Moroccan cuisine is one of the most diverse cuisines, and their chefs are the basis of Arab cuisine today.
Moroccan cuisine ranked first in the Arab world and Africa, and second in the world after France, in the 2012 census.
The diversity of Moroccan cuisine is due to Morocco’s interaction with the outside world since ancient times. It is a mixture of Amazigh, Arab, Maghreb, Middle Eastern, and African cuisine.
Characteristics of traditional Moroccan cooking
The main feature of Moroccan cuisine is the use of fruits with meat in cooking, such as using quince with meat, and apricots with chicken.
The second characteristic is the abundance and diversity of ingredients used in cooking. Morocco produces Mediterranean and tropical fruits and vegetables, as well as sheep, poultry, cattle, and fish.
The third characteristic is the widespread use of spices in cooking, including cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, and ginger.
Black pepper (lebzar), red pepper (tahmira), anise seeds, sesame, coriander (coriander), parsley (madenus), thyme, celery, saffron, and mint.
Moroccan cooking traditions require that when serving a main meal, it begins by serving hot and cold salads, followed by tagines.
Bread is used with every meal, and the next dish is often lamb or chicken. This is then followed by serving couscous with meat and vegetables, and at the end of the meal, mint tea is served.
Moroccan main dishes
The main traditional meals spread in Morocco are couscous, chicken, red meat, lamb, mrouzia, tagine, tanjia, and rafisa.
Below we learn about the main meals with pictures, videos, and links explaining how to prepare them:
Couscous: Couscous is made from wheat or corn flour, and is eaten with spoons or by hand. It is cooked with steam and meat, vegetables, chicken, or something else is added to it.
There are many types of couscous, including couscous with vegetables, couscous with whale (fish), couscous with char (dried meat), and couscous with sausage.
Moroccan tagine: is a method of cooking inside clay pots, as the name gives to the pots themselves. The Moroccan tagine pot consists of two pieces, a base and a conical dome.
Chicken tagine: Moroccan chicken tagine can be prepared with chicken and vegetables easily and has many cooking methods that differ from country to country.
Meat and plum tagine: How to make a Moroccan tagine with meat and plums. It is one of the forms of cooking with tagine. We explain the ingredients and preparation method in the following links.
Moroccan Marouzieh: It is one of the distinctive dishes in Moroccan cuisine. The method of originally preparing Marouzieh is using a tagine. It is served on special occasions during Eid al-Adha, as it is often prepared from sacrificial meat.
Marrakesh Tangia: It is a Moroccan dish prepared in a special clay pot called “Tangia”, in which the food is prepared, then closed and placed in hot ashes.
Moroccan Rafisa: It is a type of porridge that is famous in the traditional Moroccan dish. It is a popular dish that is prepared on many occasions, especially on the occasion of birth.
Moroccan Bastia: A type of pastry made from dough and stuffed with onions, meat such as pigeon, chicken, fish or lamb, parsley, and almonds. It is a dish that has a strange mixture of sweet and salty with cinnamon.