Fez Culinary Festival

The View from Fez is delighted to learn than the Fez Culinary Festival will be held from 29-31 October at various venues in the medina.

This 5th edition of the festival will offer an exhibition, tastings, workshops and talkshops, demonstrations, a gala dinner with a fashion show, a film screening for children, a visit to the souk and even a concert.

The woman behind this revamped, innovative-sounding festival is Director Danielle Cabanis, Professor of Law and Politics at Toulouse University. It will be presented by the Spirit of Fez Foundation.

'In Fez', Cabanis explains, 'all the traditions, cultures and religions are found. The Culinary Festival this year will showcase the celebratory foods of the three Abrahamic faiths, and bring together spirituality, music, exhibitions and cooking. Sharing festival food together in some of the most beautiful buildings of the city will create a festive spirit of conviviality.'

Danielle Cabanis

As was seen at the recent Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, a wider range of medina venues will be used than in the past, including Dar Mokri, Bab al Makina, the Batha Museum, Dar Tazi, the Merinides Hotel and the Palais Jamai.

Here is the programme:

FRIDAY 29 OCTOBER

14h00 Opening at Bab al Makina

15h00 Opening of the exhibition:

Celebration table settings:

- traditional Moroccan, European and Asian

- tableware from Morocco, Italy, Portugal, France and Germany

- glass and metalware from France and the Czech Republic

Cookbooks: celebratory meals from around the Mediterranean. Authors in attendance for signing and talking about their books.

Cooking utensils old and new

Diaporama of music used for festivals

16h00 Workshops:

1. Small Christmas cakes: Inge Anex-Hegenscheidt

2. Ramadan patisserie

3. Patisserie for children

18h30 Tastings

Film screening for children 'Ratatouille' in the Salle de la Mairie

20h00 Dinner: traditional Muslim dishes

SATURDAY 30 OCTOBER

09h00 Workshops:

1. Traditional Moroccan spices and flavours for celebrations

2. Foie Gras (chef B. Garrigues); Christmas pudding

3. Cheese, with Mme Sena

4. a top Swiss chocolatier

09h30 Opening of activities around culinary traditions: demonstrations and tastings

10h00 Conference:

- Festive gastonomy: an important market (with representatives from Nestle, poultry and ostrich farmers, and the Moroccan food distribution industry)

- Frauds and festivals - or consumer protection, with Prof Andre Cabanis

- Religious and patriotic festivals in the USA, with Sylvie Davidson, Professor at Dickinson College

Light lunch with traditional Christian and Muslim dishes, attended by the wives of ambassadors.

14h30 Workshops and tastings:

1. Small Christmas cakes, with Inge Anex-Hegenscheidt

2. Ramadan patisserie

3. Table settings, presentation and serviette-folding, with Professor Christophe Laurent of the Lausanne Hotel School

4. Demonstration of cooking equipment

15h00 Conference:

- Festive meals in painting, with Guy de Toulza, Ecole des Beaux Arts

- Musicians and festive gastronomy, with Marc Laborde, Director of CRDP

- Festivals as seen by writers, with Georges Mailhos, former President of Toulouse Le Mirail

- Meals for festivals and sharing, with Danielle Cabanis

19h00 Concert with soloists from the Passions Orchestra

20h30 Gala dinner: pastilla, turkey, Christmas desserts

with a Moroccan and European fashion show

SUNDAY 31 OCTOBER

09h00 Workshops:

1. Festival menus revisited (with video and reports)

2. Decor for religious festivals: pinecones, candleholders, balls and chandeliers

3. Festival fruits and vegetables, with Mme Matthey

4. Iranian cocktails

10h30 Conference:

- Does God like festivals? with Chantal Borde-Benayoun, a Moroccan rabbi, Pastor Ellul, Bernard Beignier from the Law faculty at Toulouse, an imam

12h00 Buffet prepared by the Moroccan Jewish community

from 13h00

Tasting lunch at Bab al Makina with typical dishes from around the world: pilau from central Asia, nasi-goreng from Indonesia, poulet yassa from sub-Saharan Africa, Lebanese mezze, fish couscous, canard confit, Mediterranean kebabs, galettes and crepes, olives, Russian dishes, Polish desserts

Sale of typical products

Musicians: Arab-Andalous, central European Jewish music, children's Christmas choir

15h00 A visit to the vegetable souk

17h00 Closure and announcement of 2011 Festival

It's not clear yet where everything will be held, nor what the costs will be. The Festival's website is under construction at www.festivalartculinaire.com.