For travelers eager to act on the promise of heaping piles of vegetables and colorful spices found in Moroccan markets, the Marrkesh boutique hotel El Fenn newly offers a hands-on opportunity to shop and cook with the chef in its restaurant kitchen.
The hotel’s English-speaking chef, Hafid Aid Chiba, begins by guiding interested guests on a buying trip to the Mellah market in Marrakesh’s historic Jewish quarter to source spices, protein and produce. Back in the kitchen, he offers guests the choice of making tagine stews; harira, a mutton and chickpea soup; pastilla, a savory pie traditionally made with pigeon; briouats, lamb-stuffed pastries; and the more familiar vegetable couscous. Guests then dine on the lunch they have prepared.
The four-hour class costs 55 euros per person, about $70, including lunch; double rooms start at 185 euros, ab out $240.
By ELAINE GLUSAC
