Casablanca Seafood Cooking Class — Fresh Atlantic Fish & Tagine

Casablanca faces the Atlantic and lives off it. Morocco is one of the world's largest sardine exporters, and Casa's markets and port bring in a daily catch of sardines, sea bream, sole, squid and prawns. A seafood cooking class here leans into that abundance, teaching the coastal side of Moroccan cooking that inland cities cannot match.

The core lesson is charmoula, the herb-and-spice marinade of coriander, parsley, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon and oil that dresses almost all Moroccan fish. You will use it to build a fish tagine layered over tomatoes, peppers and potatoes; to marinate sardines butterflied and pressed in pairs before grilling; and possibly to stuff whole fish. Depending on the season you may also cook calamari, prawns in a spiced tomato sauce, or a seafood pastilla with vermicelli.

Many classes begin at the Marché Central, the historic covered market off the main boulevard, where you choose your fish from the ice and your herbs and spices from the surrounding stalls. This makes the class a lesson in selection too — how to judge a fish's freshness by its eyes and gills, which species suit tagine versus the grill, and how the Atlantic catch changes through the year.

Casablanca is a modern, business-minded city rather than a tourist medina, so classes here feel contemporary and are often taught in a well-equipped kitchen. It is a natural choice if you arrive or depart through Casa's airport and want one great, coastal Moroccan meal you cooked yourself.