Medieval and Early Modern Voices on Morocco’s Imperial City of Food, Trade, and Knowledge
Fez is one of Morocco’s great imperial cities. Founded in the early Islamic centuries of Morocco, it grew into a crossroads of power, learning, craftsmanship, and exchange. Al-Qarawiyyin gave it an intellectual authority that still resonates today.
Its place in Moroccan cuisine was not built overnight. It came from centuries of dense, continuous urban life. Fez did not invent Moroccan cuisine on its own, but it gave Moroccan urban food culture a powerful form through its households, souks, artisans, scholars, merchants, and deep traditions of hospitality.
The city was built in layers: Amazigh foundations, Arab-Islamic institutions, Andalusian families, Moroccan Jewish communities, Saharan and Sub-Saharan trade connections, and craftsmen arriving from every region. Out of this long history of encounter emerged a city where culinary knowledge was preserved, transformed, and carried outward.
Fez as a Crossroads of Taste and Culinary Memory
What makes Fez a central place in Morocco’s food history is its ability to concentrate knowledge and give it an urban form. Its role was not limited to the recipes of great households. It also lay in how the city organized food supply, craft production, market exchange, hospitality, and everyday domestic life.
The city was embedded in a vast network of routes. Goods did not need to travel directly from China or India to reach Fez. They moved through successive circuits — from the eastern Islamic world, Egypt, Ifriqiya, Mediterranean ports, Europe, Saharan routes, and Sub-Saharan markets — before reaching Morocco’s great commercial centers. Fez received these products, redistributed some, and transformed many others through its souks, workshops, kitchens, and codes of taste.
Fez was also a city that made things. Its name carried genuine commercial value, because the goods found there were not only sold; they were often created there. Leatherwork, jewelry, metalwork, textiles, pottery, vessels, and utensils left Fez for Moroccan and foreign markets alike. The reputation of “made in Fez” was no decorative phrase. It reflected an urban economy built on skilled hands, organized trades, and recognized quality.
This double movement — receiving and producing — forged the city’s culinary authority. Spices, aromatics, grains, oils, honeys, textiles, metals, vessels, and techniques flowed in through merchant and caravan networks. Once in Fez, they were not simply stored or resold. Traders classified them. Artisans worked them. Scholars and physicians interpreted them. Families wove them into everyday meals, festive dishes, preserves, sweets, remedies, and gestures of welcome.
Fez should therefore be understood as one of Morocco’s great cities of transmission — not a city that invented everything, but one that knew how to receive, transform, produce, and circulate living culinary knowledge through markets, families, crafts, learning, trade, and memory.
Fez in Earlier Written Testimonies
Fez was written about before it was fully seen by the modern reader. Across the centuries, geographers, travelers, historians, physicians, and chroniclers approached the city from different angles. Some recorded its river, springs, gates, and mills. Others described its markets, shops, fondouks, food sellers, herbs, crafts, scholarly institutions, and systems of urban order.
Read together, these testimonies reveal a city whose strength lay in organization. Water moved through its houses and markets. Mills turned grain into food. Souks gathered trades and kept crafts in their proper quarters. Fondouks received merchants and their goods. Knowledge passed through mosques, schools, apothecaries, workshops, and family homes.
The testimonies that follow are arranged from the oldest to the most recent. Each passage preserves the Arabic wording first, followed by an English translation.
Ibn Hawqal — 10th century
Author: Ibn Hawqal
Book: The Configuration of the Earth
Arabic title: Kitab Surat al-Ard
« وفاس: مدينتان يشق بينهما نهر، وفي فاس عدة عيون تجري، وللمدينتين ثلاثة عشر بابا، والمياه تطحن غلاتهم، وبالمدينتين أزيد من ثلاث مائة رحى... »
“Fez consists of two cities, with a river running between them. In Fez, several springs flow, and the two cities have thirteen gates. The waters grind their crops, and in the two cities there are more than three hundred mills...”
Al-Bakri — 11th century
Author: Abu Ubayd al-Bakri
Book: The Book of Routes and Kingdoms
Arabic title: Kitab al-Masalik wa-al-Mamalik
« ومدينة فاس مدينتان بينهما نهر يطرد وارحاء وقناطر، وعلى باب دار الرجل فيها رحاه وبستانه. »
“The city of Fez consists of two cities, between which a continuous river flows, with mills and bridges. At the door of a man’s house, one finds his mill and his orchard.”
