More than 186 reader-rated Moroccan
recipes from foodie magazines
Gourmet and Bon Appétit are online at
http://www.epicurious.com, including quick
and healthy options and suggested
wine pairings.For Moroccan recipes, a glossary of
Arabic ingredients, and Moroccan
cooking tips and anecdotes, surf
Moroccan Gateway’s foodie links at
http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/food.htm.Foodies who equate Middle Eastern
food with Lebanese cuisine stand
corrected by Claudia Roden’s
Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco,
Turkey and Lebanon, which
showcases Moroccan cuisine and
won the 2007 James Beard Award
(the culinary Oscar).Moroccan Cuisine
Moroccan cuisine is the stuff of myth and legend – and sometimes sheer befuddlement, thanks
to many seemingly indecipherable menus. Awkwardly phrased English and French menu
descriptions often appear to require a special decoder ring, so visitors end up sticking to what
they already know of Moroccan cuisine: couscous and tajines. Many other scrumptious
Moroccan breakfast, lunch and dinner options are described in this chapter to take some of the
mystery out of the menu, and help you explore your full range of dining options in Morocco.
Have no fear of the salad course, since these vegetable
dishes are mostly cooked or peeled and among Morocco’s
finest culinary offerings. Entrées ominously described as ‘spicy’
on Moroccan menus are probably not overly hot or piquant –
there could just be an extra pinch of delicate saffron or
savoury-sweet cinnamon involved. Dessert is a temptation you
won’t want to resist, and includes flaky pastries rich with nuts
and fragrant traces of orange-flower water. B’saha – here’s to
your health.
Eating reviews in this book are ordered by preference. Price
ranges are based on the cost of an evening main course,
excluding drinks and tips:€ Up to Dh70
€€ Dh70 to Dh150; a set meal including wine would typically
cost Dh250 to Dh400€€€ More than Dh150; a set meal including wine would typically cost more than Dh400
Midrange and top-end restaurants are mostly found within the ville nouvelle of large cities, with
a few notable exceptions in Fez and Marrakesh.
A service charge may automatically be added to your bill in better restaurants. A TVA tax
(similar to value-added tax), usually around 10%, may also be charged, but generally this is
built into the price of your meal.
FOOD
The food you find in Morocco is likely to be fresh, locally grown
and homemade, rather than shipped in from Brazil, microwaved
and served semi-thawed. Most Moroccan ingredients are
cultivated in small quantities the old-fashioned way, without
GMOs (genetically modified organisms), chemical fertilisers,
pesticides or even mechanisation. These technologies are far
too costly an investment for the average small-scale Moroccan
farmer, as is organic certification and labelling – so though you
may not see a label on it to this effect, much of the MoroccanTop of section