Entering through perfumed gardens you are led to a beautiful building on the grounds of a private club. First, a drink of minted tea beside a pool- where Mohammed, our translator and guide, greeted us and gave us an introduction into the history of Moroccan cuisine. We were then taken to a breathtaking demonstration kitchen that rivals any kitchen on the Food Network . It lets you know immediately by its style and set-up that you are in for a remarkable experience. Our chef/instructor spoke no English, but with Mohammed at our side, she took us through the intricacies of a multi-layered phyllo- filled dish of chicken and almonds,p'astilla, and an elegant eggplant salad, both challenging to make. But every step of our hands-on prep and execution was patiently explained by Mohammed. Then, best of all, we got to eat our morning's endeavors back at poolside, under fragrent trees. A perfect ending to a perfect time. It was the highlight of our trip to Morocco.

We spent a great morning a few weeks back, on La Maison Arabe cooking course. Being aware of the exceptional reputation of La Maison Arabe, and keen to further our knowledge of Moroccan cuisine, 3 of us enroled on the course.

We received a warm welcome on arrival at the Riad, and were able to have a walk around and relax in the ante rooms while waiting for our transport, which took us off to their country club.

We were greeted by our tutor for the day, Mohammed Nadir, who sat us down for an overview of Moroccan cooking & its key principles/ingredients over a cup of mint tea. This served to further increase our excitement of the culinary task ahead.

Moving up to the well laid out spacious kitchen area, we met head chef, Lazziza, and her assistant for the day. Each of us had our own work surface, together with necessary utensils and ingredients pre laid out. It was straight in to preparation of a lemon chicken tagine, Moroccan cooked salad and orange salad to finish. The whole process was thoroughly enjoyable, taking around 2 hours, with step by step demonstration and instruction.

The grand finale, and most eagerly anticipated part of the day was sitting down at a table for 3, where we were served up our individual creations for a private lunch. Wine was an optional extra, and most welcome. I must admit, in my 10 days in Morocco that meal was the best I had!

We thoroughly enjoyed our morning and all took away valuable tips, which will certainly be used in the future. Though on initial research not being sure of the slightly high price, none of us were disappointed by the service we received and the fantastic surroundings our morning was spent in. Moreover, our host Mohammed was vastly knowledgable gentleman who was not only an able cooking tutor, but was able to satisfactorily answer many of our other questions on Morocco.

my boyfriend and i have just returned from a great trip to Marrakech, the highlight of which was our afternoon spent at La Maison Arabe Cooking Workshop. Mohammed is a fantasic tutor and taught us so much about Moroccan culture as well as its cuisine.

the kitchen is at la maison arabe's country club which is about 15 mins out of the city. the hotel put on a shuttle bus to take you out there. it is so refreshing to get away from the mayhem of the city and the gardens are a beautiful.

we spent the afternoon making preserved lemon and olive tagine and morrocan salad and ate it under the huge fig tree in the gardens. truly gorgeous. i would recommend this to everyone.

As part of our culinary tour of Morocco, we wanted to learn a bit more about Moroccan cuisine, and spent an enjoyable morning taking this cooking class. The facility was spotless and beautiful, the instructor and her interpreter both very pleasant to work with, and the class was well-structured. Even though the dishes were extremely simple, the class was very well-structured, and served as a very good introduction. I would note that the knives were not as sharp as I had hoped, but that the instructor was very good at determining people’s levels of experience and helping them as needed.

We prepared a salad (tomato and pepper), a chicken and lemon tagine, and simple orange dessert. All were very tasty, and this old chef learned a new technique or two. Wine and tea were offered with our meal, and the transport out to the facility from the medina was a mini-tour in its own right. We also enjoyed the pleasant company of our classmates!

Later in the week, we attended another class in the souks: it pointed up how well-organized this class was, even if the dishes prepared were not as eloborate as some might hope. All-in-all, a sound introduction to Moroccan cuisine.