Al-Idrisi — 12th century
Author: Al-Sharif al-Idrisi
Book: The Excursion of One Who Longs to Cross the Horizons
Arabic title: Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq
« ومدينة فاس مدينتان بينهما نهر كبير يأتي من عيون تسمى عيون صنهاجة وعليه في داخل المدينة أرحاء كثيرة تطحن بها الحنطة بلا ثمن له خطر... وأما مدينة القرويين فمياهها كثيرة تجري منها في كل شارع وفي كل زقاق ساقية... وفي كل دار منها صغيرة كانت أو كبيرة ساقية ماء. »
“The city of Fez consists of two cities, between which runs a large river coming from springs called the springs of Sanhaja. Inside the city, many mills stand upon it, grinding wheat at little cost. As for the city of al-Qarawiyyin, its waters are abundant; from them, a watercourse runs through every street and every alley. In every house, whether small or large, there is a channel of water.”
Yaqut al-Hamawi — 13th century
Author: Yaqut al-Hamawi
Book: Dictionary of Countries
Arabic title: Mu‘jam al-Buldan
« وبفاس يصبغ الارجوان والاكسية القرمزية، وقلعتها في ارفع موضع فيها يشقها نهر يسمى الماء المفروش، اذا تجاوز القلعة ادار رحى هناك، وفيها ثلاثة جوامع يخطب يوم الجمعة في جميعها. »
“In Fez, purple dye and crimson garments are produced. Its citadel stands at the highest point of the city, crossed by a river called al-Ma al-Mafroush; after passing the citadel, it turns a mill there. The city has three congregational mosques where the Friday sermon is delivered.”
Ibn Abi Zarʿ al-Fasi — 14th century
Author: Ibn Abi Zarʿ al-Fasi
Book: The Entertaining Companion in the Garden of Pages
Arabic title: Al-Anis al-Mutrib bi-Rawd al-Qirtas
« كانت فاس أزهر مدن المغرب وأعمرها. وفي عهد المنصور الموحدي وخلفائه، أحصيت بها سبعمائة وخمسة وثمانون مسجدا وزاوية، واثنان وأربعون دار وضوء، وثمانون سقاية، أي مائة واثنان وعشرون موضعا للطهارة بماء العيون والأنهار. »
“Fez was the most flourishing and populated city of the Maghreb. Under al-Mansur the Almohad and his successors, it counted 785 mosques and oratories, 42 ablution houses, and 80 public fountains, making 122 places of purification supplied by spring and river water.”
« وفي عهد الناصر، أحصي بالمدينة أربعمائة وسبعة وستون فندقا معدة للتجار والمسافرين ومن لا مأوى لهم، وتسعة آلاف واثنان وثمانون حانوتا، وقيساريتان، إحداهما في عدوة الأندلس قرب وادي مصمودة، والأخرى في عدوة القيروانيين. »
“Under al-Nasir, the city counted 467 fondouks prepared for merchants, travelers, and those without shelter, 9,082 shops, and two qaysariyas: one in the Andalusian quarter near Wadi Masmouda, and the other in the Qarawiyyin quarter.”
« وأحصي بفاس ثلاثة آلاف وأربعة وستون موضعا للصناعة، ومائة وسبعة عشر مغسلا عاما، وستة وثمانون دارا للدباغة، ومائة وست عشرة دارا للصباغة، واثنا عشر موضعا تشتغل فيه صناعة النحاس. »
“Fez counted 3,064 places of manufacture, 117 public washing places, 86 tanneries, 116 dyeing houses, and 12 places where copperwork was practiced.”
« واستقر الصباغون، لقربهم من الماء، على شاطئي وادي الكبير من حيث مدخل المدينة حتى بوملية. وكذلك بنى صناع السفنج وباعة لحم الغزال وغيره من اللحوم المطبوخة أفرانهم الصغيرة في ذلك الموضع، وفوقهم في الطابق الأول استقر جميع صناع الحايك. »
“The dyers settled, because of their closeness to water, on both banks of the Oued Kebir from the point where it enters the city to Boumelia. The makers of sfenj and the sellers of gazelle meat and other cooked meats also built their small ovens in that place, and above them, on the first floor, all the makers of haiks established themselves.”
