MOROCCAN COOKING CLASS – EXOTIC SPICES AND FLAVOURS OF THE MEDINA

Come and engage all your senses in our Moroccan Cooking Class, as you learn how the Moroccans use their colourful and complex spices, such as the famous ‘ras el hanout’, the ‘head of the shop’, the aromatic spice blend which consists of as many as 24 different spices.  Each spice merchant’s and family’s recipe being a well-kept secret and we have our own which we share with you!

Discover the flavour combinations of sweet and sour; how to make the ubiquitous Moroccan flatbread, a variety of mezze dishes, preserved lemons, ras el hanout, chermoula paste, various tagines, a slowly simmered stew, whose name comes from the pointed, conical earthenware pot in which it is cooked; and many unusual, ancient Berber dishes peculiar to Marrakesh.

Note: Moroccan Cooking Classes available any date of your choice for groups of 6+ – Please contact Tonya for availability

Classes $295 p/p

By the way, there is now a Partners and Friends Class Luncheon available, without the cooking class. This is available for guests of people attending the Cooking on the Bay cooking classes, and who do not want to cook!

Guest arrival time is around 12.30pm; we are usually finished then or nearly finished anyway. Your guest can relax with a glass of wine if we are still finishing off a dish or 2.

The cost for the lunch with wine is $145 per person. Email me to book and pay this Luncheon option.

Learn to savour and appreciate all that makes this cuisine so remarkable and different. Experience the spices, aromas, textures; cook whilst enjoying a glass of fragrant, refreshing mint tea.

Dishes on the menu, vary with the seasons; dishes such as Moroccan Batbout, a flat bread eaten at every Moroccan meal, honey salted aubergines, Bessara, a Moroccan fava dip as well as a soup, cucumber and mint sorbet; pickled grapes; beetroot and orange spiced soup, served either hot or cold; Berber omelette tagine with Marrakesh meatballs; chermoula marinated aubergines; a variety of tagines, such as a chermoula duck, lamb, beef and vegetable tagines; couscous, famous B’Stilla, a spiced, sweet and savoury, layered pigeon or chicken pie; sardines butterflied with chermoula, oranges and spices; rosewater meringues with dates and almonds, saffron custards with cinnamon oranges.

At the end of the morning’s cooking, all your dishes form part of the shared feast enjoyed at the table, accompanied by a glass or two of the matched wines, and the conversation flows.

Morocco, the land and its food, are intriguing, intoxicating and exotic! It is a diverse country, alluring and captivating, with minarets dominating the skylines and the call to prayer, five times a day, adding to the exciting, noisy atmosphere. The landscapes are filled with the brilliant colours and aromas of pomegranates, pink peppercorns, rosemary, citrus, lemon verbena, figs, dates, argun oil, almonds, roses and lavender.

During class, you will hear the stories of the Berber cooking classes, camel riding and dinner under the stars, in the Sahara Desert with its beautiful, lush, peaceful and cool oases, the rugged Atlas Mountains, the lively, local Marrakesh markets, where we shop for the cooking classes, the medieval Medina, with its central, bustling town square, the Djemaa-el-Fna, and the mysterious souks; plus the many exploits from our Moroccan travels. You may be inspired to travel there yourself!

I travel to Morocco frequently with foodie enthusiasts to stay with my friend, Edwina Golombek, chef and owner of the award winning culinary riad and residential cooking school, House of Fusion in Marrakesh. So, in this class we cook some remarkable, special Moroccan dishes rarely seen outside Morocco!

BOOK CLASSES

To book your classes please select from the dates below

MOROCCAN CLASS TESTIMONIALS

Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina at Kureelpa on January 7th , 2026….our Moroccan Feast was enjoyed on the balcony.

‘Thank you, Tonya, once again, for a great cooking class. I had such an enjoyable time.  You impart so much knowledge in such an accessible and easy manner.  Your a gracious host and the dishes always taste soooo good. I enjoyed cooking with you Paul and our dishes were truly a joint effort.  Thank you for your company during the day.  I’ve been busy today cooking the lamb tagine, a couple of the dips and the couscous, trying to put to practice some of the tips you shared Tonya. I look forward to hopefully joining you again for another class. Happy cooking everyone.’  Lynelle Guerin, Brisbane. Wednesday 7th January 2026.

