Dar Yacout, Marrakech

For our last night in Marrakech, we take our wonderful Riad owners advice and have booked a table at Yacout. We were even lucky to get a reservation with only a few days notice .... This is where anyone-who-is-anyone must dine while in Marrakech, well so we hear. Having played host to a string of celebrities, royalty and presidents from all over the world. We head down to the Kasbah gate in search of some means of transport to take us well within the realm of the Medina. It just so happens that a horse cart pulls up beside us. We check that he knows where it is, which of course he does. We hop into the back seat, which is surprisingly comfortable. The sun is setting, and the lights over the city are so pretty.



It takes about 20 minutes, darting through busy evening traffic, but having plenty of time to take it all in.



We are taken through winding, pebbled walkways of the medina, barely wide enough for the cart. We all of a sudden stop, when it gets really narrow, and way to busy for us to continue. The driver calls over a couple of young boys, and mutters a few words. We work out that these kids are going to lead us the remainder of the way .... We dart in and out of lanes, being just dark enough to be a little unsettling as you can't really see to far ahead, but we turn one last corner and we are there. We give the kids a few dollars, and thank them for their trouble.

Dar Yacout is quite grand. We walk through some large doors before being greeted by a team of staff, and quickly ushered up to the roof for an aperitif. We look down over the pool, and outside dining area on one side, and then an expansive view of the old city contained within the medina, and the bustle of the new city in the distance.



This is one of very few places that serves alcohol in Morocco. This is also the first time in our 11 day trip that we have any, so decide on a simple aperitif of white wine. It comes served in a beautiful goblet, with a bowl of green sultanas and some lightly toasted almonds.



We are then taken down to our table, and offered local Spring water as well as a selection of wines. We choose a Moroccan Rose. It was light, crisp and a beautiful rose color with the crystal glasses glistening under the dim light.



The usual Moroccan salad component of the meal arrives promptly. Little plates of spiced olives, carrot & orange salad, roasted garlic eggplant, zalouk, artichokes & little crispy pastries. These are all devoured with the infinite supply of soft bread.



These beautifully adorned vessels then arrive and rest beside the table.



The first unveiling reveals the oh-to-familiar chicken, preserved lemon & olive tagine. Shockingly, it is a whole chicken! just for the two of us ... we know there is more food to come, so despite it being delicious have to refrain from eating too much.



There is then a tagine of lamb with fresh peas. A massive portion again, we don't even get half way through it ....



Cous-cous with 7 vegetables is a fine example of this preparation, and a very welcome accompaniment to the lamb tagine.



We see a sweet pastilla placed down on the table beside us while we are finishing our main. They are as shocked as we seem with the sheer size, barely managing to get through a 1/4 of it. We wonder what happens with all of the remaining food .... as grand as each of the dishes seem, receiving whole chickens, or giant pastilla, we could have easily had 2 very hungry guests with us and no extra food. As soon as we indicate defeat against the lamb & cous-cous, it is whisked away. Moments later our table is graced with one giant pastilla.



It is absolutely delicious, layers of crisp, flaky pastry with toasted almonds and sweet milk. We manage one slice each, before a pot of mint tea and a tower of fresh baked sweets and cookies completely wipe us out. Oh .. so .. full!

An absolutely amazing setting, the pre-dinner drinks in the upstairs bar with a view of the city a highlight. The food was nice, but next time we will be sure to enjoy it with a few more people ....

Hands on Cooking Class, fescooking.com

We shopped around a little to try and find the most authentic, one-on-one cooking class that we could in Fes. We wanted to go to the markets, shop for ingredients, and then return to a working Riad to cook up some tasty treats. A few e-mails were exchanged and we had booked in to meet Lahcen at the Bab Boujloud, or blue gate which is a monumental entrance to the old Fes Medina.



It was originally supposed to be just Kim & myself, but a lovely couple from Portland Oregon had apparently showed up the day before and not managed to meet up with Lahcen, so they joined in on our class. The 5 of us then wandered around the Medina and decided what to cook ... We spot some plastic containers which are filled with chickpeas, that have conveniently been soaked overnight already, and are ready to use. We buy some of these for our Harira, which is a Moroccan tomato & chickpea soup.



