Morocco
Tagines, preserved lemon, ras el hanout and flaky pastilla.
Iconic recipes
Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine
Slow-cooked chicken with olives, preserved lemon and ras el hanout — fragrant, bright and deeply savory.
Lamb Tagine with Prunes
Slow-braised lamb with prunes, cinnamon and toasted almonds — a sweet-savory Moroccan classic.
Seven-Vegetable Couscous
Friday couscous steamed three times over a saffron-spiced lamb and vegetable broth.
Chicken Pastilla
Flaky warqa pastry layered with saffron chicken, almonds, eggs, cinnamon and sugar.
Harira
Tomato-lentil-chickpea soup thickened with flour, lifted with cilantro — Ramadan's iftar staple.
Msemen
Layered square Moroccan flatbreads, crisp outside and tender within — eaten with honey or cheese.
Tangia Marrakchia
Marrakech bachelor's dish — beef or lamb sealed in a clay urn with preserved lemon, smen and cumin, then slow-baked overnight in the ashes of the hammam furnace.
Rfissa
Fez postpartum classic — chicken and lentils fragrant with fenugreek and ras el hanout, ladled over torn msemen and day-old bread.
Bissara
A silky puree of dried split peas or favas from the northern Rif — poured hot, hollowed with olive oil, cumin and chilli, and eaten with khobz at dawn.
Kefta Meatball Tagine
Marrakech street tagine — cumin-spiced beef meatballs simmered in tomato with eggs cracked in at the last minute.
Berkoukesh
Middle Atlas Berber hand-rolled pearl couscous soup with lamb, chickpeas and lentils — winter fuel from Ifrane to Khenifra.
Fish Tagine with Chermoula
Essaouira port classic — sea bream marinated in coriander-cumin chermoula and stacked over potato, tomato and green pepper in a low tagine.
Medfouna (Berber Pizza)
A Rissani-Souss oasis specialty — flat bread dough stuffed with spiced lamb, onion and almond, then baked in a sand oven.
Sahrawi Camel Tagine
Sahrawi desert kitchen — cubed camel simmered long with onion, tomato and dried limes until the tough muscle turns silky.
Zaalouk
Smoky eggplant-and-tomato salad cooked down with garlic, cumin and paprika — scooped with bread at every Moroccan table.
Taktouka
Charred green pepper and tomato salad seasoned with garlic, cumin and preserved lemon — the counterpart to zaalouk.
Bakoula (Mallow Greens)
Rif Amazigh braise of mallow and spinach with olives, garlic and preserved lemon — deep green, slick with olive oil.
Cheese & Herb Briouats
Warqa triangles hiding melty cheese, parsley and preserved lemon — fried gold and eaten warm with mint tea.
Maakouda
Casablanca street snack — mashed potato patties spiced with cumin and coriander, fried crisp and stuffed into a demi-baguette with harissa.
Sfenj
Chewy Moroccan ring doughnuts hand-shaped by street sfenaji, fried in bubbling oil and threaded on rope with sugar and mint tea.
Moroccan Bocadillo
Tetouan-style baguette sandwich — tuna, tortilla, olives, potato salad and harissa layered into a split loaf, an Andalusian street classic.
Babbouche (Snail Broth)
Marrakech Jemaa el-Fna cart classic — small snails simmered in a bitter-warming broth of thyme, aniseed, licorice and mint, sipped from the shell.
Baghrir (Thousand-Hole Pancakes)
Semolina pancakes bubbled all over on one side only — soaked in warm honey butter and stacked with mint tea.
Harcha
Semolina griddle cakes with a shortbread crumb — split hot, buttered and topped with honey or jam for breakfast.
Krachel
Fez sweet milk rolls perfumed with orange blossom, anise and sesame — plaited soft and glazed with egg-milk before baking.
Batbout
Small pillowy pocket breads cooked in a dry pan — split and stuffed with cheese, khlii or honey butter for breakfast.
Khlii & Eggs
Fassi cured beef preserved in its own fat, warmed with eggs in a hot tagine — the winter breakfast of Fez medina.
Chebakia
Rose-shaped sesame-anise cookies fried, then plunged into hot honey and orange blossom — trays cover Ramadan tables.
Kaab el Ghazal (Gazelle Horns)
Delicate crescent pastries filled with almond paste perfumed with orange blossom — served at Fassi weddings and Eid.
Ghriba
Crackle-topped almond or semolina shortbread rolled in icing sugar — a bite-size sweet at every Moroccan tea tray.
Sweet Almond Briouats
Warqa triangles bulging with cinnamon-almond paste — fried and drenched in honey scented with orange blossom.
Sellou / Sfouf
Toasted flour, sesame and almonds bound with honey and butter into a rich, energy-dense confection — Ramadan and postpartum staple.
Mechoui
Whole lamb rubbed with cumin, butter and garlic and roasted in a pit oven until the skin lacquers and the meat pulls into strings — the Souss festival centrepiece.
Kefta Brochettes
Cumin-scented minced lamb pressed onto flat skewers and grilled over glowing coals — served with bread and harissa at every souk brazier.
Atay bi Naana (Mint Tea)
Chinese gunpowder green tea steeped with mint and cane sugar, poured from height into small glasses — the ceremony of Moroccan hospitality.
Avocado Milkshake (Aseer Avocat)
Casablanca juice-bar staple — blended avocado, milk, sugar and a touch of orange blossom, served thick with a spoon.
Sharbat Louz (Almond Milk)
Fassi cold almond milk perfumed with orange blossom — poured over crushed ice at weddings, Ramadan and Eid.
Mrouzia
Fassi Eid al-Adha preserve tagine — lamb from the sacrificed sheep slow-cooked with ras el hanout, honey, raisins and toasted almonds until candied.
Couscous Tfaya
Wedding-day couscous topped with tfaya — caramelised onions with cinnamon, raisins and honey — piled over saffron chicken.
Ashura Sweet Couscous
Ashura-eve couscous eaten with dried fruits, walnuts and cinnamon — steamed for the first day of Muharram to honour those who have passed.
Dafina (Skhina)
Moroccan-Jewish Shabbat stew of beef, chickpeas, potato, wheat berries and whole eggs cooked overnight in a sealed pot for Saturday lunch.
Boulfaf (Eid Liver Skewers)
Skewers of lamb liver wrapped in caul fat, cumin-rubbed and grilled the day of Eid al-Adha — the first bite from the sacrificed sheep.