‘Tonya is a wonderful host and inspiring chef. She had some of the preparation done ahead so we could concentrate on the cooking. What a feast we prepared! We were given clear detailed instructions and explanations to understand what we were doing. She encouraged us to use our skills during the class. Sharing lunch and conversation was special’.  Moroccan Cooking Class: Dishes, Spices and Flavours  from Colette Goydych with Rocque and son Will – November 2025.

Billy Hare Moroccan Cooking Class: Dishes, Spices and Flavours

Thank you Tonya for a terrific day learning new techniques and Moroccan recipes capped off with an enjoyable lunch and well earned glasses of wine. I like your style! Bill Hare, 19th October, 2025.

Rae Guerin and Lynelle Guerin `We have just enjoyed a great day at Cooking On The Bay doing Tonya’s Moroccan cooking class. The group made (with lots of help from Tonya) flat bread, bean dip, honey salted aubergines, Berbera omelette, B’stikla-Moroccan spiced chicken pie, Cranberry jelly and a Chocolate, date & almond torte.
We then got to sit down at a beautifully set table, overlooking Port Phillip Bay, to enjoy the meal together, with wine provided.
Tonya gives lots of tips and info throughout the day and you are also given a folder with all the recipes and lots of additional information.
I had previously done other classes with Tonya when she was in Queensland and was so pleased to be able to do the class today. It had been too long between classes.’ Saturday 5th April, 2025. Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina.

Hi Tonya,   Thank you for a wonderful day… I did come home with some gems and a little more confidence.  Baby steps!  Thank you. Elaine

Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina. Sunday 23rd February, 2025

Sunday 23rd February, 2025
‘I can’t wait to replicate the menu at home for friends. Lovely intimate small group experience’.

Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina. Sunday 30th June, 2024.

‘Great photos of a wonderful experience cooking flavoursome delicious Moroccan food with fellow food lovers 🤩🥳💓. Rhonda V’.
Rhonda Valkenburg, Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina. Saturday 6th April, 2024.

Hi everyone, I was dying to try out my new tagine and some of our new recipes so it was off to Luv a Duck and then a cook-up of the duck recipe and aubergine dip.  My husband really enjoyed both and gave the meal 11 out of 10!  Photos below. Kind regards, Rosemary Krongold, July 2nd 2023.  Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina.

‘Hi Tonya & all,  It was so wonderful meeting you all, I had a fabulous time! Thank you also for sharing the beautiful pictures! Tonya, I look forward to doing another one of your classes soon 🙂 Take care everyone and look forward to catching up online! Kind regards, Clare‘.  Clare Kavanagh, July 2nd, 2023. Victoria, Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina.

 

`Tonya,  I had a wonderful time, and have made Moscato Jellies for my dad’s dessert on Sunday night.  I look forward to making a beautiful tagine! Take care and hope to see you soon, Karen’. March 25th , 2023,  Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina. Victoria

‘… thank you to Sue Robb for organising such a wonderful day 🙏 We were very fortunate to have such an experienced and inspiring teacher as Tonya to guide us on our Moroccan culinary journey. We were also fortunate to have a great group of people to cook with and the setting was absolutely stunning! I was very impressed with how well the group worked together to create so many delicious dishes in such a short space of time! The group was also very encouraging of each other’s culinary efforts. Food really does bring people together. I can’t wait to cook some of the dishes for my friends.’ Nicole Reid, Brisbane, 7th January 2026. At Kureelpa, Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

‘Fabulous fun, recipes were comprehensive and Tonya had lots of helpful tips. We cooked a lot of dishes which we then got to sit and enjoy. The space including the kitchen and meals area were both very functional and inviting.  I was so lucky to have done this class with a wonderful group of people. I never felt uncomfortable not knowing anyone else beforehand. Thank you for a great day. Margaret Kerr – Moroccan Cooking Class: Dishes, Spices and Flavours – on Sunday 23rd November 2025.

