Wonderful Wanderings logo
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • About
    • Blog
    • Destinations
      • Western Europe
        • Austria
        • Belgium
        • Denmark
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Iceland
        • Luxembourg
        • Netherlands
        • Sweden
        • United Kingdom
        • Liechtenstein
        • Portugal
        • Spain
      • Eastern Europe
        • Bulgaria
        • Czech Republic
        • Croatia
        • Hungary
        • Latvia
        • Poland
        • Romania
      • Mediterranean & Middle East
        • Italy
        • Greece
        • Malta
        • Jordan
      • North America
        • USA
        • Canada
        • Cuba
        • Mexico
      • Australia
      • Africa
        • Egypt
        • Morocco
        • Gambia
        • South Africa
      • Asia
        • China
        • India
        • Sri Lanka
        • Thailand
    • Resources
      • Travel Resources
      • My travel gear
      • Travel gear reviews
      • Tipping around the world
    • Contact
      • Work with us
    • Search
    Home › Morocco › Marrakech Food Tours review: tasting the real Marrakech

    Marrakech Food Tours review: tasting the real Marrakech

    January 17, 2021 | Posted in: Morocco

    Yup, I have affiliate links on this blog and there may be some in this amazing and completely free content below. If you book or buy something through these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

    This is a guest post by my dad, Hans Couwenbergh, about his experience on a Marrakech food tour with Marrakech Food Tours before the pandemic.

    I must admit I kind of like a Burgundian lifestyle: good food and a nice wine are never far and I admit that when I travel I do sometimes look at restaurants before I look at a place to stay. What I had not anticipated was to go on a Food Tour in Marrakech, Morocco, whilst on a city trip there.

    Marrakech had been on our “to do” list for quite some time already. The beginning of 2015 had been particularly hectic professionally so we decided we deserved a short break, preferably somewhere a bit warmer than Belgium. As it was going to be a short trip – 4 days only – we did not want to fly to the other side of the world. Morocco and Marrakech in particular seemed to be just the right choice. We found a nice Riad in the middle of the Medina and off we were!

     

    Marrakech Food Tours

    When planning what to do Sofie quickly pointed out that her friend Amanda lives there and is running Marrakech Food Tours with her husband Youssef. Can there be a better way to discover true Moroccan cuisine? I quickly looked up their website. We were very lucky to be able to join an evening Marrakech food tour, as most had been booked for months ahead!

    Top tip: Mararkech Food Tours deliver some of the best culinary experiences in Marrakech and they sell our fast. If you want to get on a tour during your trip, make sure to book well in advance or you’re likely to miss out.

     

    A Marrakech food tour

    marrakech food tour
    We joined the evening tour the first day we arrived. Directions were very clear so we met at the post office on the Jemaah el Fna Square (“La Place” as the locals call it). It was nice to meet Amanda and Youssef and some gifts were exchanged (between Sofie and Amanda using us as “carrier”).

    The first restaurant did not look like a restaurant but rather like a butcher’s shop. We were shown where the sheep carcasses were kept, and a big hole in the ground was open for us to peek inside. This turned out to be a huge oven, where the meat was cooked for about 3 hours in a kind of terracotta pot.

    food tour marrakech

    The meal was served on the second floor. While we got a seat and Youssef was trying to chase a hungry cat Amanda revealed to us how she and Youssef are selecting the venues for the food tour (I hope I remember this correctly): the place had to be scary enough for her parents not to enter it voluntarily but attractive enough for her parents in law (they would need to like the food served in the place).

    Sounds like great criteria to get us westerners out of our comfort zone discovering something new!

    We had two dishes: Tangia, which is slow-cooked lamb coming out of the oven we just had a look at, and Mechoui, which is a whole roasted lamb server with salt and cumin. Both plates were shared by the little group and rather than using cutlery the bread was the tool to take your share of the food. It was very tasty!

    morocco food tours

    After the meal, unfortunately, Amanda had to leave us but we continued our tour with Youssef and another guide. We did not have to go very far for our next stop.

