Traditional Dishes Moroccan Food (Cuisine):
Moroccan cuisine is rich in history and culture. In Morocco, few people live without clocks; instead, they plan their days around the five daily prayers and the periodic meals. Here are a few fundamental rules that will give you an idea of what to anticipate, from mint tea to tajine, couscous to cookies.
Dawn’s call to prayer sets the tone for the rest of the day and the meals that follow. According to everyone’s work schedules, there will be time for some mint tea and bread after the early start resonating from the closest mosque, with the possibility of a more substantial breakfast later in the day.
In Morocco, where it’s always a good time for a cup of mint tea and a conversation, lunch is typically served at noon, and dinner is typically served in the late evening. These beats are regular and shared by everyone in the nation.
It’s also not too difficult to guess what will be on a Moroccan table for any of these meals. Moroccan cuisine has a long and illustrious history, and families rarely veer from the fundamentals. Fortunately, the fundamentals are always delectable.
Whats for breakfast in Morocco?
Early in the morning, the neighborhood bread ovens start up to ensure that there is bread of some kind available for breakfast. If there is no bread in a Moroccan home, something is very wrong.
The only real food staple in Moroccan diets is bread or Khobz, and young girls are taught how to make their family bread. Although it may differ from family to family, the majority are circular flatbreads that are baked with whatever local grains are available. Breakfast typically consists of bread with olive oil, cumin, and olives, or for those who prefer something sweet, some honey or jam.
Any local café will serve eggs for breakfast, whether fried or in a straightforward omelet. The term “cheese omelet” typically refers to the addition of a triangle of “Kiri” or “La Vache Qui Rit,” two brands of processed cheese that are available all over Morocco.
A soft white Moroccan cheese called Jben (sj-ben) or Jben arabi is a more conventional cheese option that is typically served with breakfast bread and olives.
This cheese, which has its roots in the Rif Mountains, is typically produced using goat or cow milk. It is offered fresh at markets and stands out for its exquisite packaging made of hand-plaited palm leaves. A milder-flavored supermarket version is also available.
The other staple of the Moroccan diet, mint tea, is always available for breakfast to accompany your Khobz and Jben.
It is revered as the national beverage because it is so. But you’ve probably never had a tea like this before; Moroccan tea is brewed in a very specific manner. A syrupy-sweet concoction that is always present on any table is made by steeping gunpowder-style green tea with tons of sugar and fresh mint sprigs.
It is offered as a dessert after lunch and dinner, as well as during tea breaks and breakfast. Moroccans will be impressed if you drink the tea the same way they do, whereas tourists frequently struggle with the amount of sugar.
You should give it a shot at least once; if you have a serious sweet tooth, you’ll fit right in. Practice your language skills and request – Shwiya sukar – a little sugar if the amount is too much to handle.
B’sarra (bis-aara), also known as Bisr if you are further north, is another breakfast item that might surprise visitors. If soup for breakfast isn’t your thing, this broad bean soup, a staple of street food, is equally delicious for lunch.
A bowl of Bisarra can sustain you for the majority of the day. It was traditionally prepared for fishermen to eat before setting sail in the morning and is served with bread, lashings of olive oil, and cumin.
What’s for lunch in Morocco?
A café-style street food lunch may be on the menu if your main meal is scheduled for the evening. At roadside and medina cafes, a variety of grilled or barbecued meat brochettes (kebabs), bread, and fresh salads are always available.
Enter one of the snack or sandwich shops, select your filling (meat, fish, chicken, or vegetable) from the display in the refrigerator, and it will be freshly prepared, put in some bread, and served with a sizable portion of French fries before being wrapped in paper for you to take away or eat at a table outside.
Keep an eye out for Medfouna, also known as the Berber Pizza, if you are walking through the Sahara. It is a wood-fired bread that is typically stuffed with a spiced lamb and onion mixture and is best compared to a calzone. This delightful snack is most frequently found in the southern regions of the nation.
Morocco coastline stretches from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, so grilled fish that has been cooked simply over hot coals is always a good idea if you find yourself lounging by the water. Salt and lemon are typically used to season grilled sardines that have just been plucked from the sea.
