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To step into the 9,500 narrow alleys – or derbs – of Fez’s labyrinthine Médina is to walk into the Middle Ages. Handcarts are the latest technology, donkeys and men are beasts of burden. In a terrain beyond mapping and GPS, getting lost is inevitable.
Fez is Morocco’s second city, after the frenetic moped-whining capital of Marrakech, but Fez is undoubtedly the country’s gastronomic leader. Take a walking Foodie tour of the Medina, stopping to taste olives, sweets and fresh juices, visitors see Fez in action. Amongst the cube-sized shops, shelves stacked to the ceilings with coriander and saffron, they see how tradition seasons Morocco’s love of food. In this sun-baked arid terrain, Khilli’i, the art of preserving food – predating refrigeration – is still a prized skill.
Open, all day, as it has been for over half a dusty century is Atay Bnaana’s blue-tiled tea-room, maximum capacity a squeezed eight. At 10 dirham per cup, around £1, Atay’s cuppa is the Grand Cru, maybe even the Bollinger of mint tea. Using a gleaming copper samovar, Atay brews up spoonfuls of sugar with a touch of Chinese tea. Then he adds leaves of absinthe, geranium, verbena, sage and plenty of mint. Whether tea-drinkers are seeking winter warmth or summer refreshment, walnut-skinned Atay, is a flamboyant figure. Sporting an extravagant cerise head-dress, he joins in with the Médina gossip, sometimes initiates it.
So often wandering through markets and souks, without a reason to buy, is a frustrating experience when travelling. A Fez foodie tour can end with cooking a meal, at the Fez School of Cooking. Guided by their chef the novice chefs create a lunch in a roof kitchen surrounded by bougainvillea, geraniums, olive trees and roses and views of the mountains.
The Fez School of Cooking sits on top of the Palais Amani. It’s a luxurious 18-room family owned hotel, with a hammam, of carved plaster arches and cooling cedar shutters. After a 1928 earthquake, the riad had been restored with the then fashionable Art Deco flourishes.
“Compliments to the chef”, says one diner as he enjoys a chicken tajine and smoked aubergine salad, that he had created in the Eden Restaurant. Even in the midday sun, shade from lemon, orange and pomegranate trees, along with a trickling fountain help the Eden Restaurant, live up to the paradisal promise of its name.
Fez Cooking School at Palais Amani
For guests staying at the Palais Amani, the transfer from Fez airport can be arranged.
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