‘Great cooking class – small, convivial, excellently organised and delivered. Wonderful teacher. Enjoyed my introduction to Moroccan food and cooking; and took away with me some definitely manageable recipes for home. Thank you Tonya.’  Jillian Dwyer, Moroccan Cooking Class: Dishes, Spices and Flavours, 2nd August 2025.

Saturday 5th April 2025.

Melinda Taranto – Moroccan Cooking Class: Dishes, Spices and Flavours

Sunday 23rd February, 2025
A class packed with delicious recipes that you get to be hands-on to create & then feast on in the end!

Thanks again for a wonderful day yesterday. It was very special for us to spend precious time with Renee and Lavinia and we all had a wonderful time. The leftovers went town well for dinner too! Look forward to seeing your photos, Regards,’ Gillian Harrex. Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina – Private Class, Tuesday 17 December, 2024

Anna Xia

‘Tonya hosted another fabulous culinary odyssey to Morocco this time with tales of her travels and scintillating dishes to whet your tastebuds. Mezze dishes include traditional Moroccan flatbread Barbout dipped in Bessara which is fava bean based and a second dip consisting of roasted beetroot, feta and pomegranate molasses plus honey salted eggplants. Main course was a smashing chicken B’Stilla made from whole chicken cooked in homemade stock with just amazing flavours. To finish we had a chocolate, date and almond torte with homemade bergamot ice cream and slices of cinnamon orange supremes. Tonya is a gracious host who has an eye on all the goings on in the kitchen as each team is tasked with a different set of recipes. We all had a great time with a drop of wine and fab meal to enjoy.’ Anna Xia, Saturday 14 October 2023.

‘Tonya, thanks for all the great tips and recipes.  I enjoyed it so much I hope to book another class soon. Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge. I know I would never have tried out these recipes if I’d just found them in a recipe book. I was so enthused about trying the recipes at home that yesterday I got my can of beans from the back of the pantry and made the bean dip which disappeared by the end of the day. It was so delicious and had a few family members visit during the day who all loved it. Today I made the chocolate torte and shared it with neighbours, my husband and a daughter who lives near. It was really quite simple and so very good!! Also did the oranges!! So refreshing !! Today I also bought the ingredients to make the chicken pie so that’s tomorrow night’s dinner. With thanks again for all your information and such a lovely Sunday lunch. Kind regards Jenny Winckle.’ Sunday 18th April 2021.  Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina cooking class.

‘Dear Tonya, Just wanted to say thank you for the great day today, I loved all the recipes and will certainly be making them. I have forwarded a couple of photos to Macarena who gave me the birthday present way back in 2014. You do such a great job, such a happy and friendly atmosphere, and a great group of people with whom you share your home and knowledge…Thanks for sending all the photos they will be great to refer back and see what the recipes looked like, it was such a great day, really enjoyed it.  Many thanks – Mary Harry’, Canterbury, Vic. Sunday 20th February 2022.

‘Dear Tonya,
I just wanted to thank you for taking us on a truly amazing culinary journey on Wednesday! Right from the start you were a gracious host who made our group feel welcome in your home. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful setting to our cooking adventure than the countryside surrounding your home. The view from your back deck is breathtaking and one that you would never grow tired of especially when watching the eagles as they glide on the updrafts through the valley.
Your experience and skill as a chef were on display throughout the day and we were left in no doubt as to your culinary expertise each time you demonstrated a specific skill for the group. Most importantly, it was your guidance and encouragement that gave each member of our group the confidence to cook some very challenging dishes. Each person’s contribution to the group was acknowledged and they were made to feel as though they were a valuable member of the team. Your mentorship also ensured that each person challenged themselves and acquired a new skillset to use in their cooking at home.
It was a very friendly group of people to cook with and I was very impressed with how well everyone worked together in the kitchen (no easy feat in a busy kitchen) to produce some truly delicious dishes and arguably some of the best food I have tasted in a very long time! This was in no small measure due to your mentoring and support.
Thank you once again for your generous hospitality. It was a privilege to learn under such a talented chef and I look forward to participating in another one of your courses. Best wishes, Nicole Reid.’ Brisbane, Qld.  January 7th, 2026.  At Kureelpa, Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina.