Additionally, sardines stuffed with chermoula—a spice mixture primarily composed of cilantro, paprika, and cumin—might be available on the menu. Both of these dishes pair perfectly with that fresh bread we keep mentioning as well as some regional olives.
Feeling peckish? Time for tea (Again)
- You may want to refuel in the middle of the afternoon because the evening meal is frequently a late affair. Spend some time relaxing with that mint tea, or toast the new year with a cup of coffee or a glass of orange juice that has just been squeezed. There are many sweets and snacks available to satisfy a craving.
- There are many different types of cookies, and you can frequently spot a cookie vendor wandering through the medina with his tray in hand.
- The Corne de Gazelle, a crescent-shaped sweet cookie filled with an almond paste flavored with orange water, is the most traditional of these.
- Another option is to give in to the temptation of a larger Sfenj, a Moroccan doughnut, from a passing street vendor. Briouats, also known as bree-ots, are a great portable snack.
- These tiny pastries, which come in both sweet and savory varieties, are made with layers that resemble filo and can be filled with anything from chicken to fish to nuts and honey.
Food in Morocco: Whats for dinner?
Dinner frequently follows the last call to prayer, which typically occurs at or around 9 p.m. You will be served a variety of traditional Moroccan dishes whether you eat your main course at noon or in the evening, in a restaurant or a private home.
While some of these dishes may sound similar, each will have the chef’s unique regional and personal touches. The regional and seasonal differences in Moroccan cuisine are what they have in common.
On your travels through Morocco, you might come across a variety of dishes with names like Tagine, Tanjia, and Tagra. Interestingly, all of these names refer to the vessel as much as the dish.
The most well-known and frequently served Moroccan dish is the tagine (taj-sheen). In this instance, the conical clay pot used for cooking and serving gives rise to the name.
A Tagine is typically a thick stew made with whatever vegetables are available or in season, with some meat thrown in at the end. The meal is served hot and brought to the dining table in a single dish. Moroccan meals are communal affairs, and each diner keeps to their own “triangle” of the dish while the tagine is shared from the same pot.
Tagine is served with bread and is not eaten with spoons or forks. The idea is to use the bread to scoop up some of the vegetables and meat while also soaking up some of the broth by tearing a small piece off a larger slice.
The staple meal of the Moroccan diet is tagine, which is frequently consumed for both lunch and dinner. The menu items and ingredients typically vary by region; a seafood tagine is obviously a coastal offering, while chicken or lamb are available Further inland.
The traditional dish is undoubtedly slow-cooked chicken with green olives and lemons, but you should also try the more modest Kefta variety, which is made of ground lamb or beef that is formed into balls and cooked in a tomato and onion sauce before being topped with an egg.
It is not uncommon to see a vegetable tagine on the menu, which makes eating locally for vegetarians fairly simple.
In Morocco, couscous co-stars with the tagine as the star dish. Couscous is usually on the menu when people consider Moroccan cuisine. Moroccans take great pride in and are meticulous in their preparation of their de facto national dish.
The dried couscous is placed into a steamer over a pot of boiling vegetables rather than being boiled in a covered pot as is frequently done in North America. This method of steaming the couscous for an hour or more is used, with hand fluffing breaks in between. At this point, a generous amount of preserved butter is added, giving the grain a richer flavor.
When the couscous is done, it is placed on a single, sizable plate and topped with vegetables and broth. Similar to tagine, couscous is traditionally eaten by hand, which is a difficult skill for visitors to pick up, so cutlery is almost always available.
Couscous is more frequently thought of as a special occasion dish rather than a daily staple due to the labor-intensive nature of its preparation. In honor of visitors or noteworthy occasions, as well as every Friday (the holy day), many families enjoy couscous.
The most popular and widely available dishes are probably couscous and one or two tagines, but they are by no means the only ones.
Mechoui, a slow-roasted lamb dish best enjoyed with bread, salt, and cumin, is a must-try if you’re in Marrakesh. Simply follow your nose to Mechoui Alley, where the name itself is a clue.
There are a variety of small, family-run businesses that all have clay pits below ground for roasting whole lambs slowly. The meat is perfectly cooked around lunchtime and can be purchased by weight, along with some bread and mint tea.
