Evening Standard
by Victoria Stewart
Victoria Stewart talks to John Gregory-Smith about his recently published book and his culinary adventures in Fez
John Gregory-Smith – Fez
Food writer John Gregory-Smith, who travels around the world gathering inspiration and ideas for his cookbooks, first went to Fez with his father 12 years ago, having read about the Medina and wanting to see it.
After feasting on “colossal merguez sandwiches which we just kept eating and eating, and amazing and wonderful lamb tagines,” he returned a few years later whilst researching for his first book on spices.
More recently he went back during the writing of his latest, Orange Blossom & Honey, for which he was taught by a a number of local families. His book is a veritable feast, and includes dishes like pulled lamb mechoui and chermoula spiced chicken. Here he shares his food tips from Fez.
Where in Fez do you return to eat every time?
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My favourite place to eat is a few minutes walk from the Blue Gate or Dab Boujeloud on the main street, Derb el Magana, where all the street food is. There’s one stall in between two butchers shops, and it does the best mixed meat kofta sandwich. The combination of lamb and beef mince, onions and really spicy chilli tomato sauce in fluffy bread is amazing. Every time I go, I’ll want to eat that again as it’s so good. It’s open until about 11am until about 10pm.
Where would you go for tea and to watch the world go by?
One of the famous entrance gates to the Medina is The Blue Gate, and there’s a little square outside with two cafes on it, one is called Nagham Cafe (Marokko49, Place Iscesco Kasbat Boujloud, Derby Mernissi, Fez). Sit outside that with your tall glass of tea – or they do really nice coffee too – (I always try and get mine without sugar as they just load up on it all the time) and watch all horses and carts coming into the Medina. It’s very cool.
Where can you get good snacks?
In Fez the street food is the snacking food, which is unusual because in a lot of Moroccan cities, as in a lot of places outside of Europe and America, you eat your food at home. I like to go to an area East of the city called Nejjarine, where there is a market – there’s no particular street name, but any guide can take you there – and you can get little brochettes kebabs with delicious liver or heart or lamb on a stick to eat on the go. They aren’t sold in huge chunks, they’re all quite little and delicate, and they char them over hot coal. Or you could get a bowl of soup and off you go. They’ll eat those early morning, if they’ve been working all night, or early evening before going home. There is also a Sunday market called Souk-el-had (Ouled Dahhou, Agadir 80010, Fez) located about 20 minutes from the Medina, where local farmers come to sell produce including Chefchaouen cheese, olives from Meknes, and oranges from Berkan.
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(John Gregory-Smith)
Where can you find something sweet?
Each district has its own communal baker (such as the Heshan family bakery in the Medina) who will cook bread to sell in the market, but if you live there you would take yours to them, they will score it with the family’s mark, bake it and give it back to you. Then, as the oven cools down during the afternoon, they bake amazing pastries and cookies and sweets and things like millefeuille. So you might be walking down a street and see a tiny glass display of biscuits, and then if you go in there’ll be like a massive old bakery inside. I love the half cookie half macaron biscuits with almonds, which are really soft and delicious.
Would you recommend trying at Moroccan breakfast?
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(John Gregory-Smith)
Definitely, they’re amazing and there will often be amazing eggs done any way – scrambled or with tomatoes and spices. I love the Kalis dish which has cured dry beef fried in butter with eggs fried over the top. There will also be lots of breads of all sorts, and fruits and olives. Most of the riads will do a really good one, especially at Riad Fes (5 Derb Ben Slimane Zerbtana, Fez), which is one of the oldest and most beautiful hotels in the city and where my dad and I stayed all those years ago. The Clock Cafe (7 Derb El Magana, Fez 30000) is touristy but does a great breakfast, which you eat on the roof overlooking the city. It’s tucked down an alleyway off the main drag.
What iconic dish would you recommend trying in Fez?
There’s a Royal lamb tagine called m’Hamer, which I have a recipe for in my book. The one from Dar Hatim restaurant (N°19 Derb Ezaouia Fandak, Lihoudi, Fez, 30000;) in the North East of the city in the Jewish Quarter is incredible. It’s one of those dishes which you eat and it just makes you tingle. It’s basically good lamb that’s cooked very simply and for ages in really good stock with loads of paprika – the name means ‘red lamb’ – and a bit of saffron. It comes out soft with these wonderful smoked almonds at the end. It’s incredible – very simple, but with so much flavour.
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(John Gregory-Smith)
Which foodstuffs would you bring home?
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Each district has a market selling lovely fresh fruit and veg, dried pulses, couscous which everyone’s obsessed with, baked things, and meat from the butcher. A particularly lovely one to wander around is in B District called The Blue Gate Market. Nearby there are little shops specialising in fantastic Argan oil – great for using in salad dressings or finishing off a tagine – and spice shops to get the ras-al-hanout spice blend, the seven-spice mix baharat, and Moroccan cumin which is really known for its pungency and amazing flavour. I also love buying orange blossom, and nougat, and there are tiny shops for both all over the place.
Finally, do you have one last recommendation?
Buy some honey! Honey features in the Quran, and they believe it can cure sickness. If you go to the honey market, find the old shop called Pmarmacie Volante where they sell all types with flavours including rosemary, lavender, fig, orange blossom, coriander, thyme and eucalyptus.
Orange Blossom & Honey: Magical Moroccan Recipes from the Souks to the Sahara by John Gregory-Smith is out now (Kyle Books, £19.99); John will also be doing a week-long residency cooking Moroccean Feasting Menus from 15-19 November (£39.50 for dinner; 96 Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 0EF)
Follow Victoria Stewart on Twitter @vicstewart
