Moroccan cuisine

Moroccan cuisine is a product of centuries of cultural exchange, blending Arab, Berber, Andalusi, Mediterranean, and African traditions, with only slight French and Spanish touches. Shared meals and the ceremonial serving of tea are key to social life. Like other Maghrebi cuisines, it shares more with Middle Eastern food than with the rest of Africa. According to chef and researcher Hossin Houari, the earliest traces of this cuisine still visible today date to the 7th century BCE.

Phoenician colonies along the coast, such as Sala and Kerne, were already producing olive oil and wine by the 7th century BCE. During the Roman period, factories at Cotta and Lixus made garum, a fermented fish sauce, while Baetican olive oil amphorae were distributed in Mauretania Tingitana. Couscoussiers from the 12th century have been found in the ruins of Igiliz in the Sous valley. Food writer Charles Perry believes couscous originated among the Berbers of Algeria and Morocco between the end of the 11th-century Zirid dynasty and the rise of the 13th-century Almohad Caliphate.

Morocco grows a wide range of Mediterranean fruits and vegetables, along with tropical items like snails. Common meats are beef, goat, mutton, lamb, chicken, and seafood. Key flavorings include preserved lemon, argan oil, smen (preserved butter), olive oil, and dried fruits. Rice and wheat are now the main grains, used for bread and couscous, but barley was a staple, especially in the south, until the mid-20th century. Grapes are mostly eaten fresh as dessert; wine consumption is low, at about one liter per person per year. Traditional cooking fats are butter and animal fat, though olive oil is increasingly used. Butter is eaten fresh (zebda) or preserved (smen).

Spices and ras el hanout are heavily used. Some spices came to Morocco via Arab traders, bringing Persian and Arabic influences, but many ingredients—like saffron from Talaouine, mint and olives from Meknes, and oranges and lemons from Fes—are homegrown and exported. After the Idrissids founded Fes in 789, many spices arrived from the east. Common spices include cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, ginger, paprika, coriander, saffron, mace, cloves, fennel, anise, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, fenugreek, caraway, black pepper, and sesame seeds. As many as twenty-seven spices go into ras el hanout. Common herbs are mint, parsley, coriander, oregano, peppermint, marjoram, verbena, sage, and bay laurel.

A typical lunch starts with hot and cold salads, then a tagine or dwaz. For formal meals, a lamb or chicken dish follows, or couscous topped with meat and vegetables. Traditionally, Moroccans eat with their hands using bread. Pork and alcohol are uncommon due to religious restrictions.

Couscous is the most familiar main dish. Lamb is the most common meat, often cooked in a tagine with vegetables. Chicken is also used in tagines or roasted, sometimes with plums, boiled eggs, or lemon. Tagines are flavored with local spices like saffron, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cilantro, and ground red pepper. Seafood is also prominent; European pilchard is caught in large but declining amounts, along with mackerel, anchovy, sardinella, and horse mackerel. Other well-known dishes include pastilla, tanjia, and rfissa.

Bread is a daily staple, mostly made from durum wheat semolina (khobz). Bakeries are common everywhere, and fresh bread is a constant. The most common types are whole-grain coarse-ground or white-flour bread, or baguettes. There are also flatbreads and pulled unleavened pan-fried breads. Dried salted meats and preserved meats like khlea and g'did (similar to sheep bacon) are used to flavor tagines or in el rghaif, a folded savory pancake.

Harira, a thick soup, is eaten in winter, often for dinner, and is typically served with plain bread or dates during Ramadan. Bissara, a broad bean soup, is also eaten in colder months. Beboush, a savory snail soup with cumin, coriander, and mint, is a traditional delicacy.

Salads include both raw and cooked vegetables, served hot or cold. Examples are zaalouk (aubergine and tomato), taktouka (tomatoes, smoked green peppers, garlic, and spices, typical of Taza and Fes), and bakoula or khoubiza (braised mallow leaves, or spinach or arugula, with parsley, cilantro, lemon, olive oil, and olives).

Seasonal fruits are more common than cooked desserts. A popular sweet is kaab el ghzal (gazelle ankles), a pastry filled with almond paste and topped with sugar. Another is halwa.