The Tanjia is another specialty of Marrakesh. In this instance, the name refers to the clay urns used to slowly cook a meat and vegetable stew over embers from hammam fires. The hammam staff’s side job is to keep the fires going so they can heat the water.
When staying inland, another dish you might encounter is Rfissa, an aromatic lentil, chicken, and bread dish. However, this dish is less likely to be standard fare on a menu and is more likely to be served if you are invited to a meal in someone’s home.
Fenugreek gives this chicken stew its flavor, and it is served with the traditional Msemmem (or, if you’re in the north, Rghaif), which is a flaky bread that resembles a pancake.
As you travel north, you might come across the daily special of Tagra. A Tagra is a broad shallow ceramic bowl that is typically used for baking fish dishes, and this time I’m referring to both the bowl it is cooked in as well as the contents.
Vegetables, tomatoes, olives, lemons, and herbs are used to cook fresh fish. The Tagra is essentially what the bouillabaisse is to France for Morocco.
Another distinctive flavor of Moroccan food is the combination of sweet and savory flavors. Cinnamon and honey are prominent flavors in many of the country’s main dishes. When cooking meat tagines, dates, and prunes are frequently added to give the food a sweet undertone.
The dish you’ll see most frequently on the menu is B’stilla (bi- stee -ya), a sweet and savory pie made with filo-like pastry, especially if you’re in Fez where it’s kind of a signature dish. The dish, which was traditionally made with pigeon, is more likely to now be made with chicken and almonds and spiced with Cinammon and sugar.
Sfa (pronounced “s-fa”) is a dish that is less likely to be found on a restaurant menu and is more likely to be found in home cooking. It is a sweet chicken and vermicelli pasta dish with a combination of sweet and Savoury notes that might take some getting used to, again with Cinammon and sugar.
Harira soup, pronounced Sar-eer-a, is unquestionably on the national menu while some dishes are distinctly regional while others are clearly national.
This Ramadan-specific Moroccan staple, which is always available, is a hearty soup made with chickpeas, tomatoes, and lentils that are typically thickened with eggs. Everyone believes their mother makes this dish the best because it is one of those dishes.
A beverage with the meal?
Despite the fact that Morocco is a Muslim nation and many cafes will not serve alcohol, many restaurants will, especially those that cater to tourists. It’s also important to remember that Morocco has a long history of producing wine, which is currently growing in popularity.
Look at the regional wines on a wine list and give them a try if you are browsing one. The extremely light-bodied Vin Gris (gree), or grey wine, is a distinctively Moroccan variety of rosé.
Perfect on a summer day with those grilled sardines. Try a locally brewed Casablanca if beer is your drink of choice, if only for the reason that the name and label will look great on your social media feed! For hydration purposes alone, bottled water is offered and sold with most meals. If you’d rather have a little fizz, the brand name Oulmes (pronounced “well-mez”) is well-known and will get you a bottle of sparkling water.
Morocco cuisine: What’s for dessert?
Even though simple and seasonal fresh fruit is frequently served at the end of a meal in Morocco, desserts are certainly not lacking in the country. For your after-dinner atay (mint tea) or nous-nous (coffee with milk), there is always something available, from a morning pastry to the tantalizing array of cookies, nougats, nuts, and dates.
However, if you’re craving dessert, try M’hancha, also known as “the snake pastry” because of its coiled shape. It is an almond-filled flaky sweet pastry flavored with honey, orange blossom water, and cinnamon.
Sellou (s-ell-oo), which is made from roasted flour combined with sesame, almonds, and honey, is also available as less of a dessert and more of a meal on its own.
Chebakia (She-bak-eeya), which is available year-round on the streets but is literally piled high during Ramadan, will satisfy any sweet tooth. It is a traditional Moroccan cookie or pastry made from honey-soaked sesame dough that has been Deep Fried. You can also try the Bachnikha, which has a similar flavor but resembles small rope bundles.
The majority of these meals, snacks, and treats will probably be accompanied by several glasses of Moroccan mint tea, preferably while relaxing at a cafe and munching on that Chebakia.