Moroccan cuisine is one of the most cosmopolitan: Berbers, Jews, Arabs and Mediterraneans have for centuries brought various accents to the cuisine of Morocco bit by bit. The zest of legumes will be given by an abundance of herbs and seasonings.
The traditional Moroccan meal begins with hearty, thick soups with spices and legumes. You can not do at the table without meat, strewn with aromatic herbs. The cuisine of Morocco is also dishes from vegetables and grains; there are hundreds of options for cooking couscous, complex salads with oranges, peppers, eggplant, stuffed vegetables.
Moroccan cooking is a very leisurely, no-fuss activity. And if you suddenly want to enjoy the taste of Morocco, set the table with a tablecloth with Mediterranean motifs, turn on ethnic music and, quite possibly, you will feel like you are in Rabat or Marrakech.
Moroccan soup with chickpeas
600 ml hot vegetable broth
400 g canned chickpeas
400 g tomato puree with garlic
100 g canned large beans
2 stalk celery
1 medium onion
1 st. tablespoon vegetable/olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Zest and juice of half a lemon
A handful of fresh coriander or parsley
How to make Moroccan chickpea soup :
Bon appetit!
Appetizer of peppers and tomatoes
4 red sweet peppers
600 g cherry tomatoes
3 art. tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
100 g giant green olives
How to cook a snack of peppers and tomatoes :
Release the peppers from the stalk and seeds, cut into large pieces, put on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at a temperature of 180C.
Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet to the peppers, sprinkle with cumin, salt and drizzle with oil. Bake for 10 more minutes.
Mix vegetables with olives. Serve warm or hot.
Appetizer of peppers and tomatoes is ready.
Bon appetit!
Couscous with zucchini
300 g couscous
400 ml vegetable broth
2 zucchini
Juice of 1 lemon
A little olive oil
A little chopped parsley
How to cook couscous with zucchini :
Couscous pour hot broth, add Art. a spoonful of oil, leave for 5 minutes and mix with a fork. Slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin strips.
Put chopped zucchini in a heated oiled pan, salt. Fry on both sides.
Mix couscous with zucchini, add the rest of the ingredients, sprinkle with 2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil and lemon juice.
Couscous with zucchini is ready.
Bon appetit!
What can a European eat in exotic Morocco?
Moroccan cuisine is a mixture of colors and tastes. It harmoniously combines sweet and salty, sour and tart. Mysterious Morocco, saturated with the smell of oranges and similar to the fairy tales of the Thousand and One Nights. A part of the world where they live according to ancient laws and long-established customs, but are not afraid to experiment with traditional cuisine, boldly adding culinary finds from other nations
The daily routine in Morocco is strictly subject to Muslim canons. The first meal should be no earlier than 12 noon, immediately after prayer.
The lunch meal is a beautiful ritual that has not changed over the centuries. Guests are seated on colorful...
INGREDIENTS
COOKING METHOD
Step 1
One of the main and most delicious condiments of Moroccan cuisine - salted lemons - must be prepared in advance, because it is not possible to buy it from us.
Step 2
Step 3
Put the lemons in a jar, pressing against each other, and ...
Olive oil: 2 tbsp. spoons
chicken fillet: 400 g
cinnamon: 2 teaspoons
tomatoes: 3 pcs.
chicken broth: 400 ml
prunes: 50-70 g
raisin...
onion - 4 pcs.
chickpeas - 250 g
carrots - 6 pcs.
pumpkin - 500 g
salt - 1 pinch
butter - 25 g
raisins - 100 g
couscous - 700 g
salt and pepper - 1 pinch
Peel a piece of pumpkin and...
Couscous with chickpeas, beef and vegetables / Moroccan cuisine
mixture of Moroccan spices "Ras El Hanout" * - 1 tsp.
vegetable oil - 4 tbsp. l.
peeled tomatoes (canned) - 380 g
onion - 4 pcs.
chickpeas - 250 g
carrots - 6 pcs.
pumpkin - 500 g
FILLING: beef (collar or shoulder) - 1 kg
salt - 1 pinch
butter - 25 g
vegetable oil - 6 tbsp. l.
raisins - 100 g
couscous - 700 g
salt and pepper - 1 pinch
Prepare the couscous according to the instructions on the package, adding raisins, oil and salt to it.
