The souks of the Marrakech Medina
Marrakech is a kaleidoscope of swirling colors and flavors. It is bold mosaic and intricate artwork from floor to ceiling. It is warm mint tea, warm earthy spices and warm desert air. It is equal parts prime hospitality and persistent haggling. My husband and I celebrated my birthday there in November and it was all at once a dream come true and an over-stimulation of the senses. I returned to London feeling like I’d just been on an adventure – a feeling I hadn’t had since driving (or should I say riding – I was the passenger) the West Fjords of Iceland, where we were often the only people in sight for miles and the terrain was so craggy, you could have convinced me we were traversing the surface of the moon or were the last people on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Eating in Marrakech can mean anything from going stall to stall at the Place Jemaa el Fna (the main central square, located in the medina) to enjoying a home-cooked meal in a riad or indulging in first-class fine dining.
Here are some of my favorite dining experiences in Marrakech:
Eating in Marrakech can mean anything from going stall to stall at the Place Jemaa el Fna (the main central square, located in the medina) to enjoying a home-cooked meal in a riad or indulging in first-class fine dining.
Here are some of my favorite dining experiences in Marrakech:
Moroccan breakfast
| Msemen is a sort of flaky pancake made from a base of semolina, flour and oil or melted butter. It can be filled but in the mornings it is often enjoyed plain, with a cup of tea or coffee. |  |
Midday oasis
Lunch at Le Jardin (32, souk El jeld. Sidi Abdelaziz. Marrakech Médina), with its green-tiled palm-shaded courtyard that feels a million miles away from place Jemaa el Fna, is a welcome, quiet, relaxed escape from the hustle and bustle of the souks of the medina. Start with the Pastilla, a flaky pastry filled with pigeon and walnut and dusted with cinnamon. Then, pair a traditional entrée, like the lamb couscous tagine, with a sparkling rosé, to recharge and refresh.
Pastilla at Le Jardin
Home-cooked meal
Prior to our trip I’d read many suggestions to have a home-cooked meal, prepared by locals, arranged through the riad where one is staying. Well, we didn’t stay in a riad but we did stay in the home of a family friend who generously arranged for his neighbors to prepare a traditional Moroccan meal for us, upon our arrival. It was a feast: lamb tagine and a sea of various platters of vegetables and bowls of pomegranate seeds and breads. It was so good that after dining out the second night, we asked for the cooks to return on our final night in Marrakech. This time we had the pleasure, and unique experience, of walking a true local market with them to collect all of the ingredients for the evening’s meal. That night, we invited our driver to eat with us. The three of us slurped up a fragrant chicken tagine full of fluffy couscous and flavorful carrots, squash, turnip, and courgettes. Not a word was said between murmurs of “mmm…” That is, until our driver looked up and whispered dreamily, “It’s like I’m tasting it for the first time.”
Shopping a local souk for dinner ingredients
Drinks (& a brush with history)
The storied La Mamounia (Avenue Bab Jdid - 40 040 Marrakech) hotel reopened in 2009 after a three-year renovation (costing hundreds of millions of dollars). According to organization The Churchill Centre, “Winston Churchill invited Franklin Delano Roosevelt here to relax after strategic talks during the Second World War, and Alfred Hitchcock shot some of ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ in the hotel's lobby, which also has been a haunt of the Rolling Stones, Charlie Chaplin, Sharon Stone and many other Hollywood stars for nearly a century.” To get a taste of the endless elegance, and rub shoulders with the ghost of Sir Winston Churchill, leave the casual footwear at home (trainers are not allowed) and kick off the evening with a cocktail outside on the patio or in the darkened Le Bar Churchill, where you get the distinct feeling that the only thing missing to complete the ambience is a cloud of cigar smoke overhead.
La Mamounia Hotel
Indulgent night out
La Maison Arabe (Derb Assehbi, Marrakesh 40000) is perfect for a special evening. Start with cocktails in the luxurious hotel’s Jazz room, where you may have your own Casablanca moment if the live piano player treats the room to a little “As Time Goes By.” The restaurant has two themed dining rooms, both of which feature “sumptuous” décor that will blow you away. The menu at Les Trois Saveurs has been designed by three chefs to offer dishes from French, Moroccan or Asian cuisine, which can be enjoyed indoors or on the terrace by the swimming pool and gardens. The Moroccan dining room features traditional dishes and live “arab-andalusian music played on the lute and guitar.” We chose the latter and had a romantic evening complete with a delicious Moroccan meal and beautiful music.
Traditional tagine at La Maison Arabe
Souk shopping
If you are prepared to haggle, speak a little Arabic or French, and look out for fakes, you may enjoy hunting through the souks of the medina for edible souvenirs like argan oil, cinnamon, saffron and ras el hanout. Ras el Hanout translates to “head of the shop” in reference to the tradition of each individual shop offering a unique version of the spice blend, based on the best spices the particular shop carried. It is meant for use in couscous and meat dishes.
Spices and argan oil make great souvenirs
Cooking with the locals
Souk Cuisine (Zniquat Rahba, Derb Tahtah 5 Medina) owner Gemma van de Burgt has designed an all-day (~10AM-4PM) Moroccan cooking program that starts with a guided shopping trip through the Medina. Students are then taken, groceries in tow, to the school’s riad where stations have been set up to cook the lunch meal alongside local women who provide step-by-step instructions on the preparation of traditional dishes. In the end, everyone gathers together around a long communal table to enjoy the final product (including appetizers, salads, tagine, and dessert) with lots of wine and mint tea to wash it all down. Our time with Gemma and her team was one of the highlights of our trip. That day was my actual birthday and there were a total of 14 of us students from all over the world. Gemma arranged for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to me…over and over in 6 different languages! Later that month I recreated some of the recipes I’d learned in Morocco for a Thanksgiving potluck.
Getting ready to cook lunch at Souk Cuisine
Chicken-filled briouates, one of several traditional dishes taught by local women at Souk Cuisine
Here are some more photos from my birthday trip to Marrakech...
Quick Guide
- Midday Oasis Le Jardin (32, souk El jeld. Sidi Abdelaziz. Marrakech Médina)
- Drinks with History La Mamounia (Avenue Bab Jdid - 40 040 Marrakech)
- Indulgent Night Out La Maison Arabe (Derb Assehbi, Marrakesh 40000)
- Cooking with the Locals Souk Cuisine (Zniquat Rahba, Derb Tahtah 5 Medina)
