Flavours of Morocco

Just last year, Gordon Ramsay announced Moroccan food as the best in the world, the results of an internet survey, in which 2.5 million people voted. If you enjoy trying local food when you travel, you'll love the rich flavours of Morocco, that blend together Mediterranean, Berber and Middle Eastern influences.

So what can you expect to eat while travelling through Morocco?

Tajine

Tagine is Morocco’s signature dish, and you'll find it on the menu in every Moroccan restaurant. Named after the earthenware dish with a conical lid that it's cooked in, a tagine is a slow-cooked stew that combines meat or fish, vegetables and/or dried fruits, nuts and a variety of spices, including cumin, turmeric, ginger, and saffron. The slow cooking produces a dish that is rich and aromatic.  Some of the classic tagines include chicken with olives and preserved lemons and beef with prunes and almonds. If you've never had a tajine before, you're in for a treat!

Couscous

If it’s Friday, it must be couscous. Couscous is another cornerstone of Moroccan cuisine, traditionally served after the Friday midday prayer. Moroccan couscous, made by steaming semolina (coarsely ground wheat), is light and fluffy and a far-cry from the packaged couscous we buy in the supermarket. Couscous is served in different ways in different regions but is usually garnished with zucchini, carrots, pumpkin and other root vegetables. Sometimes, it's topped with a mix of caramelized onions, raisins and cinnamon, sometimes meat or chicken is added and, on special occasions, look out for Royal Couscous which has a selection of several different meats and vegetables.

Pastilla

Pastilla is a unique Moroccan dish, combining sweet and savoury flavours in a round pie. It’s made from flaky pastry, and traditionally filled with pigeon, although chicken or fish is now more commonly used. Almonds, egg, saffron, and fresh herbs are added to the filling and the top is usually dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon, giving a touch of sweetness. Pastilla is a speciality of Fes.

Soups

Often eaten during Ramadan, when it is served to break the fast at sunset, harira is a tasty and filling soup, made from a rich blend of tomatoes, lentils, and chickpeas, flavoured with spices. Harira is typically served with dates and chebakia, a sweet sesame cookie. Another popular soup, bissara, is made from broad beans and topped with olive oil and cumin.

Fish and seafood

With a coastline stretching for over 3,500kms, it's no surprise that fish and seafood feature highly on Moroccan menus. In coastal cities, like Agadir, Essaouira, Casablanca and Tangier, fresh catches are landed daily. Local fish markets in these cities are a great place to choose your favourite fish and have it cooked at a nearby restaurant.

Shakshuka

Sometimes referred to as Berber omelette, there are many variations on this egg dish, served sizzling hot in a skillet or tajine, at breakfast or lunch. It's sometimes garnished with olives or with dried meat, called khlea. Eat it like a local by scooping it from the serving dish with chunks of fresh bread.

Khlea

Morocco’s take on preserved meat is khlea, somewhere between beef jerky and slow-cooked confit. It's usually made from strips of beef or lamb, marinated in a mix of garlic, salt, coriander, cumin and sometimes vinegar. The meat is dried in the sun for a few days, simmered in rendered fat and then stored in the fat, in sealed containers. It keeps like this for months without having to be refrigerated. Khlea is often added to eggs for breakfast or to lentil or bean stews.

Brochettes

Kebabs of skewered meat or chicken, rubbed in salt and spices, are known as brochettes. Cooked over a charcoal grill, this simple dish is often served with a Moroccan salad.

Mechoui

For meat lovers, mechoui is a must-try Moroccan speciality: lamb, cooked whole, in an underground clay oven.  The lamb is marinated in a blend of garlic, cumin and other spices, then slow cooked until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Today, mechoui is cooked in a conventional oven but visitors to Marrakech can check out the traditional cooking method along Mechoui Alley, a narrow laneway at the northern end of Jemaa El Fna (the main square). Here, in a row of small restaurants, whole sheep and goats are roasted in a large clay pit, built into the restaurant floor. Join the locals as they choose their preferred cut, buying the meat by weight.