Ali al-Jaznai — 14th century
Author: Ali al-Jaznai
Book: The Harvest of Myrtle Flowers on the Building of the City of Fez
Arabic title: Jana Zahrat al-As fi Bina Madinat Fas
« ثم ان اودية فاس تنقسم داخل المدينة وتتفرق في ازقتها، وتدخل الى جميع جوامعها ومساجدها وفنادقها وحماماتها ودورها، فلا تبقى دار الا وفيها من الماء منفسح... »
“Then the rivers of Fez divide inside the city and spread through its alleys, entering all of its congregational mosques, local mosques, fondouks, bathhouses, and homes, so that no house remains without an ample share of water...”
« فاما ما بها من الارحاء التي تطحن بالماء، فعدتها كثيرة جدا، وهي دائرة في جميع فصول السنة لا تعطل ليلا ولا نهارا... »
“As for the mills there that grind by water, their number is very large, and they turn through every season of the year, never stopping by night or by day...”
« وهي غيضة ملتفة بالعيون والانهار والاشجار، كثيرة الخيرات، طيبة الثمار... »
“It is a dense grove surrounded by springs, rivers, and trees, abundant in good things and rich in excellent fruits...”
Ibn Abd al-Munim al-Himyari — 14th century
Author: Ibn Abd al-Munim al-Himyari
Book: The Fragrant Garden in the News of Lands
Arabic title: Al-Rawd al-Mitar fi Khabar al-Aqtar
« وبمدينة فاس كثيرة الخصب والرخاء كثيرة البساتين والمزروعات والفواكه وجميع الثمار، ولها اقطار واسعة متصلة الاعمار. »
“The city of Fez is rich in fertility and prosperity, with many gardens, cultivated lands, fruits, and all kinds of produce. It has broad surrounding districts with continuous settlement.”
« وينسب الى فاس من التفاح صنفان، جليل كبير جدا، لا يوجد بمصر ولا بالشام ولا بالاندلسيين اطيب منه. »
“Two kinds of apples are associated with Fez: large and remarkable varieties, whose taste is not surpassed in Egypt, Syria, or al-Andalus.”
« وبها من الأترج ما يعظم حجمه ويطيب ريحه. »
“It also has citron fruits whose size becomes large and whose fragrance is pleasing.”
« وكذلك يصاد بفاس من سمك الشابل شيء كبير، وهو مما يحمله الوادي اليها من نهر سبو. »
“In Fez, a large quantity of shabel fish is also caught; it is among what the watercourse carries to the city from the Sebou River.”
Note:
Shabel refers to shad, more precisely allis shad (Alosa alosa) in the Moroccan context. It is an anadromous fish from the herring family: it lives in the Atlantic Ocean and moves upstream into freshwater to reproduce. This explains why it historically reached Fez through the Sebou river system.
Ibn Battuta — 14th century
Author: Ibn Battuta
Book: A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travel
Arabic title: Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi Gharaib al-Amsar wa Ajaib al-Asfar
Section: “Arrival in Fez and Prosperity in the Maghreb”
Arabic section title: الوصول إلى فاس والرخاء بالمغرب
In the section titled “Arrival in Fez and Prosperity in the Maghreb,” Ibn Battuta places Fez at the center of his return to Morocco. From the Marinid capital, he reflects on the abundance of the wider Maghreb. The wording of the citations remains regional, but their narrative position follows his arrival in Fez.
« وألقيت عصى التسيار ببلاده الشريفة، بعد أن تحققت بفضل الإنصاف أنها أحسن البلدان، لأن الفواكه بها متيسرة والمياه والأقوات غير متعذرة. »
“And I laid down the staff of travel in his noble land, after realizing, in all fairness, that it was the finest of countries, for fruits are readily available there, and water and provisions are not difficult to obtain.”
« وهذا كله متيسر بالمغرب لكن أغنى الله عنه بكثرة اللحم والسمن والزبد والعسل وسوى ذلك. »
“All of this is available in the Maghreb, yet God has made it unnecessary there through the abundance of meat, smen, fresh butter, honey, and other provisions.”
« فإذا تأملت ذلك كله تبين لك أن بلاد المغرب أرخص البلاد أسعارا وأكثرها خيرات وأعظمها مرافق وفوائد. »
“When all of this is considered, it becomes clear that the lands of the Maghreb have the lowest prices, the greatest abundance of good things, and the greatest public benefits.”
Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatib — 14th century
Author: Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatib
Book: The Criterion of Choice in the Description of Places and Lands
Arabic title: Miyar al-Ikhtiyar fi Dhikr al-Maahid wa-al-Diyar
Ibn al-Khatib does not describe Fez only through markets or numbers. In this poetic passage, he evokes a waterwheel turning above the river and gardens. The image transforms flowing water into silver and light, showing how strongly water shaped the visual memory of the city.
