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Published: September 29th 2019
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Feasting in Fes.
First feast breakfast. Then it’s feasting for the senses as we negotiate the souks. Then it’s feasting time after I prepare our tajine chicken, smoked eggplant and tomato salad and our dessert of orange, orange blossom, cinnamon and mint.
No surprise at our Moroccan breakfast, again deluged with fruit, yoghurt and small buns that I spread with goat cheese, honey or jams. Lee has an omelet that looked good and is significantly better for her than attempting to eat around the wheat based products. Our breakfast was bought to us in the courtyard which curtailed the number of glasses of juice I consumed but if that’s my biggest grumble things are still more than good. It was a very leisurely start as we weren’t at breakfast until about 9 o’clock and not finished till about 10 which is quite late for us.
Post brekkie we walked past the old university to the smiths square and watched the tin and copper smiths produce their wares. Certainly it is a tourist Mecca and we have been quite taken aback at the conger line of tourists snaking behind very frustrated looking guides. The line is invariably being accosted
by hawkers and vendors walking and haggling seemingly without success but they must experience some success every now and then. We must be developing a bit less of a wide eyed tourist demeanour as we are being accosted less and less and certainly with less fervour than previously and are managed to say no thanks (in Arabic) in a manner that they accept. We stopped for the always popular orange juice and equally popular lemon drink and just watched as locals and tourists walked by. We returned via the leather markets without being lured in once. I now think that I’m ready to tackle those escape experiences that Jake and Mareezy do. What could be more difficult than avoiding the Fes leather touts and simultaneously navigating back to our riad?
Post lunch (for me that means a few pastries) the cooking class went to the Médina. By cooking class I mean the chef (she) and our translator (he, who is also part of the management team here) and me. That’s it! Two and me! We had sweets, that fava bean soup that is everywhere here, some really good mint tea (tea, 4 different types of mint, some sage and
something Abdul called absynth (spelling?) but I’m not sure what is was) and a good time buying chicken, spices and herbs, some goat cheese and fruit. We saw the camel shop with the camel heads hanging out front, the fish markets, meat markets...and I just had a good time. Knowing I would not get lost probably helped a bit as well.
Then it’s home for cooking school. We smoked eggplant, grated and fried garlic and tomatoes with Moroccan spices, cooked a chicken and lemon tarjine and prepared an orange, orange blossom water, cinnamon and mint dessert. We is the chef and just myself. With the market excursion and the cooking is was 4 hours or so and I thought it was terrific.
Obviously Lee and I ate what I prepared but twice we were too enthusiastic and forgot to take the pre photo before we put the dishes to the taste test. All ate really well with the starter and main stealing the show. Both of us thought the chefs starter was marginally better than mine because her eggplant was bigger and imparted a little more flavour but both were very good. The chicken was tender and full
of flavour which is something we have not always been able to say.
So full flavours be they culinary or sensory throughout the day here in Fes. A real feast.
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