In Morocco, cooking is an integral part of the art of living. Since this is also a country with a large number of restaurants, the choice of what and where to eat is boundless. Prices vary widely from one place to the next and from one town to the next, and tipping is still a well-entrenched custom. Although restaurant opening hours are similar to those of Western Europe, they may change during Ramadan. Religious strictures also mean that establishments serving alcohol are relatively rare and tightly regulated. Restaurants span the full range, from the smartest, with international cuisine, to the more modest, which offer delicious Moroccan dishes. Finally, there are the little stalls that are found on every street corner or on the quay in harbours, which serve freshly cooked fish and other succulent treats.
In large towns and cities in Morocco you will find every kind of restaurant. At one end of the scale are modest street stalls and small bistros; at the other are classic restaurants and prestigious gastronomic establishments. Athough, in this bracket, French and Italian establishments predominate, these restaurants enable you to sample specialities from all over the world. Fast-food outlets are also becoming ubiquitous, particularly in city centres. In medium-sized towns, the choice is more limited, with relatively basic establishments offering mostly local specialities. In small seaside towns, fish restaurants are particularly numerous. Restaurants serving typically Moroccan food are, in fact, comparatively rare. They can be roughly divided into two types: “tourist” restaurants, which cater for groups and which sometimes put on shows such as fantasias, and higher-class restaurants, such as those in Fès or Marrakech.
These are more like tables d’hôte in old traditional residences. The prices that they charge are higher (400 to 600 dirhams in the most renowned establishments), but you will enjoy a more refined cuisine and a more authentic atmosphere. Given the pleasantly warm climate in Morocco, many restaurants like to serve their customers outdoors, setting out tables in a quiet and pleasantly shaded courtyard, in the corner of a garden or even on the pavement outside the restaurant.
Although Morocco is well provided with restaurants offering international specialities, it is essential to sample Moroccan cuisine, which is by far the best food that is served in the country. A traditional Moroccan meal begins with a large number of starters, consisting of salad, or vegetables flavoured with different kinds of spices. Then follows the main course, often couscous or tajine. Tajine is a kind of stew made with fish, chicken, beef or lamb, and may include prunes or almonds. There is a great variety of tajines, which differ according to the region, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say variations as there are cooks. All, however, are prepared and served in a terracotta dish with a conical lid; this cooking vessel is called a tajine, hence the dish’s name. Moroccan desserts, especially milk pastilla, are mouth-watering. Meals are usually eaten with mint tea, although more and more restaurants now offer wine.
OPENING HOURS AND RESERVATIONS
In most restaurants, lunch is served between noon and 3pm and dinner between 7pm and 10.30pm. However, during the fast of Ramadan, many restaurants, especially the less expensive ones, will not open at lunchtime. In very fashionable restaurants, particularly those in the centre of the largest towns and cities, it is advisable for large parties to make a reservation, especially on Thursdays, Fridays and on Saturday evenings. Reservation is absolutely essential for the tables d’hôtel in Marrakech and Fès. Here it is often necessary to reserve several days in advance, since space can be limited, as can the number of sittings each evening.
PRICES AND TIPPING
Prices vary widely according to a restaurant’s quality. They may range from 60 dirhams for a basic meal to about 200 dirhams for a meal with wine in a classic establishment, and between 250 and 600 dirhams in a high-class restaurant. Prices are higher in large towns and cities and in places that attract many foreign visitors, such as Casablanca, Agadir and Marrakech. Prices given on menus usually include service and tax, so that unpleasant surprises are rare. Tipping is a widely accepted custom in Morocco. It is customary to give 5 to 10 per cent of the bill. The tip should be in cash, and should be left on the table when you leave the restaurant. Do not add it to the total when you pay by cheque or bankers’ card since the waiters will not receive it.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
Morocco is a Muslim country where stringent laws apply to the sale of alcohol. However, most restaurants from a certain level upwards have a license to serve alcohol, as do Moroccan restaurants with a largely Western clientele. Unlicensed restaurants may sometimes serve wine discreetly. Visitors should not, however, insist on being served alcohol in an unlicensed restaurant since not serving alcohol may be the manager’s deliberate policy. During Ramadan, some restaurants that normally serve alcohol close or stop serving it.
DRESS
Even though it is the custom to eat out of doors, Moroccans usually dress quite smartly when they go out to eat. Restaurants never insist on a particular type of dress. The only exception is in a few very high-class establishments, where gentlemen will be expected to wear a tie, or where ties will be lent. It is best to avoid too relaxed a style of dress, and very revealing clothes, such as beachwear, are likely to be considered offensive.
Stalls selling cheap food are seen everywhere in Morocco. Typical dishes are soup, skewered meat or fish and sandwiches. At dusk, Place Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakech turns into a huge open-air restaurant. In coastal towns and villages, usually on the quays of harbours where fishing boats come in, trestle tables serving freshly cooked seafood are often set up. Although the food served from stalls is usually fresh, it is best to single out those that are the most popular with Moroccans. This is the best indication of good quality.
THE FLAVOURS OF MOROCCO
From the indigenous, rural Berber people come the basics of Moroccan cuisine, such as couscous, but Moroccan food owes much to influences from neighbouring lands. In the 1600s the Arabs introduced bread, pulses and spices, notably chickpeas (garbanzos), cinnamon, ginger, saffron and tumeric, from their empire in the East. In the 11th century Bedouin tribes brought dates and milk from their wandering flocks. The Arabs returned from Andalusia with produce such as olives and lemons, and, later, tomatoes and peppers from the Americas.
