Rabat Royal Cuisine Workshop

Rabat, Morocco's stately capital, has cultivated a culinary tradition that reflects its status as a centre of power, diplomacy, and refinement. This three-hour royal cuisine workshop takes place in an elegant Andalusian-style cooking school in the heart of the Ville Nouvelle, where marble countertops, brass fixtures, and zellige-tiled walls create an atmosphere of understated luxury. Your instructor is a graduate of Morocco's premier culinary institute who spent years studying the recipes preserved in handwritten notebooks passed down through families connected to the royal court. The menu is a showcase of Rabati sophistication: you begin with a silky almond soup perfumed with orange blossom water, a delicacy traditionally served at court receptions. The centrepiece is mrouzia -- the legendary festive lamb tagine prepared with ras el hanout, honey, almonds, and raisins that is considered the pinnacle of Moroccan celebratory cooking. You also prepare sellou -- the complex confection of toasted flour, almonds, sesame seeds, and honey that requires patience and precision to achieve its distinctive nutty sweetness. To accompany the meal, you learn to make traditional Rbati bread -- distinguished by its fine crumb and slightly sweet flavour -- and a refreshing grated carrot and orange salad dressed with cinnamon and rose water. The workshop concludes with the art of atay -- preparing and serving Moroccan mint tea with the grace and ceremony befitting a royal reception. Your meal is served at a beautifully set table with hand-embroidered linens and vintage porcelain, evoking the elegance of a Rabati salon.