Morocco is by far North Africa’s gastronomic star and the city of Fez combines flavours from across Morocco inside Africa’s largest car free medina. From small restaurants to food stalls to cafés, visitors can feast their way around the vast medina crossing souks filled with the aromas of many spices and of course the famous mint tea. But to really unearth what makes Morocco so delicious, visitors should embark on three totally unique foodie experiences with Palais Amani, the biggest authentic riad in Fez.
The 21-bedroom hotel has recently launched a dine and cook with a local family experience. Here, Dada welcomes visitors to her home as well as taking her guests to a local communal bakery to enjoy some authentic Moroccan baking. Visitors can learn to cook at the Fez Cooking School, which includes a foodie tour of the souk with a chef from Palais Amani followed by lunch. Finally, Palais Amani has also unveiled a Moroccan tea ceremony experience in the hotel’s secluded garden to the sound of birdsong.
The hotel’s acclaimed Eden restaurant, meanwhile, is open to both hotel guests and visitors for lunch and dinner daily and offers al fresco dining.
We sat down with Houssam Laasiri, the hotel’s talented head chef, who is behind all of the dining concepts and foodie experiences at Palais Amani.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you are today, professionally, and what got you here?
After graduating from culinary school and working in several restaurants all over Morocco, I’m today the head chef at Palais Amani. I oversee both the Eden restaurant at the hotel including all menus and also the Fez Cooking School operations including menus and the routes we take within the medina to gather ingredients for the classes on our dedicated roof top cookery school.
What, or who, inspired you to become a chef?
Spending my childhood with my grandmother, I was always amazed by the way she expressed her love and hospitality through her passionate cuisine. To my beloved grandmother, food was more than an element of survival. It was the center of every family gathering as a mean of showing her compassion and also gratitude of having a very healthy family. Therefore, I always wanted to carry our family traditions and share them with visitors from all around the globehere at Palais Amani.
Tell us about the cuisine at Eden Restaurant at Palais Amani?
The menus at the Eden restaurant are 100 per cent Moroccan with a Mediterranean twist. It’s also a mixture of Arab, Berber and Sephardic cuisine. We offer an a la carte menu, a tasting menu and a light menu to suit all tastes and appetites. During the summer clients can be served either in the gardens or on the roof top terrace. Diners can enjoy a selection of briouates (crispy parcels filled with either seafood or meat or vegetables). Mains include tajines, sea bream Fassi style and several vegetarian options using vegetables including the famous aubergine.
Which local ingredients do you always ensure you have in the kitchen?
There is always some very good saffron from the fields of Taliouine in my kitchen, and some pure Argan oil from the southern part of Morocco drizzled on my tagines.
What are your favourite Moroccan dishes?
I personally like the pigeon pastilla, as a child I remember how it used to be a very luxurious dish that we only served on very special occasions. I also like the flavours of sweet and savory combination used in pastilla. Elsewhere chicken tagine with caramelised tomatoes, hergma Moroccan veal stew, beef tagine with vegetables, lamb tagine with quince and nuts and vegetables couscous with caramelised onions, all of which I prepare for diners.
Where in Fez do you recommend all visitors go for at least one meal?
There is an area in the ancient medina not far from Palais Amani, where they make one product every day in huge cauldrons, it is the bessarah or fava bean soup that is a staple in Moroccan’s diet, this is a must go to place and can be visited during the Fez Cooking School foodie tours.
What makes the Fez Cooking School so unique?
Being able to go out and buy the local seasonal products and experience the souks and spice markets is what makes the Fez Cooking School so unique, then of course being completely hands on in a beautiful setting looking over the rooftops from the Fez Cooking School kitchens, is an experience not to be missed.
Factbox
Address: 12 Derb El Miter, Fès 30000, Morocco
Phone: +212 5356-33209
Website: palaisamani.com
All imagery credit: Palais Amani
