0:00
Tea and the tools
Meet over mint tea and look at the kit: the clay tagine and why it is seasoned, the two-tier couscoussier, the gsaa wooden bowl for rolling couscous.
Fes, Morocco· Concierge · Mon–Sat · 09:00–18:00 GMT+1
Tagine and couscous masterclass
Learn the two pillars of Moroccan cooking in a Fes riad kitchen: a lamb tagine with prunes and almonds, a kefta tagine with eggs, and seven-vegetable couscous rolled by hand and steamed three times. The class runs about 4–5 hours and suits families and anyone who wants the technique behind the dishes.
- Private or small-group
- Menu agreed with you
- Recipes to take home
What the class is like
Most people think tagine and couscous are simple. Done well, they are about technique: how to layer a tagine so the bottom caramelises without catching, when to add the fruit, how to roll semolina into grains with your hands and steam it in a couscoussier until it is light and separate.
This class teaches those things slowly and hands-on. You cook two tagines that show the two moods of Moroccan cooking, savoury and sweet, and a full Friday-style couscous with seven vegetables and tfaya.
Best for: Travellers who want to cook Moroccan at home afterwards; Second-timers who've done a general class; Families with older children.
- How long
- About 4–5 hours
- Where
- A riad kitchen in the Fes medina
- Diets
- Vegetarian, Vegan
- Families
- Children welcome
How the class runs
A typical running order. Times are from the start of the class and shift with your group and the season.
0:20
Start the sweet tagine
Brown lamb with onion, ginger, saffron and cinnamon and set it on a low flame. The prunes and almonds go in near the end.
1:00
Roll and steam the couscous
Sprinkle semolina with salted water and roll it between your palms, then steam it over the broth, fluff it with oil, and repeat. Most guests are surprised how different it is from instant couscous.
2:00
Seven-vegetable broth and tfaya
Build the broth in the base of the couscoussier and make tfaya by slow-cooking onions with raisins, cinnamon and honey.
2:45
Kefta tagine with eggs
Spiced meatballs simmered in a tomato sauce, with eggs cracked in at the end. The quick tagine, cooked last so it reaches the table hot.
3:30
Build the couscous platter and eat
Mound the couscous, arrange the vegetables, spoon over the broth and tfaya, and sit down to the two tagines alongside.
What you cook
tagine bel barkouk
Lamb tagine with prunes and almonds
Lamb cooked slowly with saffron, ginger and cinnamon, finished with prunes softened in honey and toasted almonds and sesame. A festive, sweet-and-savoury dish typical of Fes.
Kefta tagine with eggs
Meatballs of minced beef or lamb with cumin, paprika and herbs, poached in a tomato sauce with eggs set on top. A quick everyday tagine.
Seven-vegetable couscous
Hand-rolled couscous steamed over a broth of seasonal vegetables such as carrot, turnip, courgette, pumpkin, cabbage and chickpeas. The traditional Friday lunch.
Tfaya
Onions slow-cooked with raisins, cinnamon and a little honey until jammy, spooned over couscous.
Private or small-group
Private
Your party with your cook. Choose meat, chicken, fish or vegetable tagines and set the start time for lunch or dinner.
Small-group
A shared class with a few other travellers on the standard menu above. Couscous rolling is more fun with more hands.
Dietary needs
Easy to run fully vegetarian or vegan: the couscous and tfaya are naturally plant-based (with oil rather than smen), and the tagines become a vegetable and chickpea tagine and a tomato tagine with eggs, or without eggs for vegans. Couscous is wheat, so this class is not suitable for coeliacs.
Good to know
You don't need a clay tagine at home; we show you how to get the same result in a heavy casserole. Couscous is traditionally a Friday lunch, so a Friday class has a nice logic to it. Recipes come with a shopping list for ingredients you can find outside Morocco.
Before you knock
The questions people ask us most before they plan a trip.
Do you really roll couscous by hand?
Yes. You roll semolina with water by hand in a wide wooden bowl, then steam it two or three times over the broth. It's the way many Fassi families still make it for Friday lunch.
Can I cook a tagine at home without a clay tagine?
Yes. A heavy casserole with a tight lid on a low heat works well. The class shows you both, and the recipes are written for an ordinary home kitchen.
Is the tagine and couscous class private?
It's available private or as a small group. Request a quote with your dates and group size and we'll price both.
Keep cooking
Riad 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
Vegetarian & veganMoroccan home cooking without meat, and nothing missing: bissara, cooked salads, a vegetable tagine and seven-vegetable couscous with tfaya.See the class
Fassi specialtiesA long, serious class for keen cooks: the celebration dishes Fes is known for, from a sugar-dusted pastilla to honeyed mrouzia, Ramadan harira and rfissa.See the classPair it with: Moroccan food and the tagine, Moroccan cooking classes: what to expect, Fes food tour of the medina, The Fes food tour, a guided tasting walk.
Send your dates, group and diet. We'll set the menu with you.
- Tell us what drew you in. Your dates, who is travelling and what you want to see.
- A person reads it. We write a day-by-day plan for your group, private or small-group.
- You change anything. Then we confirm the guides, drivers and riads.