Medina date – a cookery course in Morocco

20.05.2024 - 12:51 / theguardian.com / Art

It is early morning on the edge of Essaouira’s medina and the famous Atlantic winds are picking up. The sea looks tawny and wild, the sky is darkening by the minute. It begins to rain, heavily. Even the windsurfers who flock here all year round seem to have vanished. Market traders huddle and the place seems deserted. What better time to stay inside and learn about the ancient and warming Moroccan art of making tea?

We are at L’Atelier Madada, a kitchen studio offering cookery classes in what used to be an old almond warehouse. Now it is all exposed brickwork, concrete floors and steelwork surfaces along with a kitchen shop and café known for its great coffee. Classes here are about a lot more than tajines and couscous, although they cover those, too. You can master pastillas (traditional flaky pastry chicken pies) and gazelle horns (crescent-shaped pastries filled with almond paste and orange blossom water). And, of course, there is mint tea, a symbol of tradition, hospitality and friendship, served all day long and after every meal.

Maryam, our guide for the morning raises an ornate silver teapot high in the air. “Mint tea is a big deal in Morocco,” she explains. “And the ritual of how to make it is even bigger.” She raises her arm a little further in the air, the teapot hovering at least 12in above the pretty gold glasses below. In swift movements, up and down, she trickles the tea into them, her aim steady. “You can’t pour it from too high,” Maryam says, because the higher you pour, the greater your hospitality. Height also means bubbles, or foam, on the surface, which is a mark of its quality.” It also adds a certain theatrical flourish to proceedings – and is a lot more difficult than it appears. As is making the tea itself. First, make a stove pot of Chinese green gunpowder tea, then empty this into a separate glass. Rinse the pot well (to avoid a bitter taste from the green tea leaves) and pour back the original liquid, along with sugar and fresh mint. Boil until the sugar dissolves. Easy.

Next we prepare a vegetable tajine, frying the onions for the base, then slicing carrots and parsnips, ending with a layer of potatoes on top. We learn how to sculpt a rose from a large tomato. With intense concentration, we peel one long circular strip of skin from the fruit and roll it up until it resembles a flower, its uneven edges resembling fleshy red petals. While our tajines gently simmer away on the hob, Maryam takes us out for a quick tour of the souk.

We are still reeling slightly from three nights in Marrakech and its usual riot of noise, heat and activity. Essaouira is a world apart, a sleepy town of white-washed buildings, cobalt-blue shutters and fishing boats. The souk here is a smaller, more