    We stopped at a stall selling olives of all kinds prepared in different ways. Some of them were to be used in cold dishes like salads whereas others were rather for cooking. I find most of them to be really delicious.

    authentic tours marrakech

    On it went through the souks. A bit later we stopped at a little shop, where a lady was working tireless making a special kind of dough, in which some veggies like tomatoes were rolled, which resulted in delicious “pancakes”. Unfortunately, we did not take pictures here, as people did not like it so we respectfully put our cameras away.

    Then, Youssef took us to his favorite Marrakech junk food joint. We were to have sardines, but prepared in a rather special way, with fat, making it almost taste like meat.

    This came served pretty much the way you would get a hamburger, so the junk food comparison was complete. Again, very tasty but heavy! I could not eat all of it and was stuffed already!

    After this very filling part of the tour, we had to walk a little to digest. At some point in time, Youssef took us through a small doorway. Inside it was really dirty; in fact it looked like we had ended up on a garbage belt. In fact, we sort of did.

    There were some stairs (that is what I assumed as we could not actually see them) leading down in a kind of basement where a rather cheerful character was waiting for us. This person was gathering a lot of the garbage on the streets (which in Marrakech are impeccably clean!) and burning it.

    By doing that, he was heating water that was running through some pipes to the Hammans and on top was providing the oven allowing to cook food in some restaurants. The hot ashes were ideal for cooking Tangia. This is the Marrakech way of recycling!

    marrakesh food

    morocco food tour

    Our next stop was a small restaurant. A lady there makes the best vegetarian couscous one can get in Marrakech. As for drinks, we got a lovely mint tea, very refreshing! While sampling the food I really regretted I already had been eating so much before and I was embarrassed how much of this excellent food we left on the table.

    food tours marrakech

    moroccan food tour

    marrakech foods

     

    Before we went to our last stop on the tour we went into a bakery. This used to be the place where lots of women would bring their dough and get it baked. More recently, as people more and more bake at home they are now producing the bread mainly for restaurants, some 4,000 pieces of bread a day. Unfortunately, for some reason, both Sonia and I failed to take pictures here.

    Last stop: cookies and smoothies. The traditional one is based on avocado with milk and some other stuff I can’t remember; I stuck with strawberry and mango. The cookies were really nice but as we’d all had been eating so much already… Luckily, Youssef came to the rescue and got us each a nice box so we could take our cookies with us.

    If you ever go to Marrakech the Marrakech Food Tour is a must-do item on the itinerary!
    Want to book a Marrakech Food Tour too? You can do so here.

    Make sure to book well-ahead as Amanda and Youssef’s tours fill up quickly. Booking last-minute is almost never an option.
     

    PIN FOR LATER
    marrakech street food tour

    Also read:

    • How to spend one week in Marrakech and Essaouira
    • What to wear in Morocco in winter

    Hans Couwenbergh is a wine and travel loving photographer. Snapping away, he tells you all about the stories behind his photographs. Connect with him on Facebook.

    About the author

    The editorial team at Wonderful Wanderings brings together travel experts with backgrounds in travel writing, web development and digital marketing. The team, through their collaborative effort, provides readers with relevant travel experiences and up-to-date digital content. The vast expertise within the team ensures an informative blend of travel stories and useful online travel guides and trip experiences, built on a foundation of both industry recognition and hands-on global adventures.
    Learn more about Wonderful Wanderings

    Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on X (Twitter)
    Your thoughts
    1. Stef says

      Great experience!

      Reply
    2. The Guy Who Flies says

      Hi Hans, it looks like you had a great cultural experience here. Food tours seem to be really taking off in recent years and you’ve highlighted why.

      I guess without a tour some people would just stick to what they know and not really learn the local food culture. I guess it is like wine tasting, when you have a knowledgeable guide you can learn so much and appreciate it a lot more. There is no problem in disliking what you taste but at least you are more informed.

      Those pictures of the walk to the basement make the place look a little bit dangerous and unsavoury, yet I guess it demonstrates an authentic experience.

      Reply
    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Join 58,000+ other Wonderful Wanderers!

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Home
    • About
    • Blog
    • Contact
    Disclosure/Disclaimer • Terms and conditions • Privacy Policy

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2025 · Wonderful Wanderings