Algiers for The Food Pilgrims: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The covered market with cracked olives in forty kinds, dates from Biskra and mounds of spices. Buy a bag of dates and eat them while you walk.

Counters of makroud, baklawa and griwech. Ask for a mixed box by weight and a small glass of mint tea to eat alongside.

Semolina flatbread folded around tomato and onion, cooked to order on a griddle. Two m'hadjeb and a lemonade make a full supper for about the price of a coffee.

The working-class market, thick with vegetables, preserved lemons and fresh sardines. Come early, move with the crowd and keep your bag in front.

The copper couscous steamers, wedding trays and kitchen tools of old Algiers, in an Ottoman palace. It explains what you will eat tonight.

Chorba frik, rechta and lamb with prunes with the bay below. The hotel kitchen cooks Algerian feast dishes properly; book ahead for a window table.

The fishermen's quarter at the harbour, where the morning's catch is laid out on ice. Pick a fish and have it grilled at a nearby stall.

Whole grilled sea bream or red mullet with a lemon, bread and a plate of salad. Order by weight, agree the price first and eat on the quay.

A historic café for mint tea and kalb el louz, the syrup-soaked semolina cake. Sit upstairs by the window and watch the street.

Breakfast at a counter on Rue Larbi Ben M'hidi where office workers stop for coffee. Order a strong espresso with something flaky, eat quickly and pay at the till.

Walk the long boulevard from the post office to the university, past bakeries and spice sellers. Buy orange blossom water to take home.

Grilled merguez, a pile of fries and a pot of coffee in a student brasserie, a fitting last plate before the airport.