Lamb is the cornerstone of Moroccan cookery, and is found in the form of grills, merguez (thin, spicy red sausages) and brochettes (skewers); in tagines or a couscous; and roasted whole on a spit with aromatics as the traditional m’chou You will also find beef on the menu, usually served as kebabs, as well as rabbit, served as a couscous or tagine. Chicken and turkey are also readily available. Pigeon is more rarely on the menu these days, but is still a feature of b’stilla. This extravagant pie, a speciality of Fès, is made with tissuethin warkha pastry. Offal, such as brains, heart, liver and tripe, are also popular.
FISH & SEAFOOD
Morocco has long coasts on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which provide a wide variety of seafood. Fish such as bream and bass are typically marinated in a garlicky, spicy mixture called chermoula, and are usually cooked whole. They may also be served stuffed, with an almond crust, as steaks or brochettes, or as fishcakes,
MOROCCAN DISHES AND SPECIALITIES
VEGETABLES
Morocco has many inventive and refreshing salad dishes. Often served as a starter, they include mezgaldi, which combines onions with saffron, ginger, cinnamon, sugar and celery. Aubergines (eggplants) are ubiquitous, served as a salad, fried or stuffed. Combinations of tomatoes, green peppers, hot red or sweet red peppers and red onions, all add colour and flavour to the table. Olives and their oil are abundant, and nutty argan oil is widely used. (Goats adore the outer pulp of the nut, and can be seen “grazing” in the branches of argan trees.)
FRUIT
Most Moroccan meals end with a dish of fruit, often a simple sliced-orange salad, sprinkled with cinnamon and orange-flower water, and sometimes chopped dates fruits include peaches, figs, melons, bananas, plums, pomegranates and all types of citrus fruits. Lemons, preserved in brine, add piquancy to many dishes.
SPICES & FLAVOURINGS
Key Moroccan spices include aniseed, black pepper, cayenne, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, paprika, parsley, saffron and turmeric. Three spice blends are important: chermoula, for marinades; harissa, a hot red pepper condiment; and ras el hanout (“top of the shop”), a blend of over 20 spices, used in tagines. hot sauce made from harissa and tomato purée.
Briouats. Triangular warkha pastries filled with almond and cinnamon paste.
Ghoriba. Macaroons made with sugar, almonds, lemon zest, vanilla and cinnamon.
Kaab el ghzal. Pastry crescents filled with sweet almond paste, dipped in orangeflower water and icing sugar.
M’hanncha. “Coiled serpent” cake of pastry stuffed with almonds and decorated with icing sugar and cinnamon.
Sfenj. Deep-fried doughnuts.
Shebbakia. Deep-fried pastry ribbons, dipped in hot honey and coated in sesame seeds.
WHAT TO DRINK IN MOROCCO
Green mint tea is the national drink in Morocco. It is served several times a day at home, in the office, in shops and on café terraces. Moroccans are also very fond of coffee, which is usually served with milk but may sometimes be flavoured with cinnamon, orange-flower water or a few grains of pepper. Freshly squeezed orange juice is delicious, as are all fruit juices – cherry, grape and pomegranate being the most widely available choices. Although the Koran forbids the consumption of alcohol, fairly good quality wines are produced in Morocco, and these can be bought in certain shops.
TEA
Known for 3,000 years in China, green tea, with long fine leaves, reached Morocco in 1854. It was introduced by the British, and immediately became popular in every Moroccan home. All over Morocco, from the sophisticated town house to the simple nomad’s tent, green mint tea has become the national drink. This thirstquenching drink, which is made with varying amounts of sugar and mint, is a symbol of hospitality, and it is considered very ill-mannered to refuse it.
The tea ceremony is almost always performed in front of guests and according to immutable rules. Mint tea is always served in small, slender glasses decorated with a gold or coloured filigree pattern. The tea leaves are rinsed in the scalded teapot so as to remove their excessive bitterness. Whole mint leaves, complete with stems, are then added, together with large lumps of sugar, which prevent the leaves from rising to the surface. After being left for a few minutes to infuse, a little tea is poured into a glass and returned to the pot. This is repeated several times. The host finally tastes the tea, which will not be served to guests until it is deemed to be perfect.
COFFEE
Although it is less widely drunk than tea, Moroccans are also fond of coffee, which they like to drink very strong. It is accceptable to ask for a little boiling water with which to dilute it. Unless you request otherwise, your coffee will automatically be served with milk. A black coffee is a qahwa kahla; a noss noss is half coffee and half milk; and café cassé consists of more coffee than milk.
COLD DRINKS
Although lemonade and cola are sold on every street corner, freshly squeezed orange juice is the real Moroccan speciality. It is absolutely delicious, so long as it is served undiluted. The sweet, juicy and famously flavoursome Moroccan oranges can be seen laid out for sale everywhere, piled up in glossy pyramids on barrows and on market stalls. On Place Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakech, they are almost a sideshow in themselves. Almond milk, banana milk, apple juice and pomegranate juice are also popular drinks.
BEER AND SPIRITS
All kinds of imported alcoholic drinks can be purchased in supermarkets. Flag Spéciale is a light ale brewed in Tangier and Casablanca. Stork is brewed in Casablanca. Mahia is a Moroccan fig distillation, 40 per cent proof. The sale of wine and other alcohol is forbidden to Muslims during Ramadan and after 7.30pm.
MINERAL WATER
Although the tap water in towns is safe to drink, it tastes strongly of chlorine. Mineral water – such as Sidi Ali and Sidi Harazem, which are still, and Oulmès and San Pellegrino, which are sparkling – is much more palatable.
From the book 'Morocco', as ' WHERE TO EAT'. Produced by Hachette Tourisme, Paris, translated by Lucilla Watson. Published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd, London, 2010, Managing Editor Anna Streiffert, p.322-337. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.
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