‘Hello Tonya – Thank you for all the photos and additional information you have emailed.  I really enjoyed being back at Kureelpa yesterday for the Moroccan cooking class.  It was lovely to meet the U3A group, to cook with them and to later sit down, relax and enjoy the amazing food together.  There certainly was a lot of chatter and laughs which was very special. Thankyou for all the time and effort you put into creating such a special event.’  Rae Guerin, from Bli Bli Qld.  January 1st, 2026.  At Kureelpa, Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina.

Hi Tonya, Absolutely loved the day!  Feeling inspired and planning a Moroccan dinner party soon. 

Brandon just forwarded me the email and photos, thanks so much. Donna Chester.’ Moroccan Spices and Flavours of the Medina, August 2nd, 2025

Maria Baras 
‘Thank you Tonya for an amazing day spent learning about the flavours of Morocco! Starting off with the bessara dip, roasted beetroot, feta and pomegranate dip and honey salted aubergines with batbout flatbread, through to the Moroccan lamb with aubergine, dates and prune tagine and orange and lemon saffron chicken tagine, and finishing off with a Moroccan inspired chocolate, date and almond torte with Turkish delight, rose petals and pistachiosit truly was a feast for the senses!’ Saturday 6th M\April, 2024

‘Hello Tonya, Lovely to hear from you and thank you for your festive season email and updates for cooking classes in 2016! I’m definitely going to do a couple more classes! You’re amazing what you offer and it’s motivating for someone like myself to be enthused by your inspiration.  The Mediterranean cooking class I attended back in February was a highlight of my culinary year and I absolutely loved it. ….’ From Belinda Morrison, Traralgon, Victoria, December 21st, 2015

“Just the best day. Great food and such fun. Spending the day with a fabulous teacher and a fabulous view. Thanks Tonya.”  Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina cooking class Friday 4th October, 2091, Tracey Skinner

‘…Tonya, what a great day I had – loved everything about it. I learned a lot and will certainly be using what I learned, I met some interesting and very entertaining people and loved the energy generated by the group. None of this would happen without you at the front – congratulations on your leadership, gently done. Thank you again, I hope to be back. Maggie’. St Kilda. Sunday 18th April 2021.  Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina cooking class.

Hi Tonya, Thanks so much for the cooking class on Sunday. I really enjoyed it & picked up lots of tips. Also thanks for the photos, I will share them with Kate. Your apartment is the ideal location for cooking classes.  I have a friend who is keen to do a class, maybe French cuisine – so I will be back!  Thanks again, Di Noble, Freshwater Creek, Victoria, July 17th, 2022.

‘Tonya – lovely to meet you and thanks for an enjoyable feast! Elissa & Gordon’,  Victoria, July 17th, 2022.

‘I recently did a one day cooking school, Mediterranean Cooking with a touch of Morocco. I did this with my 89 year old aunt, who is a brilliant cook, and my cousin Julie. There were other students.
We all had an absolutely perfect day, from the welcome coffee (superb!) with a slice of almond ricotta cake, to our final coffee of the day. The food that we cooked, and ate, was unbelievably good, and the ambiance felt like we were in a 5 star restaurant. Tonya has the knack of making even the most complex cooking procedure look easy. I have cooked the entire menu twice now for different groups of friends, to rave reviews. Although I live in Brisbane, I hope to do a new class every time I visit Melbourne. Oh, and the wine was perfectly matched.’ From Sue Robb, Queensland, February 26, 2015

‘Tonya, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed my time with you and all other attendees.  You were so helpful, patient and calm and a delight to be with.  I was amazed that we got everything done in the time.  I also agree that our chats around the dinner table were such a pleasure.  My husband who had gifted your course to me was thrilled that I had enjoyed it so much and is happy for me to do more courses when perhaps back from our travels.  It is really hard to choose a favourite as both main courses were absolutely delicious as was the cake and I particularly liked the aubergine starter which was unusual but really yummy!  But truly I enjoyed everything!! Thank you also for the additional information you sent today which I know I will find useful.   look forward to meeting you again in the not-too-distant future. Kind regards, Rosemary Krongold.’  Victoria. July 2nd 2023.