Moroccan Cuisine
Morocco, the culinary star of North Africa, is the doorway between Europe and Africa. Much imperial and trade influence has been filtered through her and blended into her culture. Unlike the herb-based cooking across the sea to the north, Moroccan cooking is characterized by rich spices. Cumin, coriander, saffron, chiles, dried ginger, cinnamon, and paprika are on the cook's shelf, and in her mortar. Harissa, a paste of garlic, chiles, olive oil, and salt, makes for firey dishes that stand out among the milder foods that are more the Mediterranean norm.
Ras el hanout (which means head of the shop) names a dried spice mixture that combines anywhere from 10 to 100 spices. Each vendor has his own secret recipe (hence the name), and no two are exactly alike. Couscous, granular semolina, is central to Morrocan cuisine and is often cooked with spices, vegetables, nuts, and raisins. It makes a meal in itself or is topped with rich stews and roasted meats. Lamb is a principal meat -- Moroccan roasted lamb is cooked until tender enough to be pulled apart and eaten with the fingers. It is often topped with raisin and onion sauces, or even an apricot puree.
Meat and fish can be grilled, stewed, or cooked in an earthenware tagine (the name for both the pot and the dish). Savory foods are enhanced with fruits, dried and fresh -- apricots, dates, figs, and raisins, to name a few. Lemons preserved in a salt-lemon juice mixture bring a unique face to many Moroccan chicken and pigeon dishes. Nuts are prominent; pine nuts, almonds, and pistachios show up in all sorts of unexpected places. Moroccan sweets are rich and dense confections of cinnamon, almond, and fruit perfumes that are rolled in filo dough, soaked in honey, and stirred into puddings.
Moroccan Favorites
You are probably quite likely to find the following items at a Moroccan diffa, or banquet. If so, consider yourself lucky, for you'll be eating some of the most delicious food around. If invitations are in short supply, you can always prepare them yourself at home.
Salads
A fresh, cool salad is often served at the start of a meal. Among the most commonly served are a tomato and green pepper salad (similar to the Spanish gazpacho), a mixed herb salad, eggplant salad or a salad redolent with oranges, which the Moroccans grow in large quantity.
Bisteeya
This traditional savory pastry is made in three layers: a layer of shredded chicken is topped with eggs which are curdled in a lemony onion sauce and further topped with a dusting of sweetened almonds. The whole is enclosed in tissue-thin pastry called warka and topped by a layer of cinnamon and sugar. It is believed that this fine pastry (similar to the pastry used for Chinese spring rolls) came from the Persians, who likely learned to prepare it from the Chinese.
Couscous
These are fine semolina grains which are plumped by steaming them over a simmering stew. The grains are then piled on a large platter, with the stew heaped on top. This is a classic Berber dish which has seen many interpretations. Traditionally, couscous is served for Friday lunch or for special occasions. It is never a main dish, rather it is served as the last dish at the end of a meal. A "couscous of seven vegetables" is common in Fez, where seven is considered a lucky number. The seven "lucky" vegetables are onions, pumpkin, zucchini, turnips, chili peppers, carrots and tomatoes.
Fish
Both fresh and salt water fish grace the Moroccan table. While it is commonly prepared as a stew, it is sometimes fried and often stuffed. A popular fish tagine, which is prepared with potatoes, tomatoes and green peppers, shows a strong Andalusian influence. The Moroccans believe that in a tagine, the sauce is everything!
Poultry
Some of the tastiest dishes in Moroccan cookery involve chicken, which can be steamed, broiled or fried and is often accompanied with vegetables. Chicken with lemon and olives is the classic preparation, while a chicken tagine cooked with butter, onions, pepper, saffron, chick-peas, almonds and lemon is also popular. Chickens are also prepared stuffed with raisins, almonds, rice or eggs, but when you consider the experimental nature of Moroccan cooks, perhaps it's all of the above!
Meat
Lamb is king on the Moroccan table, especially roasted lamb, which is as tender and flavorful as you will find. It can also be braised, browned, steamed or served on skewers, the latter commonly known as shish kebab. Kefta is lamb or beef which has been generously spiced, then rolled into the shape of a sausage, placed on a skewer and broiled; when it is rolled into meatballs, it is used in tagines. Lamb tagines are prepared with a cornucopia of vegetables and some even use fruit.
Desserts
Sweets aren't always served at the end of a Moroccan meal, but when they are, it might well be one of the following: "gazelle's horns" are a croissant-like pastry which is stuffed with almond paste and topped with sugar, while honey cakes are pretzel-shaped pieces of dough which are deep-fried, dipped into a piping-hot pot of honey and then sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Tea
Moroccan tea may be the main reason why desserts are an uncommon treat after a meal: this tea IS dessert! Green tea is steeped and then laced with sugar and fresh spearmint. The resulting brew is a minty, syrupy-sweet taste which isn't for everyone.
Marrakech Restaurant Guide
A concise directory of recommended restaurants in Marrakech. Many top restaurants are located within the many luxurious Riads and B&Bs in and around the Medina.
If you have gourmet taste buds, we highly recommend setting aside an entire evening to dine in a Marrakech riad. The city is especially well known for its talented chefs that have been lured into the kitchens of these traditional homes “turned luxury” boutique hotels…
Dar Marjana
15 Derb Sidi Ali Tair
Bab Doukkala
Tel: +212 (0)44 57 73
Dinner only from 8:30 p.m.; Closed Tuesdays
Refined cuisine in sumptuous surroundings, to the accompaniment of live Moroccan music.
Cedar lined gallery on the first floor looking onto the garden courtyard.
Dar Moha
81 Rue Dar el Bacha
Marrakech Medina
Tel: +212 (0)44 38 64 00
Fax: +212 (0)44 38 69 98
darmoha@iam.net.ma
www.darmoha.ma
"Nouvelle" Moroccan cuisine by chef Moha in a garden setting in the exquisitely furnished former residence of Pierre Balmain, the famous French fashion designer popular from the '50s to the '70s. He died in 1982 and kept a house in Marrakech as did Yves St Laurent.
Douirya
14 Derb J’did Hay Essalame
Mellah Medina Marrakech
Tel: +212 (0)44 40 30 30/ (0)44 38 42 42
Fax: +212 (0)44 40 30 55
douirya@iam.net.ma
www.restaurantdouirya.com
Delicious food lovingly cooked by a team of three feisty women and served in sumptuous salons. Music in the evening.
Le Tobsil
22 Derb Abdellah ben Hessaien
R’mila Bab Ksour
Marrakech
Tel: +212 (0)44 44 15 23
Fax: +212 (0)44 44 35 15
Intimate 50-seat restaurant run by Christine Rio serving classic dishes by candlelight.
Palais Gharnatta
5/6 Derb El Arsa
Medina
Tel: +212 (0)44 44 06 15
Traditional restaurant located in a 19th century mansion in the Jewish quarter.
Ryad Tamsna
23 Derb Zanka Daika,
Tel: +212 (0)44 38 52 72
Ideal lunch and shopping stop with its café, bookshop and boutique.
Yacout
79, Sidi Ahmed Soussi, Marrakesh, Morocco
Tel: +212 (0)44 38 29 29 / +212 (0)44 38 29 00
Exquisite food in equally exquisite surroundings to the accompaniment of Andalusian and Gnawa music. Dinner only; Closed Mondays
L'Ouazzani
12 bis Rue Ibn Aicha
Gueliz, Marrakech
Tel: 064 47 28 95
Fast and friendly lunch spot catering mainly to local office workers. The mixed grills are superb. |