The Lahcen selects a range of fresh vegetables and herbs which will be used throughout our menu.



We spot a stall full of dates, and think it would be fantastic to do a dessert with these. Our dessert will be a coconut and date roll, so we select a big plump date full of flavor.



We pick up a few other things, including a fresh chicken, fresh artichokes, oranges and cous cous before we head back to the Riad to start cooking. There are 3 Fatima's already starting on the days prep for the guests staying in the Riad. We join them for some bread making ....



Before we know it we are at home in this quaint little kitchen, chopping, peeling, slicing & dicing our way through the preparation. We have all the ingredients ready for our first dish, the Harira soup.



We press all of the pulp from the tomatoes and then simmer the skins with herbs to make a stock, which will be the base for the Harira.



Kim gets on peeling some artichokes with Fatima for our next dish.



We then prepare some pretty little date balls. Some rolled in coconut, the other in toasted sesame seeds. These are then baked on a buttered tray before being left to cool ...



I found out this day why cous-cous tastes so damn good in Morocco! The cous-cous has handfuls of salt and a very generous amount of olive oil in which it is marinated in before being steamed .... mmm, salt



We then get set to make the most challenging dish of the day, pastilla.



A spiced chicken mixture is layered with a slightly sweet almond mix and wrapped up in big sheets of pastry that have been brushed with melted butter. Once the piece is complete, it goes into the oven to be baked.



Everything is on the stove, bubbling away. We are lucky enough to be sent upstairs to sit at the table while the Fatima's plate our lunch for us.



First up, Harira soup. So hearty with a great richness. The chickpeas have broken down and thickened up the soap, which is rich & intense and so full of flavor. Some freshly chopped herbs really liven it up.



When we try this next dish I think we are all glad that Kim had chosen artichokes at the markets. They have been simmered in orange juice with a little garlic and have the wonderful aroma of orange blossom.



Pastilla = deliciously ugly! The pastry so flaky is shatters when you penetrate it - the fillings exploding from both sides ... a little messy, but oh so deliclious!



The Fatima's were having cous-cous for lunch, so were kind enough to show us the ropes ... We also enjoyed cous-cous with 7 vegetables along with our lunch spread. A broth simmering below with herbs & tomato and then the 7 vegetables are added at different times to ensure even cooking. The cous-cous sits above in an open topped device, all those lovely vegetable flavors steaming through each grain.




Dessert arrives, our little date balls. The coconut & sesame seeds are golden and add a nice crunch to the sticky sweet date mixture. Some orange segments and a dusting of cinnamon almost complete the meal ...



Ah, a cup of Moroccan mint tea and we are happy as can be.



We thoroughly recommend spending a day with fescooking.com if you are in Fes at any time ... I think cooks and foodies of all levels will get something out of spending a day with Lahcen & the team back at their working Riad ... and just think of all that delicious food you get to enjoy!

Fes et Gestes, the Medina

Our first day in Fes and we venture in to explore the Medina. Our traveling companions Io & H have done the same. We make plans to meet at their Riad late afternoon before heading out for dinner. Kim and I freshen up after our long, hot & dusty day and make our way over to Riad Ghita where Io & H are staying. We are immediately seated in the lobby area and receive a pot of tea. This one has the sugar on the side which you can add to taste and extra fresh mint in the glass. A couple of cookies to the side as well.



We then speak with the owner of the Riad who says Io & H have just wandered out to find Fes et Gestes and suss it out. We figure after our tea that we too would head out in search ... They give us vague directions at the Riad, but within 2 turns we are completely lost. We know kind of it's where-abouts so flag down the Moroccan equivalent of a tuk-tuk; a tiny little truck with an open back space where you sit on the floor. We do our best to describe to the driver where we are headed. He seems to understand, so off we go.



