For your hands-on Casablanca cooking class join Maria in her home kitchen to prepare her favorite family recipes. You’ll cook together for about an hour in your Moroccan cooking class in Casablanca. Learn to make two authentic Moroccan dishes such as tagine and a chickpea and couscous salad. After cooking, sit down at the dining table to enjoy the dishes you helped prepare. Your meal will also include other dishes prepared by Maria in advance.
Maria lives in a modern, luxurious villa in a gated community in a suburb of Casablanca. She will welcome you with some Moroccan tea and, while you sip on your welcome drink, share more about life in Morocco, its history, culture and cuisine. Later you will join her at the dining table to share an authentic home cooked Moroccan meal that might include dishes such as harira (a traditional soup), Moroccan chickpea and couscous salad, pastille (a type of Moroccan meat pie, filled with spiced meat and apricots) and wild chicken tagine served with homemade bread. You will conclude your meal with a dessert such as oranges with cinnamon or cake.
For your Casablanca market tour, Maria will take you to the local market, where you will get to know each other over a refreshing drink. She will help you navigate the market which can be overwhelming to explore on your own. Maria will show you where she buys her fresh produce, meat and show you the spices that are on offer. You might even sample a few local Moroccan fruits and snacks. Maria can help you do a bit of shopping if you’re searching for a certain ingredient. Once your market visit is complete you will head back to Maria's home by car to get cooking!
Please note that while Maria does offer market visits in the evening, the market is livelier in the mornings.
Maria highly recommends including the optional round-trip transportation add-on when making your booking as city taxis don't drive to Maria's area and other bookable taxis can charge an inflated rate.
Maria can offer vegetarian and halal meals on request.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Moroccan saladWelcome drink + Moroccan cookiesOranges with cinnamon or cakeMoroccan tagine with lamb and vegetables Growing up in a large Moroccan family required you to help around in the kitchen, and that is how Maria learned to cook. She fondly remembers her grandmother teaching her family recipes and classics like lamb tagine with cardoon during Maria's school vacation. Maria recently retired and now has more time to pursue her passion for cooking and meeting people from all over the world. She lives with her 9-year old son, his nanny and her sister. Maria has traveled a lot, experiencing different cuisines and cultures, which has made her more appreciative of her own heritage. She now wishes to share her culture and cuisine with travelers visiting her city!
"Entering Maria's world of cooking is entering the world of Moroccan Classic gastronomy. Her home is well decorated and the food is prepared in a very refined way. The food was presented in an elegant living room and she was very welcoming. During the cooking class, I loved how she talked about her childhood memories related to food and family. We ate a variety of salads and tagines (wild chicken was my favorite!) and fresh oranges with cinnamon. If you want an authentic cooking experience with Moroccan family, I would highly recommend Maria!"
"Our evening with Maria was an absolutely incredible opportunity. The market experience, the door to door transportation, and most of all being a guest in her home - all fabulous! 100% sign up !!!"
"Maria picked us up at our hotel and gave us an informative drive to her home. We spent over an hour helping prepare a wonderful and varied meal. We then ate the dinner together and were made to feel most welcome. Took home recipes and had a chance to buy ingredients at a local market."
"Fantastic- best part of our visit to Casablanca. Our host and cooking instructor Maria was fantastic. She picked us up and we went shopping at her local market. She purchased vegetables, fresh spices, olives and other items for dinner. We made lamb tagine with artichokes, potatoes, onions, lemons and olives. We also made 3 sides: 2 savory and 1 sweet. We met members of her family and they shared what they had done that day; school, yoga, doctor visit and work. On the trip to her house, Maria explained the agriculture and business growth in Casablanca as well as the culture of her people. On the drive to her house we saw the countryside, forest, new development and little town. She explained the essential spices and the cooking methods we used in preparing the meal. We had dinner in her traditional Moroccan living room. We ended with dessert of sliced oranges with cinnamon; her son's favorite dessert. The round trip transfer was appreciated. We highly recommend this cooking class and thank Maria for a special and memorable evening."
