Regional
Moroccan
Flavours
with
International
Origins
» » Essaouira
Portuguese and
Jewish
» » Fez Andalucía
(Spain) and Persia
» » Marrakesh
Senegal, France,
Berber North Africa
and Italy
» » Tetouan Andalucía
and Turkey
complete with winking brass lamps, mirrors, swagged tent fabric and
tasselled cushions as far as the eye can see. Often it’s the ambience
you’re paying for rather than the food, which can vary from exquisitely
prepared regional specialities to mass-produced glop. Here’s a rule of
thumb: if the place is so cavernous that your voice echoes and there’s a
stage set up for a laser show, don’t expect personalised service or
authentic Moroccan fare.TASTY BEAST: MECHOUI
Special occasions call for Morocco’s very best beast dish: mechoui, an entire slow-roasted lamb. The whole beast is basted
with butter, garlic, cumin and paprika, and slow-roasted in a special covered pit until it’s ready to melt into the fire or your
mouth, whichever comes first. Local variations may include substituting a calf instead, or stuffing the lamb with some
combination of almonds (or other nuts), prunes (or other dried fruit) or couscous. Sometimes mechoui is accompanied by
kebabs or kwa (grilled liver kebabs with cumin, salt and paprika). Other than Moroccan weddings, the best place to have
mechoui is right off Marrakesh’s Djemaa el-Fna around lunchtime, served with olives and bread in Mechoui Alley (Click here ).
Do not attempt to operate heavy machinery or begin a whirlwind museum tour post- mechoui; no amount of post-prandial mint
tea will make such exertions feasible without a nap.Whether you’re in for a diffa at a Moroccan home (lucky you) or a restaurant, your lavish
dinner will include some combination of the following:
Mezze Up to five different small salads (though the most extravagant palace restaurants in
Marrakesh and Fez boast seven to nine).
Briouat or brik Buttery cigar-shaped or triangular pastry stuffed with herbs and goat’s cheese,
savoury meats, or egg, then fried or baked.
Pastilla The justly famed savoury-sweet pie made of warqa (sheets of pastry even thinner than
filo), painstakingly layered with pigeon or chicken cooked with caramelised onions, lemon, eggs
and toasted sugared almonds, then dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Couscous Made according to local custom; couscous variations may be made of barley, wheat
or corn.
Tajine Often your choice of one of a couple of varieties.