Moroccan Breakfast Cooking Class in Marrakech — Msemen & Amlou

About this experience

Breakfast (ftour) is a highlight of the Moroccan table, especially at weekends — a generous spread of breads, pancakes, spreads, olives, cheese, eggs and mint tea or coffee, meant to be lingered over. A morning breakfast class puts the making of it in your hands, taught by a Moroccan cook in a riad kitchen, and it is a lovely, unrushed alternative to the classic tagine class.

The stars are the breads and pancakes, and each has a technique worth learning. Msemen is a square, flaky, layered flatbread made by stretching the dough thin, folding it into layers with oil and semolina, and griddling it until crisp — the folding is the fun, hands-on part. Baghrir, the "thousand-hole" pancake, is poured from a thin semolina batter and cooks on one side only, its surface erupting into a honeycomb of holes that drink up butter and honey. Many classes also cover harcha, the semolina griddle bread, and rghaif.

Then come the spreads and sides. You make or learn amlou — the moreish blend of roasted almonds, argan oil and honey often called Moroccan "Nutella" — and set out the accompaniments that complete a Moroccan breakfast: olives, jben (fresh cheese), honey, butter, olive oil and seasonal fruit, all washed down with mint tea poured the traditional way. The cook explains where each element comes from and how families eat it.

The reward is sitting down to the full breakfast you just made, usually on the riad terrace in the gentle morning light before the city heats up. It suits families, couples and anyone who wants the recipes for the food they have been enjoying at their riad, and everything you learn is easy to recreate at home. Come hungry — this is a proper feast, not a token tasting.