Morocco Part 4: One of the world’s great cuisines
An inherited culinary culture
Until not that long ago, Moroccan cuisine was not codified. Cookbooks simply did not exist. This is not surprising considering that mandatory education is relatively recent. This meant that many people outside of urban areas were illiterate. By necessity, to sustain women’s primary role in Moroccan society—that of feeding and nurturing their families—recipes and culinary techniques had to be passed down verbally from mother to daughter.
As we learned on our recent trip, the very essence of Morocco’s social fabric begins and ends with the family. By extension, the importance of food prepared at home cannot be underestimated. Why? Because it’s through homemade, communally served meals that Moroccan family members stay connected.
It all begins with what the female head of household chooses to purchase to feed her family and how she makes the most of her budget. As pointed out by food scientist Diane McComber—a frequent visitor to the country—I was impressed that the Moroccans use every part of their animals by mixing those with an extensive variety of vegetables and even fruits. This is exactly what our diets should contain: fruits and vegetables cleverly handled to give a flavor burst. No need for hot peppers and sauces to cover flavors, but the mixture provides interest, nutrients and color appeal.
Moroccan food culture traditionally values fresh, locally grown, seasonal foods. Even though as of 2023 almost 70% of the country’s population live in urban areas, people continue to believe the best ingredients come from the bled or countryside. Even better if they know the family who owns the farm or the animal. Think natural, organic and free range on steroids!
A culture of great communal hospitality
Morocco’s hospitality is legendary. A traditional meal is a ritual which embraces both a custom of communal dining and abundance. Foreigners are often surprised when they see the embarrassment of riches of food offered at meals, especially if they are lucky enough to be invited into someone’s home. What might appear excessive to Westerners is a point of pride for their local host. And nothing our group learned goes to waste.
When we asked our Tauck tour guides what happens with all the uneaten food, they explained that the kitchen would finish off every crumb and not to worry. What we did not realize was behind the scenes were groups of hungry people—women, children, relative and servants—happy to feast on our leftovers.
Mama cooks best
Most Moroccans prefer to eat at home where the food is imminently better that what is offered in a commercial establishment. In addition to serving nutritional meals, tradition dictates that a mother needs to accommodate her family’s varied taste preferences. This is achieved by offering a wide variety of choices for each meal and always of excellent quality. A tradition of spoiling, I wonder???
When Moroccans do go out, they prefer to enjoy street foods which are abundantly available. While there are special occasions when they will venture out, such as at Ramadan, restaurants are mostly reserved for tourists.
So, what’s a visitor to do? Tip #1: Reserve a meal at a riad where food is frequently made by home cooks. Better yet, strike up a friendship and get invited to a local’s home.
How to eat like a Moroccan
Moroccans eat four shared meals a day including breakfast, lunch, cascrot (an after-school snack), and dinner. The main meal is served at lunch. Family members, and friends too, gather around low, round tables sitting on cushions on the floor. Unless you are served a soup—when a spoon will be offered—silverware is not needed. In Morocco everyone eats from communal bowls or plates of food, family-style, using their fingers.
Eating with your hands is a time-honored tradition. Tip #2: Only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand are acceptable. Using additional fingers is considered a sign of gluttony. Tip #3: Never eat with your left hand—it is considered unclean by Muslims—however it can be used for picking up bread or for passing food.
Here’s how it works: Take a small piece of bread between your thumb and two fingers. Reach only into the section of the communal bowl or plate directly in front of you. Reaching across is considered bad manners. Use the bread for scooping up a little bit of sauce then for grabbing a small piece of protein, vegetable, or even a small portion of couscous grains.
Tip #4: Never help yourself to bread when dining in someone’s home. Wait for the host to offer it to you. Moroccans follow this habit religiously as if more than one person gives out the bread, they believe their home will be beset with quarrelling.
Washing your hands before and after a meal is a must. Frequently, someone will pass around the table with a kettle of warm water for washing your hands. In restaurants, they may offer rose or orange blossom scented water before you sit down.
As a blessing before the meal, the host in a Moroccan family will announce Bismillah (In the name of Allah). This expression is echoed back by everyone at the table. Only then will eating begin.
The rich tradition of a Moroccan tea service
Mint tea is at the heart of everything in Morocco. Not only is it enjoyed at the end of a meal—three glasses per person is considered normal— but it’s also offered as a sign of hospitality at social events, business discussions, and even while haggling at the market. Tip #5: It is considered an insult to refuse an offer of tea.
It’s traditional for the male head of the family to prepare and serve the tea in front of you. Step one is to wash the Chinese gunpowder green tea leaves to extract their bitterness; then they are boiled with a generous addition of fresh mint and sugar.
Pouring tea for guests offers the host a moment of showmanship. When the tea is ready, the host will place the spout of the tea pot close to the rim of small, colored tea glasses (never cups). As he pours the tea pot’s long spout is lifted high in the air then brought back down to each glass. This movement, sometimes 12 inches high, serves to aerate the tea leaving behind a much-desired light ring of bubbles.
While the first tea service is being enjoyed, the host will top up the tea pot again with more hot water, mint and sugar (typically no more tea leaves are added as the original amount will continue to infuse the second and third pots). The first glass can taste quite strong but with each new brewing the flavors soften.
When our group visited a Berber family and the father served us tea, he laughingly warned us. “Watch out if you are ever served a glass of tea filled to the brim. This is considered an insult as the guest will end up burning his fingers trying to drink the tea!”
