Location: Riad Kniza, in a derb off Rue de Bab Doukkala, in the northwest part of the medina (riadkniza.com). OK, so far, this has been the toughest place to find. The cab driver had no idea where to find the riad, even though I had an address. He drove around for about 15 min trying to find a local who could give him some directions. Eventually, he gave up and just dropped me off in the Bab Doukkala parking lot. At which point, a guy in a reflective vest who appeared to be directing traffic found me a guide to walk me there.
[Sidenote: I didn't originally intend to take two cooking classes, but it happened like this: I contacted Souk Cuisine and was told they were doing a Culinary Week all-inclusive package that week, and so were not offering individual classes. Gemma offered to notify me if any spaces did open up. I didn't think it too likely, so I booked a class with Riad Kniza, where Melissa and Tony had taken a class. Then, all the protests and unrest in North Africa caused a lot cancellations, and a spot opened up in Souk Cuisine. On a related note, my travel buddy backed out of our trip altogether, and I notified Riad Kniza that it would now be just me, and offered to let them cancel the class. But they didn't - they emailed and said they'd be happy to hold the class just for me. So I felt bad about pulling out. So I just did both classes. I did learn different things in the two, and it was nice to have the comparison.]
[Sidenote 2, on cooking classes: By the way, if you're ever offered a demonstration-only cooking class, you should think twice about taking it. Watching an expert cook something and cooking it yourself are two entirely different kettles of fish. What's great about a participation class is that, not only do you get the instructor's help with your mistakes, you get to see all the other common mistakes and fixes as well. I think participation cooking classes are the only way to go, really.]
Riad Kniza, like all the other buiildings I've seen in old Marrakech, is absolutely gorgeous. It has that same central courtyard layout, and the elaborate decorative finishes everywhere.
After a little rest with mint tea and cookies, I meet Amira, my chef instructor. She takes me out to the souks for a little shopping. Our first stop is the butcher, one of those outdoor stall ones.
The butcher pulls down one of the hanging legs of lamb, gives it a bit of a trim. He cuts through the meat, then pulls out a jigsaw to saw through the bone. While I'm tickled by this whole operation, I have a few niggles about the health implications of buying meat in these conditions. Perhaps a bit recklessly, I decide that Amira must know what she's doing and just go along with it.
After the butcher, we visit a spice shop. Amira purchases a few spices for the class, and I pick up some paprika for my pantry back home. Then it's back to Kniza's surprisingly modern kitchen to get started.
Lamb Tagine
Due to our time constraints, Amira assembles the lamb tagine in a pressure-cooker. The pressure-cooker cuts down the cooking time from 3+ hours to just 40 min.
The lamb (after it's given a good wash) is placed in the pot with about 3 tbsp of oil and two sliced red onions.
The spices are: 2 tsp each of salt, ginger, ras al hanout and turmeric, a pinch of black pepper and a stick of cinnamon. Finally, a packet of that orange food coloring.
About a cup of water is added. (In a regular pot, you'd use much more liquid - enough to completely cover the lamb.) The pressure top goes on and it cooks over medium-low heat.
About 40 min later, it looks like this:
Add some prunes and dried apricots to soften in the sauce. Can garnish with cashews as well.
(Amira tells me that you can make lamb tagine with vegetables cooked in it. In which case she'd not use ras al hanout, that spice being too overpowering for vegetables.)
Semolina Bread
Next, we start bread dough. It's half semolina, half flour. Amira crumbles in a good bit of fresh yeast, and contrary to the French technique, adds a good spoonful of salt. (French baking always combines yeast with sugar. I'd always been told that salt severely inhibits the growth of the yeast.)
Warm water is drizzled in to make a wet paste, which is stirred and sort of sloppily kneaded for a good 20 min. Then the dough is formed by adding more flour, until it pulls together into a clean ball. That dough is kneaded and punched for another 20 min, until it becomes very elastic, almost rubbery with gluten.
Little dough balls are pinched off. The ragged edges are tucked underneath, and the bottom of the ball is smoothed in a circular motion against the palm of your hand.
Each ball is then flattened by hand (using the fingers) into quarter-inch-thick discs that are about 6 inches in diameter. The discs are laid on a slightly damp towel, and covered by another, to rest. (I don't observe that they rise much.)
After resting, the bread is cooked over direct heat, on a dry skillet or griddle.
They're turned several times so as not to burn, and they puff up and brown. Takes about 10 min total.
I'm really not crazy about this bread, and I doubt I'll ever try to make it myself. Perhaps Amira didn't griddle it quite long enough but it had a slightly sticky feel in the center, and a bit of a raw dough taste.
Tomato Jam
Four large tomatoes, sliced, go in a pot with a stick of cinnamon and a staggering 1 cup of sugar.
It's simmered over low heat for about 20 min until the tomatoes are very limp and well-glazed.
(If you feel up to the trouble, I think the jam would be much better if you peeled, cored and seeded the tomatoes first.)
Zucchini Salad
Baby zucchini are quartered lengthwise, cored, and sliced diagonally into diamond shapes. The zucchini is boiled until cooked through, but not mushy.
Dressing: 1 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp cumin, 2 tsp salt, 4 tbsp olive oil, 3 tbsp cider vinegar and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Dress the zucchini while they're still hot, so they really absorb the spices.
Green Pepper Salad
Green peppers are grilled and blistered over direct flame.
The blackened peppers go into a bowl and are covered with plastic wrap to steam a bit, to loosen the skin. After about 15 min, the skin should just slip off. The peppers are peeled, cored and seeded under running water.
The peppers are sliced thinly. Dressing: 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt, 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp cider vinegar and a clove of minced garlic.
So there you have it. Amira was a wonderful instructor, very patient and cheerful. She told me that she attended culinary school in Ouarzazate, and that she works in a restaurant at night. It's nice to hear that women aren't just cooks - they're also chefs in Morocco.
Riad Kniza set up a beautiful table for me up on the roof deck, where I enjoyed the fruits of our labors. (I think they may have swapped out the lamb for something they'd pre-cooked, but I couldn't be certain.) Total for the class was 55€ (~$82).
I had a great time at Riad Kniza. I was particularly stunned that they were willing to do a class with just a single student (Gemma has a minimum of 2). The individualized attention was great - I got to cook everything myself, and had the time to ask lots of questions and chat with Amira.
That said, if I only had time to do one class, I'd personally choose Souk Cuisine. I think the shopping trip was really interesting and informative - it's a side of the souks you wouldn't normally explore as a tourist. I didn't get to cook as much, but the group atmosphere was really fun and I met some nice people. The Souk Cuisine class is also slightly cheaper than Kniza's.
I guess it all depends on what you're looking for. Both classes have their strengths, and I think you'd enjoy either experience. There's no wrong choice, really.
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