Cooking courses at La Sultana Just as Moroccan crafts are considered art and Moroccan cuisine is present today on tables around the world.
Cuisine is often indicative of a nation’s culture, and from this standpoint, Morocco is also a kingdom. What could be more enjoyable that discovering its secrets to impress your friends at your return from Marrakech?
La Sultana, a 5* hotel, contributes by offering cooking classes, where it shares its culinary secrets. You can learn the ancestral knowhow of Moroccan cuisine, such as how to measure a pinch of cumin with precision for the tagine of chicken with marinated lemons.
On the vast terrace in the style of the hanging gardens of Babylon, in the midst of palms and flow of bougainvillea, in an intimate place, a laboratory is specially equipped to practice and tweak your recipes. The charm of this rural setting, with olive groves and huge pots of aromatic plants, inspires creativity and encourages you to focus on the house chef’s instructions.
The length of the class is two and a half hours. The first half hour is devoted to spice, its role and virtue in the local cuisine, how to measure and create harmonious blends. The magic and uniqueness of Moroccan cuisine is revealed: just the suggestion of flavours that slowly invade the palate.
Then comes two hours of initiation with the Chef. Colourful vegetables are laid out on gleaming stainless steel counters. The lesson continues! Recommendations, examples, corrections... Each vegetable becomes a brush stroke on the artist’s palette once the dish is done.
Finally comes the reward with the joy of tasting your creation, followed by the essential tea ritual! And during this time, the melody of the tea arises like a fountain, and with the exquisite freshness of a minty breeze, dreaming begins...
- Class duration: 1H45 followed by tasting dishes
- Cost: 650 MAD per person (£44)
- Private lesson: 4,500 MAD (minimum 8 persons) (£305)
Lots of positives!
Dear Max,
Freelance travel writer, Stephen Bayley, travelled to Fes with Lawrence of Morocco in April 2013, writing for the Independent.
We really know Morocco and have had the pleasure of making many people's dream trips become reality over the years. It has been our privilege to be asked to manage holidays, weddings and productions for so many fantastic and discerning clients. We remain small and dedicated to providing excellent honest advice to enable you to sit back, relax and enjoy the fun bits without having to manage the unpredictability of this fascinating country.
If you want it done right, look no further!
