Great shopping/cooking/eating experience with my three children aged 10, 14 and 15. From buying the... read more

Great shopping/cooking/eating experience with my three children aged 10, 14 and 15. From buying the... read more
She booked us for a different cooking class at Cafe Rouge without telling us. On the terrace of... read more
We didn't want to go on one of the sterile hotel cookery courses, so found this on TripAdvisor. The reviews are spot on, it's as authentic as you can get, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Lalla Nezha is mother to three children, and a very independant and strong lady. From her driving (which men try to bully her on the roads), to her interactions with shopkeepers, you can see the strength in her character.
Communication via email was good, and she even picked us up from our villa outside town rather than her usual meeting point in the Jemaa El Fna square. She swiftly took us shopping in the local market, for vegetables, olives and meat. She was decidedly efficient when instructing us and describing the different foods, and seemed somewhat distracted, understandably as we later found out that her 2.5 year old had the fever the last few days.
She gave us each a choice of what we wanted to cook, between the 4 of us, we had 3 sweet lamb and one lemon chicken tagine. The chicken was naturally chosen and weighed live, and killed / broiled / plucked / cut. It's up to you if you want to watch any of this, but it was done very quickly.
Back in her Berber village, about 15 minutes drive from town, her house was a small haven. Beautiful and serene garden, aprons, seats, equipment all ready for us. The company was great, we learned how to make a tagine with accompanying side dishes (potatoes, aubergines, peppers, beetroot) with tons of spices, herbs, etc. Topped off with fresh mint tea, made for a lovely relaxing day and fantastic food.
Finished the day at 3pm, which ended fairly soon after the meal. Felt a bit rushed out, but I'm sure this was just because her mind was elsewhere. At 400 MD per person, it's not 'cheap' in local currency, but as it includes a wonderful lunch, travel and a lovely day, it's well worth the money, and it's good to know that it's going to supporting a family rather than a fat cat in a hotel.





Picked up no problem from the square just as she said, and taken into the old market to buy all our ingredients. Great seeing the lesser known side of the city. Then driven out to a real Berber village to a little gem of a house. Cooking in the beautiful garden was enjoyable and the food delicious. Nothing to taxing in terms of recipes but a lovely day with a personal touch. The host was charming and helpful and really felt like old friend by the time we left. Also, the dog was great company whilst mastering the cuisine. Made so much food we couldn't finish it but it was delicious and well earned!




My parents and I did the 1 day cooking course with Lalla Nezha and must say was the most amazing experience we had in Morroco!! She picked us up from Café Francais at 10am and took us to the spice/vege/meat markets where she showed us many different types of Morrocan spices. We were also able to buy our own to take home there at local prices which was nice as spices in the main touristy areas charge up to three times more!!
The fee is 400dhs per person (35 Euro), this includes transfer from the Medina to the Ourika road (around 15min). If you have your own transport the fee is 350dhs.
The lesson is geared towards the making of a full Morocan dinner, which includes two different Moroccan salads, a chicken, lamb, fish, or couscous vegetable tajine. You can also make suggestions as to what you would like. (10am – 4pm)
After the markets we were invited back to her home in a Berber part of Marrakech where we prepared the dishes outside in her lovely garden under a tree. The dishes we made were delicious! Lalla is an amazing, strong Berber woman and had a great time listening to her speak about her culture, religion and were given a true insight to Morocco and it’s people over our lovely meal.
A truly amazing experience.
Lalla Nezha
Email: [--]
Phone: [--]
Website: www.cuisine-marocaine.over-blog.com

This was by far our favorite day in Morocco! Lalla was an excellent teacher and wonderful hostess. I would strongly recommend that anyone visiting Marrakech contacts Lalla for a class. It is guaranteed to be the highlight of your trip.

My wife and I did a 1 day cookery class with Lalla Nezha and it was far better than we expected.
we met Lalla in the main square at 10 and she took us to the soukes to choose our ingredients and then off to pick the chicken of my Wifes choice ( i did a vegetarian meal )
Lella then drove us to her berber village and we had our class in the garden of her fantastic authentic house. Once we had completed our course we sat down and enjoyed one of the best meals we had all week !
we were the only people on the course and were pleased as we were told that some of the other places that offer courses have large class sizes and you can feel left out and this was never the case with Lella.
I would reccoment this course to everyone, A FANTASTIC and INTERESTING day.





This is probably my 10th cooking excursion throughout the world and the most unusual. My husband and I were with two other couples so the group was small and intimate. Lalla took us to the spice market and explained and allowed us to taste and smell each of the spices used in traditional Moroccan food. We then went to the meat market and fish market. Be prepared because the poultry is very fresh, they kill the chicken right there. Lalla then drove us to her home in the Berber section of Marrakech. We sat in her garden under a large umbrella and cut up our vegetables and put our ingredients and spices in the tagines. She also showed us how to make traditional Moroccan couscous which takes over an hour to prepare. Once our food was ready, we ate at the outdoor dining table, where we talked and shared our experiences. It was a lovely time. This was not like most organized cooking classes I have attended. There were no fancy knives, gas burner stoves and high end cookware. This was a real life, not elaborate and not professionally executed; instead it was a traditional Berber home cooking experience and one to remember.
