North Africa for food lovers

Look for couscous m'hassel, with saffron, raisins, almonds and cinnamon, plus chicken or lamb and loubia, a basic but delicious white bean stew with tomatoes, garlic, paprika and ginger. Both are found in the little eateries of the medina for a handful of dirhams and will help sustain you through the maze of souks and madrasas (Islamic schools). Then there are ambrosial tagines made with apricots, prunes and walnuts, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, or tfaya (succulent lamb with curling ribbons of caramelized carrot). It may not sound great for vegetarians, but Fassis excel at starter salads of honeyed tomatoes, carrots with cinnamon and orange, sweet potato with raisins or grilled peppers with preserved lemons.

Where to eat

Palais de Fez (15 Mokhfia Er'cif, next to Amal Cinema; 00 212 35 761590) is in a spectacular location overlooking the medina. This rambling traditional restaurant offers great Fassi classics and particularly delicious vegetarian salads.

The dauntingly luxurious Riad Fes (5 Derb Ben Slimane Zerbtana; 212 35 947610) offers Fassi cuisine with a sophisticated twist. Many dishes were developed from the family recipes of its owners, the Sefriouis. Try the superior harira (lentil and chick pea soup), and frakh maamar (pigeon stuffed with semolina, raisins and almonds).

Top food experience

As dusk kicks in and the 350 muezzin of old Fez tune up, a magical gastronomic moment unfolds in the alleyways around Place El Rcif. With nothing like the intensity of Marrakesh's D'jema El Fnaa, the Fez equivalent is low-key and peripatetic. Graze on fat, juicy dates, down a bowl of snail soup served from a cart, scoop up creamy yoghurt out of a glass then finish with honey-steeped pastries from the shops of Bab Sensla.

What to bring back

Stock your store-cupboard with tiny dried rosebuds, packets of precious saffron threads, ras-el-hanout (an exotic mixed spice with 20-30 ingredients), orange-blossom water and jars of preserved lemons, all found in the tiny medieval shops of Souk Attarine.

Where to stay

La Maison Bleue (2 Place de L'Istiqlal Batha; 00 212 35 636052; maison bleue.com) is a restaurant known for Fassi cuisine served in a tiled and carved patio to Oud and Gnaoua music. But it's also a small hotel with five suites and one standard room. Standard doubles from £123 a night including breakfast; Audley Travel (01993 838 400; audleytravel.com) has three nights at La Maison Bleue as part of a 10-day tour of Morocco from £1,800 per person including flights, transfers, accommodation and private guided tours.

Tunis

What to eat

Tunisian food is vastly different from that of Morocco. This is where harissa, that fiery red chilli paste, steps in, and sugar makes a fast exit from the stewpot. The Ottoman imprint lingers (the Turks governed Tunisia for 300 years before the French took over in the 1880s), alongside the French and Italian input. In the Marche Central you get an idea of the sheer abundance, variety and freshness - from creamy ricout (ricotta) to hefty tuna, sprawling octopus, crusty bread and mountains of rose petals for making rosewater.

Forget the messy brik a l'oeuf (runny egg in pastry) of tourist restaurants; Tunisians know how to exploit their Mediterranean ingredients. What doesn't change is the North African lust for grilled lamb, often at its best at roadside truck stops on the long haul south to the Sahara. Typical salads are mechouia (grilled peppers with onions, tomato and garlic), and chakchouka (ratatouille spiked with harissa). Organic olive oil of a deep mossy green is used with hedonistic abandon. More filling are doigts de Fatma, pastries resembling spring rolls which envelop prawns, capers, preserved lemon, ricotta and harissa. Divine. Fish is hugely popular and the choice vast; they'll bake it, grill it, stuff it and even make fish couscous.

What Tunisians call tagine is closer to Moroccan b'stela, but less common. Instead Tunisians indulge in slow-cooked ragouts, without fruit and often with pickles. To finish, look for samsa (almond and sesame pastries dowsed in geranium or orange-blossom syrup).

Where to eat

Dar El Jeld (5-10 Rue Dar El Jeld, Tunis El Medina; 00 216 71 560916) is the restaurant for epicurian Tunisian fare (though prices can be high), served in a beautifully restored 18th-century riad on the edge of the medina. Fluffy couscous, kabkabou (sea bass with tomatoes, capers and preserved lemon), and beef and olive stew are often on the menu, as are excellent Tunisian wines.

Enjoy romantic views across the bay of Tunis plus good Franco-Tunisian cuisine at Au Bon Vieux Temps (56 Rue Hedi Zarrouk, Sidi Bou Said; 00 216 71 744733). The emphasis is on seafood, whether baked, spicy or with couscous.

Chez Slah (14 bis rue Pierre de Coubertin, Tunis; 00 216 71 258588) is an atmospheric French-style villa, a haven for those with a passion for poisson. They also dish up simple fresh fruit with whipped cream for dessert, a change from sticky patisseries.

