Moroccan Food: The Dishes You Have to Try

1. The flavours of Morocco

The kitchen draws on Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian and Jewish traditions. Its signature is the careful use of spices: cumin, ginger, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon and saffron, often combined in ras el hanout, a blend whose name means 'head of the shop'. Preserved lemons, olives, almonds, dates and argan oil add depth.

2. The dishes you should try

You could eat a different dish every day for two weeks and not repeat yourself. These twelve are the ones we would not want you to miss.

• Tagine: A slow-cooked stew named after its conical clay pot. Classics are chicken with preserved lemon and olives, lamb with prunes, and kefta (meatballs) with egg.
• Couscous: Steamed semolina with vegetables and meat, traditionally eaten on Friday after midday prayers.
• Pastilla: A crisp pie of pigeon or chicken, almonds and cinnamon, dusted with sugar. A speciality of Fes.
• Harira: A hearty soup of tomato, lentils and chickpeas, eaten every evening in Ramadan.
• Tangia: Meat sealed in a clay jar and cooked for hours in the ashes of a hammam furnace. The dish of Marrakech.
• Mechoui: Whole lamb roasted slowly until it falls apart.
• Rfissa: Chicken and lentils over shredded flatbread, scented with fenugreek.
• Zaalouk: A smoky salad of aubergine and tomato.
• Medfouna: The 'Berber pizza' of the desert, a stuffed bread baked in hot sand or a clay oven.
• Msemen and baghrir: Flaky pancakes and spongy semolina crumpets for breakfast.
• Chebakia: Sesame and honey pastries.
• Briouats: Small fried parcels with savoury or sweet fillings.

Local tip: If you pass through Rissani or Khamlia near Merzouga, order a medfouna. It is made fresh and takes about forty minutes.

3. Regional specialities

Morocco's cooking changes as you travel, and part of the fun is ordering what the region does best.

• Fes: Pastilla and refined, slightly sweet dishes from the old court kitchens.
• Marrakech: Tangia, and the grilled meats and soups of Jemaa el-Fna.
• The Atlantic coast: Grilled sardines, fish tagine and chermoula, a marinade of herbs, garlic, cumin and lemon.
• The Sahara and the Tafilalet: Medfouna, and the finest dates in the country.
• The High Atlas and the Souss: Simple vegetable tagines, bread from clay ovens and amlou, a spread of almonds, honey and argan oil.
• The north: Fresh goat's cheese and bissara, a thick broad-bean soup served with olive oil and cumin.

4. Mint tea

Green tea with fresh mint and plenty of sugar is served everywhere, at any hour. It is poured from a height to make a light foam, and offering it is a gesture of hospitality. In the south you may be poured three glasses in a row; it is polite to accept.

Tea is made with Chinese gunpowder green tea, a handful of spearmint and a block of sugar, and in winter people add wormwood or other herbs. Refusing a glass can seem cold; if you do not want sugar, say so before the pot is filled.

5. Bread, the centre of every meal

Bread, or khobz, is on the table three times a day: a round, flat loaf with a firm crust, made from wheat, barley or semolina. In the medinas, many families still knead their dough at home and send it on a tray to the neighbourhood oven, where the baker knows each family's loaves by sight. Bread is treated with respect and never thrown away.

6. How Moroccans eat

Meals are shared from a single dish in the centre of the table. Bread takes the place of cutlery, and people eat with the right hand from the section in front of them. Guests are served first and urged to eat more. In restaurants you will be given cutlery, but trying the traditional way is welcomed.

7. The meal through the day

Breakfast is bread with olive oil, honey, jam and soft cheese, often with msemen pancakes, eggs and fresh orange juice. Lunch is the main meal, eaten at home between one and two o'clock, and on Fridays it is almost always couscous.

Late afternoon brings tea and something sweet. Dinner is lighter and later, often soup, leftovers or a simple tagine. On a tour you will usually have breakfast and dinner where you stay, and stop for lunch at a local restaurant on the road.

8. Street food and where to eat

Some of the best food is the simplest: grilled sardines by the sea, bowls of harira in the medina, fried doughnuts called sfenj, and the food stalls of Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakech. Choose busy places with a quick turnover.

For a proper meal, riads often cook the most authentic food, to order, with a few hours' notice.

9. Sweets, fruit and dates

Dessert at a Moroccan table is usually fruit: oranges sliced with cinnamon, melon, pomegranates or whatever is in season. Pastries are kept for tea and celebrations. Look for gazelle horns filled with almond paste, crumbly ghriba biscuits and, in the south, dates. The large, soft Mejhoul variety from the oases around Erfoud is prized around the world.

10. Vegetarians and special diets

Vegetarians eat well in Morocco: vegetable tagine and couscous are on every menu, along with salads, lentils, beans and eggs. Do mention that you do not eat meat broth. Vegans and those avoiding gluten need a little more planning, as bread and semolina are everywhere, but a guide or riad host can usually arrange it.

11. Alcohol and other drinks

Alcohol is served in licensed hotels, restaurants and many riads, and Morocco produces good wine around Meknes. Most local cafés and small restaurants do not serve it. Everywhere you will find fresh orange juice, avocado and almond milkshakes, and strong coffee, either black or as a 'nous-nous', half coffee and half milk.

12. Cooking classes

A cooking class is one of the most enjoyable half-days you can spend. Most begin with a walk through the market to buy vegetables, herbs and spices, then move to a riad kitchen where you prepare a salad, a tagine and bread before eating what you have made. Classes are easy to arrange in Marrakech and Fes, and you leave with recipes that work at home.

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