Moroccan cuisine is an exotic blend of Arabic and colonial influences. It consists of any number of dishes and ranks very high among the cuisines of the world. Unfortunately, tourist remains largely unexposed to this variety as only a handful of them figure on the menus of restaurants and hotels in the bigger cities. Moroccans eat out only occasionally. Restaurants and hotels, therefore, prefer to stick to the standard French, Chinese and Indian fare that most tourists are familiar with.
Local Moroccan cuisine is exotic and tasty and you are bound to savour every meal!
Our Morocco Restaurant Guide below provides useful information on where to find a great meal whilst in Morocco, as well as general information on the food and cuisine of Morocco. You can find out what the local dining scene is like in our Marrakech Restaurant Guide or Fes and Meknes Restaurant Guide. Many of the best restaurants and street food can be found amongst the souks and shopping streets, perfect for taking a break whilst shopping in Morocco.
Food & Cuisine in Morocco
Traditional cuisine
Couscous is the one Moroccan dish that is known all over the world. This staple food of the Moroccans is made from semolina and is steamed in a special colander-like container called couscoussière. It can be served as a side dish to a tagine (stew) or as a main course when it is made with vegetables and meat.
Tagine is a stew-like spicy dish that is named after the conical clay pot in which it is simmered. Restaurants offer a variety of tagine made from various combinations of vegetables and meat, starting at a price of 25 DH. You can choose any combination, from prawn tagine cooked in spicy tomato sauce to lemon flavoured chicken tagine with olives.
Kaliya is a dish of Berber origin, which is served with bread or couscous. It is made with onions, bell pepper, tomatoes and lamb.
Pastilla is a truly exotic Moroccan delicacy. Spicy, sweetened meat of pigeon (which is the exotic ingredient), chicken or lamb and layers of almond paste are laid between thin pieces of flaky dough, wrapped into a pastry, coated with powdered sugar and baked.
Moroccans begin their day with a bowl of hot harira. This soupe moroccaine, as the French call it, is a nourishing and tasty soup made from chick peas, lentils, lamb stock, vegetables and tomatoes. Harira, strangely, is not part of fine dining and is marked as "blue collar" food.
Another favourite breakfast dish is the bissara, which is a thick gloppy mixture of split peas simmered in a generous quantity of olive oil. You can find bissara bubbling merrily in the morning near the medinas and markets.
Harira and bissara are always served with some bread. At DH 3 to DH 5, this is a wholesome breakfast or lunch that will sustain you for a long period.
Many restaurants and cafés serve a decent breakfast or petit déjeuner at DH 20. It includes a bread or croissant with marmalade, jus d'Orange (orange juice) and coffee or tea.
Snacks and fast food
If you are on a shoe string budget or essentially a snacker, there is a lot for you in Morocco. There are rotisserie chicken shops that serve chicken with salad and fries for DH 20. Hole-in- the- wall shops along with rotisserie stores offer a wide variety of sandwiches. These crusty, fresh baguettes, with a variety of fillings like chicken, tuna, salads and brochettes, come with generous lashings of mayonnaise and are served with French fries. This is again a wholesome meal.
Snackers can take their pick from steamed broad beans, barbequed corn cobs and a variety of nuts from the vendors and street hawkers.
Drinking
Morocco, by virtue of being an Islamic nation, is predominantly dry. Drinking in public places is not approved at all. But Moroccans enjoy their drink and alcohol is available in discos and hotels, supermarkets, bars and restaurants.
Avoid drinking tap water in Morocco even in your hotel, as the mineral content in the water is much higher than what tourists are used to. While the locals are acclimatized to these heightened mineral levels, Europeans and other tourists are likely to take ill with an upset stomach. While this may not be severe, you may end up losing a few days of your holiday! Stick to bottled mineral water. You can choose from popular mineral water brands like Oulmes, Sidi Harazem. Sidi Ali, Ain Saiss and Danone, which is slightly metallic in taste.
Every tourist to Morocco will be offered mint tea at least once in a day. Even the most average Moroccan owns a teapot and glasses and can offer tea at short notice. While this gesture arises mainly out of their hospitable nature, often it is also a bait to get you to enter their shops! Do accept their gesture. It is the right way to respond. And if you can remember to look the host in his eye and say "bi saha raha" (relax and enjoy) before you sip his tea, he will be amazed by your command over the language.
If you are a woman travelling alone, then stick to restaurants and pastry shops as cafés are traditionally frequented by men. If you are a couple, however, even a café is not out of bounds.