Top food experience

For a sense of the medina away from tourists and pushy shoppers, have lunch in a tiny vaulted white space which squeezes in five tables at Restaurant El Abed (Souk Essakajine 2). Across the alleyway smoke billows from the kitchen where stewed lamb or sizzling brochettes are cooking. Your starter is invariably a crisp salad of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and green pepper. Humble but perfect.

What to bring

Haggle for a tin-plated copper basin, hand-smelted and polished, from the Souk du Cuivre. For dried fruits, nuts, spices and sugared almonds, stock up at El-Zraria (17 Rue Mongi Slim). In shops around the Marche Central, buy olive oil or exquisite wild honey straight from the barrel, and if you spot a bottle of boukha (fig liqueur), grab it. It slips down beautifully when chilled.

Where to stay

The Dar Said (00 216 71 729666; darsaid.com.tn) in the tiny blue and white village of Sidi Bou Said 20km from Tunis, is a 24-room whitewashed hotel, dripping with bougainvillea. There are snacks around the small pool, but it's really just an idyllic base from which to explore. Wander down to the Sidi Chabaane cafe for sweet pine-nut tea on terraces with stunning views of the marina. Doubles from £84, breakfast £6; Wigmore Holidays (020 7836 4999; aspectsof tunisia.co.uk) has a three-night package from £560, including flights, transfers and breakfasts.

Tripoli

What to eat

Libya is far less westernised than Tunisia, and under Colonel Gaddafi, gastronomy has taken a bit of a back seat. The leader himself sticks to simple Bedouin fare washed down with frothy, bittersweet tuareg tea spiked with desert sage, though in spring he may indulge in terfez, Libya's exquisite desert truffles. There is no alcohol in Libya - officially at least, though search a bit and you may find a welcome drop of poteen.

Although Roman occupation left Libya with stunning ruins, it was in the 17th century that Tripoli's cuisine really benefited from Italian input, which later fused with Ottoman. Today, despite being less gastro-sophisticated than its neighbours, Tripoli boasts a passion for pasta as well as fish caught that morning. Couscous is also popular, traditionally made with millet and sometimes served with meat, while dishes such as mashi dolma (stuffed vegetables) hail from Turkey. Above all, Libyans excel at shorba, the spicy soups that kick off every meal, and the pastries which end it. Varied and subtle, these veer from Ottoman pistachio styles to Italian semi-freddos. Air-conditioned pastry shops do a roaring trade long into the night. Breakfasts also provide a gourmet moment, with fresh white cheese, juicy tomatoes, dates and black olives.

Where to eat

Athar (Marcus Aurelius Arch Square; 00 218 21 444 7001) is Tripoli's best restaurant, frequented by local movers and shakers. Try the fish couscous with pumpkin in a spicy broth; this is tasty, gutsy fare.

In the shadow of Tripoli's landmark castle, Essaa (Essaa Square; 00 218 21 219 0683) is a first-floor restaurant offering tasty soups including the national classic, shorba libiya, a nourishing fest of lamb, chickpeas and spices. If garlic and lemon prawns or haraimi ('fiery' fish) are on the menu, tuck in.

At Abia (Zanqa Souk; 00 218 92 501 0736), you can join local shopkeepers for lunch. Enjoy sumptuous fish and luscious salads amid tiled walls and flowery plastic tablecloths. The pace is fast and furious.

Top food experience

After nightfall, take a taxi along Al Fatih highway to the Hoffra seafood market. It may not be glam, but you'll find tuna, red mullet, grouper, eel, whiting, sea bass, squid, tanks of live prawns, all displayed for hand-picking, then barbecued to perfection in the small restaurants. The gastro-buzz is intensified by clouds of smoke enveloping Libyan and expat families, all piling in to grab seaview tables. Accompanying salads such as zaalouk are excellent; all that's missing is a bottle of Sancerre.

What to bring back

Brass and copper pots and pestles and mortars are sold by the clock tower in the souk, just off Essaa Square, where hookah-smoking locals gather. Otherwise, handicrafts are practically non-existent, so look out for pleasures such as date syrup, beautifully packaged fresh, plump dates, dried fruits and nuts of all kinds (including the best peanuts you'll ever taste).

Where to stay

The Zumit Hotel (near Arch of Marcus Aurelius, 00 218 21 334 2915; zumithotel.com) is the only property in Tripoli that could remotely be described as a boutique hotel. It's housed in a 200-year-old caravanserai, and boasts a restaurant in a lovely courtyard where you eat to the sound of traditional musicians and a tinkling fountain. Doubles from £60; Cox and Kings (020 7873 5000; coxandkings.co.uk) offers a three-night package including flights, private transfers and a day at Leptis Magna from £835.

· Fiona Dunlop's Medina Kitchen is published by Mitchell Beazley on 15 September, priced £20. To order a copy for £18 with free UK p&p go to observer.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0885.