If Slow Living is about meaningful experiences, cherishing local cultures, consuming with a conscience, treading lightly on the planet and enriching your life along the way, then this Gourmet On Tour “Flavours of Morocco” cooking trip to Marrakech is quintessentially Slow.
The week-long holiday is a heavenly experience for foodies and culture vultures.
You’ll stay in the House Of Green Mint, a luxury villa set in a grove of 150,000 towering palm trees, against the backdrop of the snow-capped Atlas mountains, just outside the ancient imperial Moroccan capital.
Marrakech is renowned for the Djemaa el-Fna square, the buzzing centre that plays host to a daily carnival of jugglers, story tellers, snake charmers, magicians, herb and potion vendors, knick-knack sellers, acrobats and rows and rows of food stalls. It has a unique character of its own, and remains largely untouched by outside influence.
Moroccan cuisine is so attractive to food lovers because of its wonderfully varied heritage, and consequentally its rich flavours. The country has played played host to travelers and rulers from China, India, Spain and Persia before serving for 40 years as a French protectorate. In particular, the French influence remains.
During eight cooking sessions, local chefs will guide you through the fundamentals of traditional Morrocan cuisine, even accompanying you to the local food stalls to choose your authentic ingredients.
The list of dishes typically taught will get the mouth watering before you’ve even stepped on the plane; chicken with olives and lemon couscous, M’Choui (spiced roast lamb), B’Stilla (the legendary centerpiece of every banquet), Matecha M’assala (sweet tomato confit), cornes de gazelle (sugar-coated pastries with a delicate almond paste filling) and M’Henca (almond filled pastry). Each meal is matched with a wine recommendation too.
Your stay can include a foray in to the wider locale, to really get a sense of Morocco. I like the sound of a day trek in the Atlas mountains to see the historic villages of the Berber people where their lifestyles and farming techniques have remained practically untouched since the middle ages. Like, every good trek, it comes with lunch at a French Auberge.
If a hard day over a hot stove, a trek and a shopping expedition leave you in need of something a little more, well, leisurely, head to the villa’s pool, tennis courts or spa. Try a Hammam, a traditional Turkish steam bath, why don’t you? After artfully concocting the perfect Moroccan tagine you’d deserve it!
Gourmet On Tour “Flavours Of Morocco” cooking holiday
