Moroccan Cuisine

Moroccan cuisine is the cuisine of the Moroccan Arab-Berber people of the Maghreb region of northwestern Africa, mainly in Morocco.

Moroccan culture has a foundation of Berber culture with influence from Mediterranean cultures and especially Arab cultures.

Casablanca is a cultural center.

A type of earthenware pot called tajine(طاجين) is used for cooking a dish of the same name. It may have originated in what is now part of Morocco.

A steamer called a kiskas(كِسْكَاس) or couscoussier is used to steam couscous. The base contains water or stew for boiling and the top holds couscous for steaming.

Ingredients

Durum wheat is used to make semolina flour, which is used to make couscous(كُسْكُس kuskus).

onion

cumin

lemons are usually preserved in salt

Ras el hanout(رأس الحانوت) is a mixture of several spices which can vary greatly from household to household. Cumin and coriander are commonly included.

A type of sauce or marinade called charmoula(شرمولة)

Date palms have a long history of cultivation in the region, often grown at inland oases. Famous date varieties developed in the Maghreb include medjool(تمر المجهول) from Tafilalt in Morocco and deglet nour(دقلة نور) from Tolga in Algeria.

sheep

fermented salted butter known as smen(سمن), similar to ghee

Dishes

• couscous
• baghrir(البغرير): thin semolina pancake
• msemen: layered flatbread
• madfouna: stuffed flatbread
• bissara(بصارة): smooth fava bean dip
• asida
• lablabi
• harira: chickpea and lentil stew
• tajine(طاجين): stew
• mrouzia(المروزية):
• makroudh: small diamond-shaped cookie with date and/or nut filling
• seffa(السفة): sweetened couscous dish, usually with fruit