The Souk Attarine — named for the attars, the perfumers and spice merchants — is the most aromatic stretch of the Fez medina, clustered around the entrance to the Attarine Madrasa near Al-Qarawiyyin. The stalls sell cumin, saffron, cinnamon, rose water, oud incense, dried herbs, medicinal roots, and the dozens of spice blends used in Fassi cooking. Many of the merchants will mix ras el hanout to order if you specify the dishes you cook at home.
The smells shift dramatically from stall to stall — from the sharp clean note of dried ginger to the warm dark heaviness of oud, to the medicinal bitterness of herbs used in traditional Moroccan remedies. This part of the medina is less pressured than the leather and craft zones near Bab Boujeloud; the spice merchants have a calmer, more confident approach. A cone of hand-ground Fassi cumin makes one of the best and lightest souvenirs you can take home.