Moroccan salads are much more than a few mixed lettuce leaves in a vinaigrette dressing. Usually made from cooked vegetables and served warm or cold, they are a meal in themselves. Think sweetened carrots, chick peas, beans, eggplant (aubergine), capsicum (peppers), potatoes, zuccini. .. the list goes on.  My favourites are zaalouk, made from cooked eggplant and tomatoes, seasoned with garlic, cumin, paprika and olive oil; and smoky taktouka, a mix of charred green capsicum (peppers) and tomatoes, cooked with garlic and cumin.

The most simple Moroccan salad, served as an entrée or as an accompaniment to a meal, is a mix of chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumber and onions, garnished with herbs and dressed with olve oil.

Dates and olives

Both dates and olives are grown across Morocco and are used extensively in cooking. Dates from the southeast are considered the best in the country - if you're visiting Rissani, on the way to the Sahara, check out the stalls selling Medjool dates and if you're there in early October, you may catch the dates festival. Olives come in many varieties and are often served in a restaurant while you’re waiting for the meal to arrive.

Amlou

If you like nut butter, you'll love amlou! Made from ground almonds, argan oil and honey, it's a great topping for bread and pancakes and is often served at breakfast.

Fruit

There are fruits galore in Morocco and they make a refreshing dessert - oranges sprinkled with cinnamon or strawberries with a dusting of sugar are common. Freshly squeezed fruit juice is also widely available. 

Sfenj

Sfenj are Moroccan donuts, and they are the best! Buy them freshly cooked from a street vendor, dipped in honey or sugar. You might be lucky enough to have them served at breakfast.

Sweet Treats

Patisseries across Morocco sell many different types of pastries and sweet treats. Chebakia is a deep-friend pastry, soaked in honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds, traditionally eaten during Ramadan. Kaab el Ghazal, or gazelle horns, are a crescent-shaped cookie, filled with almond paste and sometimes coated with chopped nuts or dipped in orange blossom water. The perfect accompaniment to a Moroccan tea.

Mint Tea

Referred to by the locals as 'Berber whisky,' mint tea is the national drink of Morocco. It is made by brewing green tea with fresh mint leaves and sugar – lots of sugar! If you don’t like sweet tea, ask your host to skip the sugar or serve it on the side. Mint tea is usually served in small colourful glasses, and the act of pouring the tea from a height into the glass is a ritual in itself, meant to aerate the tea and improve the flavour.

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Regional specialities

Many regions in Morocco have their own signature dishes that are not commonly found elsewhere. Here are just a few.

Tanjia

Not to be confused with tajine, tanjia is a traditional dish from Marrakech. It is usually made with lamb or veal, cooked for many hours in a terracotta pot, in the ashes of hot coals, so the meat is soft and tender.  It is usually served with bread.

R’fissa,

A Casablanca staple, r'fissa is made with flaky pancakes (msemen), spiced chicken and lentils and seasoned with herbs and spices.

Medfouna

Otherwise known as ‘Berber pizza’, medfouna is a speciality from the southeast of Morocco, in and around Merzouga. It is a flat bread, filled with ground meat, often lamb, and vegetables.

Goat's cheese

If you're visiting Chefchaouen, or Tetouan, in the Rif Mountains, be sure to try the local goat's cheese. Although you'll find goat's cheese on the menu in many restaurants across Morocco, it's especially good in the Rif. Try it spread on fresh bread, in salads or on its own.

Alcohol

Alcohol is forbidden in the Quran, so it's not a big part of daily life in Morocco: it's more common for locals to while away the evening in a cafe, sipping a coffee, than propping up a bar. That's not to say that alcohol isn't available: it's just not as widely avaialable as we're used to in Australia. If you’re craving a cocktail, a beer, or a glass of wine, there are licensed bars and restaurants in the major cities, and supermarkets, such as Carrefour, have separate sections selling alcohol.

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Whether you enjoy high-end dining or grabbing something simple from a street vendor, Moroccan food really is a feast for the senses and trying the local dishes is a bit part of my Moroccan tours. An evening food tour in Fes or Marrakech is always a highlight.

As the Moroccan say before a meal - B'saha! (Bon appétit!)