breakfast.
- Depart Essaouira for Casablanca with a stop at El Oualidia.
- Drive along the coastline to El Jadida to visit the citadel and see the underground cistern.
- Continue on to Casablanca, where you will spend your last night in the country. Dinner will be served in the hotel.
- You will be transferred to the airport for departure.
