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Msemen and round loaves stacked in a lit bread stall in the Fes medina at night

Moroccan bread and the communal oven

Knead khobz, fold msemen and griddle harcha and batbout in a medina kitchen, then carry your loaves through the lanes to the ferran, the neighbourhood wood-fired oven. The class takes about 3 hours and ends with a breakfast-style feast. It suits families and anyone short on time in Fes.

Plan this classHow the class runs
  • Private or small-group
  • Menu agreed with you
  • Recipes to take home
Fes el Bali, Fes. Photo: Michal Osmenda from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY-SA 2.0

What the class is like

In much of the Fes medina, households still mix their bread dough at home and send it to the ferran, the neighbourhood wood-fired oven, on a board carried by a child or a delivery boy. The baker knows each family's loaves by their shape or mark and fires them for a small fee. Many ferrans also roast trays of meat and nuts for their neighbours.

This class follows that rhythm. You make the daily breads of a Fassi kitchen, take the khobz to the ferran and watch the baker at work, then come back for griddle breads with honey, butter, olive oil and mint tea.

Best for: Families with children of any age; A short morning slot; Anyone curious about medina daily life.

How long
About 3 hours
Where
A riad or home kitchen in the medina and the neighbourhood ferran
Diets
Vegetarian, Vegan
Families
Children welcome
Msemen and round loaves stacked in a lit bread stall in the Fes medina at night

Msemen and round khobz, stacked at a medina stall after dark.

Fes el Bali, Fes

How the class runs

A typical running order. Times are from the start of the class and shift with your group and the season.

0:00

Mix and knead khobz

Semolina, flour, yeast, salt and water, kneaded by hand in a gsaa bowl, then shaped into flat rounds and left to rise under a cloth.

0:40

Fold msemen

Stretch dough paper-thin on an oiled surface, fold it into layered squares and cook it on a hot griddle.

1:20

Walk to the ferran

Carry the risen loaves on a board through the lanes to the neighbourhood oven and watch the baker load and fire them.

1:50

Harcha and batbout

Back in the kitchen, make harcha from semolina and butter or oil, and batbout, the soft pan-cooked bread that puffs up on the griddle.

2:30

Breakfast-style feast

Eat everything warm with honey, butter, olive oil, amlou or jam and mint tea.

What you cook

khobz

Moroccan bread

The round, slightly flat everyday loaf, often made with a mix of semolina and white or wholemeal flour and baked in the wood-fired ferran.

Msemen

Square, layered flatbread made by stretching and folding oiled dough, cooked on a griddle. Eaten at breakfast and with tea.

Harcha

A small, crumbly semolina griddle cake made with butter or oil, somewhere between bread and a scone.

Batbout

A soft yeasted bread cooked on a griddle rather than in the oven, which puffs so it can be split and filled.

Private or small-group

Private

Your party with a cook in a family or riad kitchen, timed for breakfast or late morning when the ferran is busiest.

Small-group

A shared morning class with a few other travellers, including the walk to the oven.

Dietary needs

Bread is naturally vegan if made with oil, so this class runs fully vegan on request. It is entirely wheat-based and so not suitable for coeliac or gluten-free diets.

Good to know

Ferrans keep their own hours and some close on Fridays; we time the class around the oven. The ferran is hot and tight; small children should hold a hand. You take leftover bread home, which makes a good picnic for the next day.

Before you knock

The questions people ask us most before they plan a trip.

What is a ferran?
A neighbourhood wood-fired oven. Families in the Fes medina send their shaped dough there to be baked, often marked so the baker knows whose is whose. It's one of the oldest working institutions in the medina.
Is the bread class good for kids?
Yes. Kneading, folding msemen and carrying loaves to the oven are all things children enjoy, and the class is short.
Can the bread class be combined with another class?
Yes. Many guests pair it with the pastries class or the mint tea workshop for a full morning. Ask and we'll quote it as one private session.

Keep cooking

A fruit seller arranging oranges and pomegranates on Talaa KebiraAbout 2.5–3 hoursFamily & kidsA shorter, hands-on class built for children: kneading msemen, rolling kefta, shaping ghriba cookies and pouring mint tea from a height, with lunch at the end.See the classA sweets counter piled with chebakia and honey pastries in the Fes medinaAbout 3.5–4 hoursPastries & cookiesGazelle horns, chebakia, ghriba and almond briouats: the sweets Fassi families make for weddings, Eid and Ramadan, rolled and shaped by hand.See the classCones of spices and sacks of grain at a spice stall in the Fes medinaAbout 4–5 hoursRiad class + souk shoppingShop the Fes el-Bali food souks with your cook, then carry the bags back to a riad kitchen and cook a full Fassi lunch from what you bought.See the class

Pair it with: Fes food tour of the medina, The Fes food tour, a guided tasting walk, Moroccan cooking classes: what to expect.

Send your dates, group and diet. We'll set the menu with you.

  1. Tell us what drew you in. Your dates, who is travelling and what you want to see.
  2. A person reads it. We write a day-by-day plan for your group, private or small-group.
  3. You change anything. Then we confirm the guides, drivers and riads.
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