Moroccan Cuisine

The cuisine of Morocco is rated among the best in the world it is very diverse and has many influences.  The cuisine is a mix of Berber, Arab, Moorish, Mediterranean and African.  There are few places where food is more carefully and artistically prepared, more delightfully served and more enjoyed than in this country.

The typical meal begins with a series of hot and cold salads followed by a tagine and every meal is eaten with bread.  It is common for Moroccans to eat using their fingers and using the bread as a utensil.

Spices are used extensively in Moroccan cooking particularly turmeric, saffron, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, coriander and paprika.  The scents of these spices and onion mingled with the fragrance of olive oil and the sweetness of sandalwood, mint and roses and waft around every corner.

The most common Moroccan dishes that most people are familiar with are couscous, tagine and pastilla, mechoui and harira.  Each can be made with a combination of beef, lamb or chicken.

Couscous:  Similar to rice, pasta, or bread, couscous is an inexpensive and highly nutritious product made from wheat or other cereals (barley, sorghum, corn, millet, or minor grains).  It is easy to cook which makes it possible to use it for an everyday meal or a luxury feast, a main course or a dessert. A versatile dish, couscous can be mixed with vegetables, legumes, meat, or fish, or it can be eaten with butter or fresh fruit.

Tagines are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. They get their names from the special pot in which it is cooked.  The traditional tagine is made from and comes in two parts; a base unit which is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. Once cooking is complete the cover is removed and the base is used for serving.

Pastilla’s are elaborate meat pies typically filled with cooked chicken.  It is a pie which combines sweet and salty flavours in a crepe like dough.  It consists of a meat filling topped with a layer of toasted and ground almonds, cinnamon and sugar.

Mechoui – if you love meat then you will love Mechoui.  The term means to roast in fire and in Morocco the lamb is roasted in the ground creating a moist, tender and flavoursome meat.

Harira is the traditional soup of Morocco and is considered as a meal in itself.  Typical ingredients include tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, onions, rice and herbs and spices.  It is usually served with hard boiled eggs sprinkled with salt and cumin.