Fez

Fez is a World Heritage Site and for Ainsley it’s an opportunity to step back in time and enjoy the truly authentic flavours of Morocco. The spice shops sell preserved lemons, olives in clay jars and bowls of fiery hot, bright red harissa. Ainsley cooks chicken kebabs with a harissa yoghurt dressing over coals in one of the backstreets. Ainsley arrives in the Moroccan city of Fez a few days before the festival of Eid. The celebration begins with the slaughter of sheep on Medina rooftops and ends with a feast. Ainsley is invited into the homes of local people to discover why these ancient traditions remain significant in the modern world. There are very few ovens in Fez homes, so most make use of the locals bakers and the furnaces beneath the public bath houses. Ainsey uses one to make a filo pastry bastilla pie filled with saffron-braised chicken, spiced nuts and golden onions. He also prepares a shoulder of lamb slow cooked with North African spices and a carrot and chickpea salad dressed wth the much-loved marinade, chermoula.