Food & Culinary Experiences

Moroccan Cooking Class - Farm to Table Experience

A hands-on Moroccan cooking class on a 6,000m² organic farm estate at Mnar Castle, 20 minutes from central Tangier. Guests walk the garden, harvest their own vegetables, cook a traditional tagine with a local chef, pour their own Moroccan tea, and share the meal at a table overlooking the bay genuinely farm-to-table, not a demonstration.

About This Moroccan Cooking Class - Farm to Table Experience

This isn’t a cooking demonstration it’s a real working morning on an organic farm that happens to end in a meal. Guests walk the 6,000m² gardens at Mnar Castle before touching anything, to see what’s actually growing that week not a display bed, but the same rows the kitchen cooks from every day. From there, guests cut their own vegetables (gloves, scissors, and a basket, no staff doing it for you), build a tagine with the chef using the traditional order Moroccan cooking is built on not a recipe followed step by step, but a sequence: onion on the bottom, protein or vegetables built up in a cone, spices last, lid down to simmer and pour their own Moroccan tea from height, the traditional way. Everything arrives at the table at once, the way it’s eaten in a Moroccan home no courses in sequence and is eaten overlooking the bay.

What Makes This Different from the Standard Cooking Class

This farm runs three related formats from the same 6,000m² estate, same chef, same table at the end this page covers the full farm-to-table version. The two others are:

  • Cook It – a shorter, kitchen-focused version without the garden/planting steps
  • Plant It & Taste It – a herb-and-tea-focused workshop, lighter on the cooking

(See the “Three Formats” comparison table below some details from the source were hard to read precisely and should be confirmed before publishing.)

The Morning, Step by Step

  1. Meet at Mnar Castle (10-15 min before start) – Give your driver the address: Hotel Mnar Castle, Mnar “the farm” gets understood by local taxi drivers. A transfer can also be arranged directly (priced separately) if you’d rather not organize the journey yourself.
  2. Reception & Check-In (~15 min) – A named host is expecting you inside Mnar Castle not just a gate arrival. You’re handed an apron and a hat, and headed straight out to the garden.
  3. Into the Garden (15-20 min) – A walk through the 6,000m² working organic gardens before anyone touches a vegetable the chef points out what’s ready to cook that day.
  4. Cutting Your Own (10-15 min) – Guests cut their own vegetables courgette, tomato, potato, onion, carrot, whatever the rows are carrying that week. What’s in your basket is what’s on your plate.
  5. Planting Your Own (~5 min) – Guests plant a seedling into the bed cleared for the day, leaving something behind after taking something home a detail returning guests specifically come back to see. (Confirm: source suggests this step may be specific to one of the three formats, not all three.)
  6. Water from the Well (Lbir) (~10 min) – The garden runs on its own well, old enough to have a name. Guests draw water themselves and carry it to the seedling they’ve just planted.
  7. Into the Kitchen (~5 min) – A glass-walled kitchen at the top of the garden overlooking the bay. Spices laid out cumin, paprika, ginger, turmeric, ras el hanout the chef names and has you smell each one before cooking begins.
  8. Building the Tagine (20-30 min) – Cooked in the traditional order rather than a written recipe: sliced onion on the bottom, protein or vegetables built up above it, spices on top, lid down to simmer the sequence the chef specifically teaches, “because it’s the part that travels home with you.”
  9. A Taste from the Garden (15-20 min, while the tagine cooks) – A light bite offered while the tagine finishes, so no one waits on an empty stomach.
  10. Atay Maghribi (Moroccan Tea) (15-20 min) – Guests make and pour their own mint tea from shoulder height, the traditional way that builds a foam head on the glass.
  11. The Table (15-20 min) – Everything arrives at once, the way a Moroccan home actually eats no courses in sequence. The tagine, your own tea, and lemon juice, eaten overlooking the bay.

What's Included

  • Food & drinks
  • Lunch
  • Coffee and/or tea

Not Included

  • Hotel pickup and drop-off you’ll need to make your own way to the cooking location
  • Bus fare
  • Tip or gratuity
  • Personal expenses
  • Additional food or drinks beyond what’s included

Good to Know:

  • Booking lead time: Can be booked as late as 4 hours before start time notably shorter than most other activities on this site (most require 1 day’s notice)
  • Accessibility: Stroller/pram accessible, infant seats available but not wheelchair accessible
  • Not suitable for pets
  • No public transportation nearby arrange your own transfer or use the operator’s transfer option
  • Not recommended for: people with back problems, pregnant travelers, people with heart conditions (likely due to the standing, walking, and garden terrain involved)
  • Infants must not sit on laps
  • Languages: English, Arabic, Italian, French, Spanish

What to Bring ?

  • Closed shoes suitable for the garden
  • Trousers or shorts you don’t mind getting dirty
  • Weather-appropriate clothing

Dietary Accommodations

Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and halal options are available flag any allergies or dietary needs when booking.

Chefs and guests preparing traditional Moroccan dishes indoors, and a group sharing a tagine meal together outdoors in Tangier

Get a quote!

Please fill in your name, WhatsApp number, and activity.

Contact Us

Food & Culinary Experiences Packages

Moroccan Cooking Classes & Culinary Experiences Offers

Handpicked culinary experiences, from a hands-on cooking class to a full farm-to-table day.

Guests and a chef preparing fresh ingredients, and a table set with Moroccan tagines and fruit during a hands-on cooking class in Tangier

Moroccan Cooking Class (Hands-On)

Learn to prepare traditional Moroccan dishes step by step with a local chef tagine, salads, and seasonal specialties then sit down together to eat what you made.

Chefs and guests preparing traditional Moroccan dishes indoors, and a group sharing a tagine meal together outdoors in Tangier

Farm to Table Cooking Class

Cook on a 6,000m² organic farm estate overlooking the Mediterranean: harvest your own ingredients, cook with a local chef, and share lunch on-site.

Kasbah walls overlooking the Atlantic in Tangier, a sunset over the rocky coastline, palm-lined ramparts, and a traditional archway in the Old Medina

Fish Pick & Cook

Head out on a fishing boat along the Tangier coastline, then bring your catch back to Mnar Castle to cook it with fresh-picked garden ingredients and a local chef. Limited to 4 guests per booking.

Traditional Moroccan tea set on a striped tablecloth, a garden at Mnar Castle, and freshly baked Moroccan pastries served with mint tea

Plant It & Taste It : Moroccan Tea

Learn to prepare traditional Moroccan dishes step by step with a local chef tagine, salads, and seasonal specialties then sit down together to eat what you made.

FAQs

FAQs - Farm to Table Cooking Class

There's real walking involved through the gardens, to the well, and around the kitchen but nothing strenuous. That said, it's specifically not recommended for people with back problems, pregnant travelers, or people with heart conditions, given the standing and walking involved.

This one is longer on the "farm" part you walk the gardens, cut your own vegetables, plant a seedling, and draw your own water before cooking even starts. The in-city hands-on class skips the farm entirely and goes straight into the kitchen.

No - Mnar Castle has no public transportation nearby. You'll need to arrange your own way there, or ask about the operator's separately-priced transfer option.

Yes - vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and halal options are all available. Flag any allergies or specific needs when you book.

Unfortunately, this experience is not wheelchair accessible, given the garden terrain involved.

Just 4 hours before your preferred start time much shorter notice than most other activities on this site.