17 Apr Bedouin review
Bedouin has spiced it up – When you walk through the door of Bedouin you get transported to a different part of the world. The restaurant wraps around you straight away with its stunning interior design. I am a big fan of Bedouin and if I do have the chance I share it with the guests on my tours. They all love it! Unfortunately, we don’t have time to sit down here for a bite to eat as you need to have time to enjoy it.
Foudil the owner sourced all the decoration from local tribes in Northern Africa and it certainly has paid off. Over the last few years, he struggled to get good chefs who know how to get the best out of the North African spices. It’s always fascinating talking to him ‘you can’t learn to cook, you need to have it your fingers’. That certainly is true. In this part of the world, they don’t use cookery books, they get taught by their mothers and grandmothers. When I visited Marrakech last year we took part in a Shop & Cook experience and when I mentioned to one of the Morrocan women, that the recipe was different from what she was telling me, she waved with her hands indicating that her word was right and not the recipe… Her act did put a smile on my face as I never follow a recipe, they are there as a basis and you add your own identity to it by changing it.
Foudil, the owner of Bedouin is often away and has passed the management over to his son Karim. New blood and changes… Nothing has changed in the interior, but Karim certainly has spiced it up. He has gone back to the roots and took on Algerian chef’s, who ‘have it in the fingers’ and how to get the best out of the spices. I was very impressed with what was dished up last night. Nothing fancy, but down to earth good North African cuisine. How it should be!
I started off with Sardines followed by slow cooked lamb. Not many people like sardines as they can be very oily and bitter. My other half always stays away from it, but I convinced him that he should try one of them as they were delicious. And they were. Even he was taken by it.
Looking for something different and authentic, then Bedouin is definitely a place to head off too.
Gerla
p.s. even the pickles have gone back to their roots!
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