Traditional Culinary Lunch and Hammam Experience

Highlights

  • Discover the evocative spice-rich aromas of Marrakech

  • Enjoy the rich flavours and fresh produce of a chef-prepared local dish

  • Learn about food rituals and cooking techniques

  • Savour unlimited glasses of refreshing Moroccan tea

  • Experience a sweet-smelling steam-shrouded hammam cleansing ritual

  • Imbibe invigorating Moroccan botanicals

Summary

Discover the sensory joys of Marrakech’s spice-rich cuisine and the centuries-old tradition of the steam-shrouded hammam.

Tour info

Duration
6 hours 30 minutes
Group Size
10
Pricing (From)
Commentary
English
Meeting Point

123 Main St, Main St, Kings County, New York, 11217, United States

Dropoff location

Why take this tour?

Bustling Marrakech is a byword for joyous chaos: a crowded tangle souks, skinny cobbled alleyways and 3,000 jostling vendors vying for trade.

 - Discover the evocative spice-rich aromas of cinnamon, ginger, cumin, turmeric, paprika, coriander, saffron, anise, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, fenugreek and caraway
 - Enjoy the rich flavours and fresh produce of a chef-prepared local dish especially for you
 - Learn about the food rituals and cooking techniques from the chef (a local Dada)
 - Savour unlimited glasses of refreshing Moroccan tea - not exclusively mint flavored but often aromatic herbs such as sage, wormwood, lemon verbena, wild thyme, and wild geranium
 - Indulge the senses with a sweet-smelling steam-shrouded hammam cleansing ritual
 - Imbibe invigorating Moroccan botanicals such as rose, patchouli, jasmin, geranium, bergamot and eucalyptus

Thrumming sounds, plumes of grill smoke and the beguiling melody of the snake charmer’s flute resonate through the throngs. Cries for custom echo around a zillion stalls piled high spices, live chickens, richly-woven rugs, coffee pots and silken slippers. Family, kinship, and the warmth of shared meals are highly prized in Moroccan life and are as central to culture as another ancient tradition: the soap-and-suds full-body cleansing of a steamy Moroccan hammam. On your feast for the senses tour, enjoy these two much-valued rituals: a beautifully Chef-prepared Moroccan lunch and a deeply relaxing spa experience in an elaborate domed bath house.

Marrakech cuisine is diverse and peppered with a unique mix of cultures over ten storied centuries. Your chef, a veteran of private dining experiences, will create a gastronomic lunchtime splurge using Morocco’s most evocative flavours, textures, aromas and spices. Food is powerful, enhancing the intensity of the memories we build and a specially-created menu will introduce you to the fresh produce of Morocco’s breadbasket regions. Each dish and flavour will provide new insight into the culinary character of Marrakech, blending Berber staples with Arabic nuts and dried fruit, the cooking styles of the Ottoman Turks and the olives and citrus fruits of the Moors with plenty of Gallic culinary twists. The result is a blended cuisine so tantalising on the tongue it sends a zillion feel-good messages surging through the body: a sensory delight.

Next, indulgence builds on Morocco’s ‘Al Baraka’ - a special spiritual energy that is created when kith and kin gather together - and leads us to the warm, cleansing waters of the hammam. In ancient times, a resounding boom of a copper gong would fill the streets at dawn, heralding the opening of the baths. Today the gongs have long gone, yet the baths remain an integral part of the social fabric of Marrakech communities. Different hammams have different characters, some serve as a meeting place for family, friends and co-workers while others are a sanctuary of quietude a world away from the hubbub of the city. Interiors are largely unchanged by time with dazzling wall-to-ceiling tiled mosaics, ornate gilded domes and gleaming marble.

Treatments are revitalizing, centering on the venerated steam and scrub tradition of Roman bathing practices, which were adopted along the Mediterranean coast in the seventh century A.D. during the Arab conquest. Today this centuries-old mix of spiritual and social indulgence takes place in steam rooms opulent decor, heated by hot coals to keep the marbles floors warm and the water hot. Steam, different cleansing scrubs and deep, rhythmic massage are exfoliating, detoxifying and leave the skin cleaner than a newborn baby. Aromatherapy - using the scent of rose, sweet patchouli, heliotrope, jasmine, geranium and bergamot accented with a hint of eucalyptus - is a glorious finale and a treat for 10,000 olfactory glands, pure sensory joy.

Note: Please be sure to bring swim trunks for the hammam experience.

What’s included?

  • All of the local, authentic, food tasted on the tour

  • A friendly, professional tour guide for your own private group

  • Plenty of time to take photos of your favourite places

  • Hammam experience in one of Marrakech's best spas

  • Lunch with local chef

  • Professional driver with transportation throughout your tour

  • Cost of hotel pick up/drop off. Your guide will accompany you in a taxi or by public transport (if required)

  • Gratuities (optional)

Things to know

Before you book

  • Please bring comfortable walking shoes

  • In summer, please remember to bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water

  • Please be sure to bring swim trunks for the Hammam

Before you go

  • Please bring any medical requirements you need throughout the day

  • We recommend not eating a big lunch before this tour – you'll need some room for all the delicious Moroccan food you'll be trying!

Covid Policy

  • Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
  • Social distancing enforced throughout experience
  • Gear/equipment sanitized between use
  • Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
  • Guides required to regularly wash hands

Cancellation Policy

    Up to 24 hours before the beginning of the activity: full refund Less than 24 hours before the beginning of the activity or no-show: no refund

About operator:

Travel Curious, based in Shoreditch/London, researches, creates and owns immersive, cultural tours and experiences in cities throughout the world. We provide our tours and experiences as a service to the travel industry and are privileged to name some of the biggest global brands as our partners