Authentic Tagine lesson in Essaouira, Morocco.
While staying in Essaouira, I wanted to find something for us to do as a family. So I used Airbnb to find local experiences to do.
The one I found was an authentic Tagine cooking lesson.
So I booked it feeling unsure what it was going to be like. When the day came, it was very hot. As to be expected in Morocco.
We got told to wait under the tower clock as we were heading first to the medina for some veg and spices.
We met Shoo who greeted us and made us feel at ease. We began walking to the market to get the ingredients for our Tagine.
Walking through the food markets can be quite an experience for a European. It was an experience. I had already been quite a few times to the market as we had been in Essaouira for a couple of weeks already so I knew what to expect.
As we are vegan, we made a vegetable Tagine. I was pleased to see that there was no apricot in site as with many Tagines I’ve tasted in England.
We selected a whole bunch of fresh vegetables. We went to the olive stand and Shoo told us which are the best olives that are the most natural. Realising that the olives we have been eating a lot of weren’t the best. After that day we didn’t eat as many olives as before.
We also got some lovely fresh mint to make authentic Berber tea.
Berber tea is a type of mint tea that originated in the desert.
Before we headed to Shoo’s apartment, we got some bread for 20p and made a stop in the spice market for some vegetable Tagine spice.
We all got a taxi to his apartment where we were welcomed by his partner. Once we got settled in, we began cutting and preparing the vegetables.
Shoo explained to us the ways to prepare the vegetables and how to lay them in the tagine dish. He also explained the best way to make Berber tea.
Once the vegetables where all prepared and placed in the tagine dish ready for cooking we had a small break drinking Berber tea the authentic way.
We learnt a little about tradition Moroccan music and about the different instruments as he also does experiences for experiencing traditional music.
See my Pinterest board and check out my Facebook page.
Once the food was ready Shoo had set the table and brought the tagine dish to the middle of the table to begin eating.
He made some cous cous to eat with the tagine.
Once we began eating, we began to realise how tasty the food really is.
This was the best tagine we’ve eaten. My little daughter even enjoyed all the different vegetables.
This was an experience well worth it. We took a lovely stroll back to our apartment along the beach side.
This is the link for the experiance I did.
