Best Tagine in Fes — Refined Fassi Slow Cooking

Fes is widely regarded as the birthplace of Morocco's most sophisticated cooking, and its tagines carry that reputation. The signature is a slow-cooked lamb or beef with prunes, apricots or dates, almonds and a whisper of cinnamon and honey — richer and sweeter than the coastal versions, balanced by savoury onion and saffron. Chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives is the everyday classic, and mqualli (a saffron-and-ginger style) and mhammer (a paprika-and-cumin style) are the two great Fassi sauce families to know.

What sets a Fassi tagine apart is restraint and layering: the spicing is deep but never harsh, the sauce reduced to a glossy, almost jammy base, and the garnishes — toasted almonds, sesame, soft-cooked fruit — added with care. Look for tagines made with khlii (preserved dried meat cooked in its own fat), a Fassi speciality that gives an intense, aged depth, sometimes served folded through eggs for breakfast.

The medina of Fes el-Bali — the largest car-free urban area in the world — is where to eat. Traditional restaurants set in restored riads plate tagines beautifully, while the small canteens along Talaa Kebira and Talaa Seghira and near the R'cif and Boujloud gates serve honest workers' versions at lunch. As in Marrakech, a tagine is a lunch dish that rewards arriving hungry in the early afternoon.

Order a tagine to share with plenty of Fassi bread — the round khobz here is excellent — and don't be surprised by the sweetness of the fruit versions; it is the point. A glass of mint tea to finish, and you have eaten as Fassis have for centuries.