What to eat when in Morocco
Moroccan cuisine is simply prepared, salt-of-the-earth cooking which relies on the freshest seasonal ingredients locally available. What makes it uniquely sophisticated is the skilled practice of creating unique combinations of ingredients plus the art of blending just the right combination of exotic spices. In fact, spices are pivotal in producing flavors which are distinctively Moroccan. I call it culinary alchemy.
If you are planning a trip to Morocco, or merely a meal out at a new local Moroccan restaurant, here are some of the iconic dishes to investigate:
Pastilla (also known as bisteeya, B'stilla, or Bstilla): This is undoubtedly my favorite Moroccan dish. It’s a delicacy made of multi-layered “warpa” pastry—thinner than phyllo dough—which covers a filling of shredded, braised chicken with toasted almonds, spices, and boiled eggs. Originally pigeon was used but that’s rare today. This savory-sweet dish is always sprinkled on top with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Amlou: Morocco’s version of peanut butter, this is a breakfast treat served with warm flatbread or the country’s version of pancakes, baghrir. Amlou is made from ground almonds, honey and Argan oil which we discussed earlier.
Couscous: This is made—often by hand—of small, steam granules of rolled semolina which serves as the base for meat, poultry, fish or vegetable stews.
Khobz: In Moroccan homes breads are made early every morning by the women in the house, then taken to a communal oven. Each loaf is identified with a family seal so that the bread can be returned to the right home after baking. Normally the bread is made with coarse whole wheat or barley mixed with unbleached flour. The round, chewy and soft-crusted bread is highly absorbent and used instead of a fork to gather up the sauce and stewed meats of tagines using one’s hand to maneuver the piece of bread.
Tagines: This quintessential dish is a slow-cooked, aromatic stew made from meats, poultry, fish along with seasonal vegetables, as well as dried fruits and nuts. Cooked in a flat, clay dish with a conical lid, the word “tagine” refers to the dish as well as its cooking vessel.
Mechoui: A whole lamb roasted for several hours in a spit over a charcoal fire or a mud-built kiln, this is a dish usually reserved for special occasions.
Briouat: These are small triangular pieces of phyllo dough filled with either savory or sweet ingredients such as spiced ground meat, cheese, fish, vegetables or ground nuts, then deep fried.
Zaalouk Salad: This is Morocco’s version of France’s ratatouille. Made of eggplant, tomato, garlic, olive oil and spices, this dish is offered at the beginning of a meal along with other fresh vegetable salads.
The challenges of the mistress of the household
Before we end our Moroccan expedition, I’d like to discuss one of Diane McComber‘s observations: The disparity between men and women’s roles in Morocco. Diane noted that the men in Morocco relaxed with their friends while women prepared, cooked, served, washed, made bread, took care of children, worked with handicrafts and many tasks associated with life on tiny farms in the mountains.” Coming from America where women’s freedoms are taken for granted, observing the differences in Morocco was striking. The reality remains that despite recent societal improvements, Morocco remains a conservative, patriarchal society which values men over women.
A recent UNESCO-funded survey of world food systems revealed some interesting new trends in Morocco. These behavioral shifts are the result of a sustained urbanization which has been underway since the 1960s.
As recounted by Joan Brower in an earlier post on Morocco, women’s status within society is changing particularly in the cities. Today Moroccan women are freer to assert their individuality plus have greater social freedoms. This is all thanks to more access to education, contraception, media, and paid employment outside the home.
None of these advances, however, have lightened Moroccan women’s domestic workload. Approximately two and half hours per day are spent on meal planning and preparation. At the same time women are expected to pass on affection, tastes and traditional eating habits to their children at mealtimes. And finally, it falls on them as well to do the clean-up afterwards with little help from their families.
Out of necessity, working women are seeking out urban conveniences to ameliorate their situation. More and more, Moroccan women are using either homemade foods sourced from friends or ready-made items purchased commercially. Formerly, this would never have been acceptable as everything needed to be produced at home.
Another big behavioral change is the late afternoon cascrot which is becoming more substantial. The cascrot is morphing into a more relaxed, convivial meal with less formal restrictions. This is a time when friends and family stop by and where “mama” can relax as she no longer needs to prepare a meal per se. Instead, children and guests have started to self-service. Now they can select food choices to please their personal preferences by picking up individually packaged snacks (cakes, yoghurt drinks, or sandwiches.) Keeping with tradition, however, men still prefer to take their “snacks” outside of the home.
At the same time as the cascrot is becoming more informal requiring less time in the kitchen for women, dinner is transitioning into a lighter meal. Often it consists of recycled dishes from the day before, another time saver.
Weekend meal planning in the cities has also become more casual. To please their children, mothers are allowing them to eat “hipper,” non-traditional foods such as pizza, sandwiches and paninis. These are either eaten out, purchased and brought home, or for the obsessive mother, recreated in the kitchen where nutrition and quality can be maintained. And in Morocco’s bigger cities, there’s always a KFC or McDo to fall back on when the kids are hungry and time is short. Not only does it lessen mothers’ stress, but it also universally pleases their children who look on fast food as “cool.”
Despite these recent behavioral changes, the core of traditional Moroccan cuisine remains steadfast. In fact, a 2020 survey published by WorldSIM Travel Blog ranks Morocco amongst the world’s top gastronomic destinations. The diversity and richness of its cuisine has earned it a second place just behind Peru and ahead of Italy and France. No wonder. It’s hard not to be seduced by its intermingling of different culture and cuisines—Berber, Arabic, Andalusian, Jewish, and more—plus its exotic flavor combinations and unique blends of spices. After you’ve given it a try, I’m convinced you’ll agree that Moroccan cuisine is one of the best in the world.