We drive around some bendy roads, chug along up some steep hills and then all of a sudden seem to be heading back towards the fountain & the blue gate, which is where we are staying and not at all near where we are meant to be. We bang on the window to signal him to stop, and hop out while we still know where we are. We head off again on foot, stopping at several shops along the way for directions. We finally make it to where we think we should be and find nothing that is resembling a little quaint tea garden with restaurant. The sun is coming down, and the streets are getting dark ... the Fes Medina is scary at the best of time. Not a horror-movie scary but a overwhelming lack of orientation & unfamiliarity scary. We are about to head back and spot a tiny little sign with a very cursive script that looks like it must say Fes Et Gestes. Yay! We push through the gate and it is indeed a gorgeous little garden.



No sign of the others .... The owner is French, so we head off to ask her if she has seen Io & H. I figure if a tall blonde Canadian girl with a Japanese husband had at all swung by today she might recognize them. Nope, no sign of them. We figure we should wait anyway ... We have a fresh orange juice with a cookie and pick up someones WiFi (in the middle of the Fes Media none-the-less, tres cool!) and send them a quick note that we have made it, and will wait for them there.



We sink into the big armchairs in the library and read through some interesting literature. It must have been a good hour or so later they arrive ... and oh, the stories. They of course got lost, had to pay some young kids to get them back to the hotel, before setting out again on foot (?!) and eventually paying some other kids to take them here. They look exhausted, and hungry, so we head straight to the dining room. 2 large bottles of sparkling mineral water and the meal begins ... An array of Moroccan salads; cucumber with a honey dressing, carrots with orange blossom, shredded cabbage with a mustard dressing, smoked eggplant, roasted zucchini & tomato zalouk, red beets, lentils & more.



The salads are accompanied by a big bowl of bread, with the delicious crunch of the corn meal coating the whole thing. The 2 tagines on offer tonight are both made with turkey, which was quite interesting. The first one with zucchini & onion, the vegetables breaking down into an almost-sauce and keeping the bird so succulent & juicy. The second was turkey with almonds and prunes, the crunch of the nuts and the intense sweetness of the prunes are a great match! Both tagines look a little ugly, but taste great! A bowl of plain cous-cous accompanies the main.





We each get out own little silver tray with a tea pot, sugar jar, cookie & tea cup to finish.



It's been a long day full of adventures in the Fes Medina, but the memories will last a lifetime.



Fes et Gestes
Open every day of the week except Wednesday, from 12pm to 9:30pm
39 Arsat El Hamoumi
Ziat, 30200 FES MEDINA
T: 212 (0) 535 63 85 32

Snapshots from the Medina

The largest car free urban space in the world, over two hundred thousand people living in in a nine thousand street labyrinth. From the moment you step beyond one of the guardian gates of the Fez Medina you're senses are under constant assault it's an instant love or hate affair.

This a few foodies eye snapshots from within the walls.

A camel butchery. Easily identified by the head hanging on a butchers hook in the front of the shop. We never actually tried any camel while we were there ... Well none that we are aware of ;)



Fresh goats cheese wrapped in palm fonds. As good as any goats cheese we have tried anywhere.



Unbaked bread loaves being carried to a communal oven. With most houses not having a oven, families sent their daily bread to the community oven each morning to be baked.



Freshest meat you can get. You just pick out the bird of your choice, go do a little other shopping for ten minutes, when you return a cleaned carcass is wrapped waiting and still warm.....



Politest cat in the world sat like this patiently for the whole time. We watched, and every so often it was rewarded with a small morsel of off cut.



One of the sense assaults. Around every corner spice shops with barrels of raw spices some ground to order others already ground and ready to go.

Ras el hanout waiting to be ground.



An assortment of spices



All spices weighed on old brass scales, and wrapped into little paper packets. My luggage was hand checked every time going through customs for the rest of our trip, with dozens of small packets full of powder showing up on the x rays.



Baskets of live snails sat on many corners some ominously close to large steaming pots for a quick street snack.



Huge bundles of fresh mint and chamomile just waiting to be made into tea.



This is just a tiny glimpse of what there is to see within the Medina. There is more than you can ever hope to remember, photograph or see.

p.s. for us it was instant love.