Hold the hot sauce: dousing your tajine
with harissa (capsicum-pepper sauce)
is generally done in Tunisia, Morocco’s
chief rival in the kitchen and on the
football field.
Food
Facts:
Morocco’s
Farmers
» » 47% of Morocco’s
population lives in rural
areas
» » 40% of the country
is involved in food
production, mostly
small-scale
» » 19% of Morocco’s
land is arable
produce you’ll find in food markets is chemical- and GMO-free.
Produce
The splendid appearance, fragrance and flavour of Moroccan
market produce will leave you with a permanent grudge against
those wan, shrivelled items trying to pass themselves off as
food at the supermarket. There’s a reason for this: Moroccan
produce is usually harvested by hand when ripe, and bought
directly from farmers in the souqs. Follow the crowds of
Moroccan grandmothers and restaurant sous-chefs to the carts and stalls offering the freshest
produce. Just be sure to peel, cook, or thoroughly wash produce before you eat it, since your
stomach may not yet be accustomed to local microbes.
Meats
Carnivores and sustainability-minded eaters can finally put aside their
differences and enjoy dinner together in Morocco. As you may guess,
watching sheep and goats scamper over mountains and valleys in
Morocco, herds live a charmed existence here – at least until dinnertime.
Most of the meat you’ll enjoy in Morocco is free-range, antibiotic-free, and
raised on a steady diet of grass and wild herbs. If you wonder why lamb
and mutton is so much more flavourful in Morocco than the stuff back
home, you’ll find your answer scampering around the High Atlas foothills.EATING DURING RAMADAN
During Ramadan, most Moroccans observe the fast during the day, eating only before sunup and after sundown. Dinner is
eaten later than usual – around 11pm – and many wake up early for a filling breakfast before dawn. Another popular strategy is
to stay up most of the night, sleep as late as possible, and stretch the afternoon nap into early evening. Adapt to the local
schedule, and you may thoroughly enjoy the leisurely pace, late-night festivities and manic feasts of Ramadan.
Although you will not be expected to observe the fast, eating in public view is generally frowned upon. Hence many
restaurants are closed during the day until lftour, the evening meal when the fast is broken – though if you call ahead to
restaurants in tourist areas, you may have luck. With a little planning, there are plenty of other workarounds: load up on snacks
in the market to eat indoors, make arrangements for breakfast or lunch in the privacy of your guesthouse, and ask locals about
a good place to enjoy lftour .
Lftour comes with all the traditional Ramadan fixings: harira (a hearty soup), dates, milk, shebbakia (a sweet, coiled pastry
that’s guaranteed to shift your glucose levels into high gear), and harsha (buttery bread made of semolina and fried for
maximum density). You may find that harira is offered free; even Moroccan McDonald’s offers it as part of their special
Ramadan Happy Meal.Seasonal Variations
If there is one food you adore or a dish you detest, you might want to plan your visit to
Morocco accordingly. Morocco offers an incredible bounty of produce, meats and fish, but