Medina Feast: Cook with a Dada in a Family Riad

It starts in the souk, where Youssef’s family has traded spice for four generations. You’ll shop for the meal the way his family does — smelling, arguing, laughing — and pay local prices, because with Youssef there is no tourist tax.

Then his family’s riad opens its doors. His aunt, a dada — a traditional Moroccan cook trained from childhood — leads the cooking: tagine from scratch, bread sent to the communal oven down the lane, mint tea poured from a height you will attempt and fail to match.

Lunch happens around the courtyard fountain and takes as long as it takes.