Cuisine of Morocco

Moroccan cuisine has long been considered as one of the most diversified cuisines in the world. The reason is because of the interaction of Morocco with the outside world for centuries. The cuisine of Morocco is a mix of Berber, Moorish, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and African cuisines. The cooks in the royal kitchens of Fez, Meknes, Marrakech, Rabat and Tetouan refined Moroccan cuisine over the centuries and created the basis for what is known as Moroccan cuisine today.

Influence and history

Being at the crossroads of many civilisations, the cuisine of Morocco has been influenced by the native Berber cuisine, the Arabic Andalusian cuisine; brought by the Moriscos when they left Spain, the Turkish cuisine from the Turkish that occupied Algeria and the Middle Eastern cuisines brought by the Arabs as well as the Jewish cuisine.

The history of Morocco is reflected in its cuisine. Political refugees left Baghdad in the Middle Ages and settled in Morocco, bringing with them traditional recipes that are now common in Morocco but forgotten in the Middle East. We know this because there are striking similarities between a 12th century (Common Era) collection of recipes by Al-Baghdadi, and contemporary Moroccan dishes. A signature characteristic is cooking fruit with meat like quince with lamb or apricots with chicken. Further influences upon Moroccan cuisine came from the Morisco (Muslim refugees) who were expelled from Spain during the Spanish inquisition.

According to Paula Wolfert, the specialist of Moroccan cuisine and author of a renowned book on the subject (see recipe books section):

To my mind four things are necessary before a nation can develop a great cuisine. The first is an abundance of fine ingredients-a rich land. The second is a variety of cultural influences: the history of the nation, including its domination by foreign powers, and the culinary secrets it has brought back from its own imperialist adventures. Third, a great civilization-if a country has not had its day in the sun, its cuisine will probably not be great; great food and a great civilization go together. Last, the existence of a refined palace life-without royal kitchens, without a Versailles or a Forbidden City in Peking, without, in short, the demands of a cultivated court-the imaginations of a nation's cooks will not be challenged.Morocco, fortunately, is blessed with all four.

Ingredients

Morocco produces a large range of Mediterranean fruits and vegetables and even some tropical ones. The country produces large quantities of sheep, poultry, cattle, seafood and fish which serve as a base for the cuisine.

Use of spices

Spices are used extensively in Moroccan food. While spices have been imported to Morocco for thousands of years, many ingredients, like saffron from Tiliouine, mint and olives from Meknes, and oranges and lemons from Fez, are home-grown. Common spices include cinnamon, kamoun (cumin), kharkoum (tumeric), skingbir (ginger), libzar (pepper) , paprika, anis seed, sesame seed, kasbour (coriander), maadnous (parsley), zaafrane beldi (saffron) and mint.

Structure of meals

The midday meal is the main meal, with the exception of the holy month of Ramadan. The typical formal meal begins with a series of hot and cold salads, followed by a tagine. Bread is eaten with every meal. Often a lamb or chicken dish is next, followed by couscous topped with meats and vegetables. A cup of sweet mint tea is commonly used to end the meal. It is common for Moroccans to eat using the fingers of their hand, and use bread as a "utensil."

Main dishes

See also: List of Moroccan dishes

The main Moroccan dish most people are familiar with is couscous which is very old and is probably of Berber origin.

Chicken is the most widely eaten meat in Morocco. The most commonly eaten red meat in Morocco is beef although Lamb is preferred while being expensive. The breed of sheep in North Africa has much of its fat concentrated in its tail, which means that Moroccan lamb does not have the pungent, reasty flavor that Western lamb and mutton can have.

Among the most famous Moroccan dishes are Couscous, Pastilla (also spelled Bsteeya or Bastilla), Tajine, Tanjia and Harira. Although the latter is a soup, it is considered as a dish in itself and is served as such or with dates especially during the month of Ramadan.

Desserts

Sweets are not necessarily served at the end of a Moroccan meal. A common dessert is kaab el ghzal ("gazelle's horns"), which is a pastry stuffed with almond paste and topped with sugar. Another dessert is honey cakes, which is essentially pretzel-shaped pieces of dough deep-fried and dipped into a hot pot of honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Halwa Shebakia are cookies eaten during the month of Ramadan. Zucre Coco are coconut fudge cakes.

Drinks

The most popular drink is green tea with mint. Traditionally, making good mint tea in Morocco is considered an art form and the drinking of it with friends and family members is one of the important rituals of the day. The technique of pouring the tea is as crucial as the quality of the tea. The tea is accompanied with hard sugar cones or lumps.

Moroccan tea pots have long, curved pouring spouts and this allow the tea to be poured even into tiny glasses from a height. To acquire the optimum taste, glasses are filled in two stages.

Snacks and Fastfood

Selling Fast food in the street has long been general tradition and the best example is Djemaa el Fna square in Marrakech. Starting the 1980s new snack restaurants started serving "Bocadillo" (which is a Spanish word for a sandwich and has been widely used in Morocco). The bocadillo is a baguette filled with salad and a choice between meats or simply a Tortilla (which is also a widely used term).

During the 1990s, a new trend started to emerge. New dairy products' shops (Mahlaba in Moroccan Arabic) begun to open through all cities in Morocco. Those mahlabas offer generally all types of dairy products, juices, breakfasts as well as bocadillos competing though the former established snack restaurants.

The late 1990s also experienced the opening in high scale of franchisees of multinational fastfood chains especialy in main cities.

Moroccan food abroad

Couscous is one of the most popular North African dishes globally. Markets, stores and restaurants in Europe, especially in France and lately the UK feature tajines, couscous, preserved lemons and Moroccan spices.

External links

Recipe books

Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from My Moroccan Kitchen, by: Kitty Morse, Laurie Smith ISBN 081181503X
Scent of Orange Blossoms: Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco, by: Kitty Morse, Owen Morse ISBN 1580082696
Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, by: Paula Wolfert, Gael Greene ISBN 0060913967
Food of Morocco: Authentic Recipes from the North African Coast, by: Fatema Hal ISBN 962593992X

Mediterranean cuisine | Moroccan cuisine | Moroccan culture

Gastronomía de Marruecos | Cuisine marocaine | モロッコ料理 | Марокканська кухня

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