« فبين الثريا والثرى سد جرمها ... وللفلك الدوار قد أصبحت تحكي
تصوغ لجين النهر في الروض دائما ... دراهم نور قد خلصن من السبك »
“Between the Pleiades and the earth, its great body fills the space, as it imitates the turning celestial sphere.
In the gardens, it shapes the river’s silver into coins of light, pure from the casting.”
Note:
The passage describes a noria, a waterwheel used to raise and distribute water. Ibn al-Khatib turns this practical hydraulic device into a cosmic image: the wheel resembles the rotating sky, and the water it lifts becomes “silver” and “coins of light.”
Hassan al-Wazzan / Leo Africanus — 16th century
Author: Hassan al-Wazzan, also known as Leo Africanus
Book: Description of Africa
Original title: Descrittione dell’Africa
Hassan al-Wazzan presents Fez through its houses, scholarly institutions, specialized markets, and organized trades. His testimony links domestic comfort, intellectual authority, and commercial order in one urban portrait.
« بيوت فاس في غاية الاتقان والجمال، وكلها مبنية بالاجر والحجر الجيد، ومطلية بالجص، وتكاد لا تجد دارا شريفة الا وفي وسطها فناء واسع مبلط بالرخام الملون، يجري فيه جدول ماء ينبع من النهر الرئيسي، يصب في صهاريج مخصصة للوضوء والنظافة. »
“The houses of Fez are built with remarkable skill and beauty. They are made of fine brick and stone and coated with plaster. One can hardly find a noble residence without a spacious courtyard at its center, paved with colored marble, through which a stream of water flows from the main river into basins used for ablution and cleanliness.”
« جامع القرويين هو اعظم جامع في مدينة فاس، وله كفاءة معمارية عجيبة، وفيه تلتقي حلق العلم. ولهذا الجامع ثلاثون بابا كبيرا، وميزانيته من الاوقاف ضخمة جدا، تنفق على القضاة والمفتين والخطباء والمدرسين، ومؤذني الليل والنهار، والذين يكنسون المسجد ويوقدون قناديله. »
“The Qarawiyyin Mosque is the greatest mosque in the city of Fez, with remarkable architectural organization, and within it circles of learning gather. This mosque has thirty large gates, and its endowment budget is very large, supporting judges, muftis, preachers, teachers, night and day muezzins, and those who sweep the mosque and light its lamps.”
« كل حرفة في فاس لها سوق خاص بها لا يختلط بغيره، فسوق العطارين معزول، وسوق الاحذية على حدة، وكذلك الدباغون والنساجون. والاسواق مغطاة بسقوف من الخشب تقي الناس حر الشمس ومطر الشتاء، ولا يسمح لاصحاب المهن الملوثة او المزعجة ان يجاوروا اسواق السلع الثمينة كالمرجان والحرير. »
“Every craft in Fez has its own dedicated market and does not mix with another. The market of the spice and perfume dealers is separate, the shoe market stands apart, and the same is true of the tanners and weavers. The markets are covered with wooden roofs that protect people from the heat of the sun and the winter rain, and those practicing polluting or disruptive trades are not allowed to stand beside markets of precious goods such as coral and silk.”
Al-Wazir al-Ghassani — 16th century
Author: Al-Wazir al-Ghassani
Book: Garden of Flowers Explaining the Nature of Herbs and Drugs
Arabic title: Hadiqat al-Azhar fi Mahiyyat al-‘Ushb wa-al-‘Aqqar
« والمرزنجوش كثير بالمغرب، ويزرعه أهل مدينة فاس في منازلهم وفوق سطوحهم لطيب رائحته ونفعه في الأطعمة والأدوية، وكذلك الحبق بأنواعه، وتعتني به النساء في البيوت وفوق سطوحهن لما فيه من منافع لأهل البيت. »
“Sweet marjoram is abundant in Morocco. The people of Fez grow it in their houses and on their terraces because of its pleasant scent and its usefulness in foods and medicines. The same is true of the different kinds of basil, which women care for in homes and on their terraces because of the benefits it brings to the household.”
Note: al-Wazir means “the Vizier.”
Luis del Marmol Carvajal — 16th century
Author: Luis del Marmol Carvajal
Book: General Description of Africa
Original title: Descripción general de África
« بيوت فاس مبنية بالآجر أو بالحجر المشدود بالجير أو الإسمنت، وهي أجمل من الخارج ومن الداخل. وفيها شقق جميلة، مبيضة ومبلطة بقطع صغيرة شديدة النظافة. »
“The houses of Fez are built of brick or stone joined with lime or cement, and they are more beautiful inside than outside. They contain fine apartments, whitened and paved with small tiles, very neat and clean.”
« وفي بيوت الأعيان خزائن داخل الجدران، وأقواس من الجص الأبيض، مزينة بأشكال وأوراق مصبوغة بألوان مختلفة. »
“In the houses of notable people, there are cupboards set into the walls and arches of white plaster, decorated with figures and foliage painted in different colors.”
« وفي وسط المدينة موضع محاط بالأسوار يسمى القيسارية، توجد فيه حوانيت التجار، وفيه ثروات فاس كلها. »
“In the middle of the city there is an enclosed place surrounded by walls, called the qaysariya, where the merchants’ shops are found, and where the riches of Fez are gathered.”
« وفيها شارع جميل يسمى شارع العطارين، يضم مئة وسبعين حانوتا. ومن بين هذه الحوانيت عدة حوانيت للعشابين، يصنعون المراهم والأدوية. »
“It has a beautiful street called the street of the spice dealers, containing one hundred and seventy shops. Among these shops are several herbalists, who prepare ointments and remedies.”
« وعلى مسافة قريبة يوجد موضع آخر يقيم فيه رئيس التجار، وهو الذي يحدد أسعار الأقوات ويراقب الأوزان والمكاييل. »
“A little farther on there is another place where the head of the merchants resides; he sets the prices of provisions and supervises weights and measures.”
The Muhtasib and the Control of Fraud in the Moroccan Souk
The organization of Fez’s souks, ovens, workshops, tanneries, dyers, and food trades was not left to chance. During the Marinid period, the commercial density of the city required permanent control. The muhtasib and the amins supervised weights, measures, product quality, craft practices, and the public visibility of goods, so that fraud could be detected before it damaged trust in the market.
Ahmad al-Wansharisi — 15th century
Author: Ahmad al-Wansharisi
Book: The Clear Standard
Arabic title: Al-Mi‘yar al-Mu‘rib
« فيأمرهم بصنع طابع ينقش فيه اسمه ويطبع به على خبزه ليتميز خبز كل واحد على حدة. »
“He orders them to make a stamp engraved with his name and to print it on his bread, so that each baker’s bread can be distinguished separately.”
This made bread traceable. If the bread was underweight, poorly made, or mixed with inferior flour, the responsible baker could be identified.
Al-Saqati al-Malaqi — 13th century
Author: al-Saqati al-Malaqi
Book: On the Types of Fraud and Deception
Arabic title: Al-Kalam ala Anwa al-Ghish wa-al-Khida
« فقد كان السقطي الذي اشتغل في شؤون الحسبة يراقب الأرحاء بواسطة الشهود والأمناء من أجل المحافظة على قيمة الدقيق حتى لا يطاله الغش. »
“Al-Saqati, who worked in matters of hisba, supervised the mills through witnesses and amins in order to preserve the value of the flour and prevent fraud from affecting it.”
The control of flour was central because bread, couscous, porridges, and daily food depended on honest milling.
Dyers and Textile Control
« وكان للمحتسب دور فعال في تنظيمهم، وذلك لتعرض هذه الحرفة كغيرها من الحرف للغش والتدليس... كما أوجبهم أن يكتبوا على الثياب أسماءهم لئلا يتبدل منها شيء. »
“The muhtasib had an active role in organizing them, because this craft, like other crafts, was exposed to fraud and deception... He also required them to write their names on the garments so that nothing could be exchanged or substituted.”
This rule controlled textile fraud by linking each dyed garment to the artisan responsible for it.
Tanners and Leather Fraud
« وقد اتخذ المحتسب مجموعة من الإجراءات لمنعهم من الغش، فيجب أن يعين لهذه الحرفة رجلا ثقة ويراقبهم يوميا... »
“The muhtasib took a set of measures to prevent them from committing fraud: a trustworthy man had to be appointed for this craft, and he had to supervise them daily...”
This shows direct surveillance of leather work. The tanner was not left alone with the material; the craft required daily inspection because hidden fraud could affect the quality of leather goods sold in the souk.