Peel and chop the onion. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the beef cut into pieces. Add an onion. Salt, pepper and spices "Ras El Hanout". Add peeled tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.
Peel a piece of pumpkin and...
Tagine with lamb and rice / Moroccan cuisine
Ingredients
700-800gr. lamb (shank or shoulder, all to your taste)
3 medium onions
5-6 garlic cloves
1 bunch of cilantro
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground ginger (you can use fresh ginger)
½ teaspoon barberry
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Tfayi Sauce:
50-60 gr. white raisins
1 cup green tea
1 bulb
1 teaspoon butter
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Sauce Royale:
70gr. figs
70gr. dried apricots
70gr. dates
200g sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
350ml water
For rice:
400-500 gr. basmati or long grain rice
50-70...
20 products for weight loss from around the world?????
1. Garlic
ITALIAN FOOD
An ingredient found in abundance in almost every Italian dish. It’s better for you not only to crush it into borscht and throw it into jars for pickling cucumbers - after all, the guy boosts immunity, helps the heart, lowers blood pressure. You just need to eat it right: chopped (suppressed) garlic should lie in the open air for about ten minutes before heat treatment in order to have time to develop allicin, a compound that is especially beneficial to health.
2. Mint
MOROCCA CUISINE
Moroccan cuisine is famous not only for its many lamb dishes, but also for mint tea. Mint has been used in oriental medicine for centuries, and modern research confirms that this fragrant...
Briouat - Moroccan sweet
Briouat is a traditional Moroccan dessert made from the finest filo dough with a sweet nut filling and citrus flavor. Preparing for Ramadan and just like that. Sweet, fragrant rolls (briuats) stuffed with rice pudding are sprinkled with powdered sugar and dipped in honey, it turns out very tasty, and you can’t even believe that such a wonderful thing can be prepared from rice so simply.
1/3 cup basmati and wild rice mix (you can use any you like)
milk 1 glass
filo dough 4 sheets
sugar 1 tbsp
powdered sugar 1st.l.
zest of an orange, lemon, 0.5 tsp each
walnuts 2-3 tbsp crushed
butter 60 gr.
honey 2 tbsp
cinnamon 1 stick
pinch of vanillin
For rice...
Moroccan lamb with prunes "Maghribi"
Moroccan traditional cuisine is very colorful and widely known and popular for its exquisite spices added to dishes. Maghribi de cordero y ciruelas - lamb maghribi with prunes is a prime example of this. If you like tasting and learning new tastes, please come to the table.
Chickpeas - 100 g
Lamb - 500 g
Onion - 1 pc.
Carrots (Large) - 2 pcs
Celery root - 1 pc.
Leek - 1 pc.
Prunes - 150 g
Olive oil
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Allspice - 0.5 tsp
Flour (in the dough) - 1 stack.
Yeast (Dry) - 7 g
Water
Salt
Cilantro (or parsley) - 1 bunch.
Soak chickpeas overnight
Chop the lamb into large pieces and fry on a medium ...
Traditional Moroccan biscuits GHRIBAS
Ingredients:
Flour - 500 gr
Sugar - 100 gr
Toasted sesame seeds - 2 soup spoons
Salt - a pinch
Rust. Oil - 1 Moroccan tea glass is approximately 150 ml
Melted. Drain. Oil - 1.5 tea Moroccan glass
Dry yeast - 2 sachets.
Cooking method:
1) In a deep bowl, mix flour, sugar, sesame seeds, salt, melt. drain. oil and grow. butter. Mix vigorously until smooth and leave alone in the refrigerator overnight.
2) Add yeast and knead again, then roll into balls and place on a greased or lined baking sheet and place in a preheated oven at medium heat.
3) Decorate with powdered sugar and cinnamon (if desired)
Save it to your wall so you don't lose the recipe!
Moroccan Ksra
Moroccan tortillas with semolina and anise flavor. This is a traditional side dish for tajine - Moroccan goulash, but also goes well with salads, dips or cheeses. These cakes can be served cold or hot.
Bread is salty, tastes like pita bread. It's delicious just to break it off!
200 ml water
250 gr white bread flour
75 gr semolina
5 ml anise extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar (put more -1 tsp sugar)
1 tsp quick dry yeast
olive oil
sesame seeds for sprinkling
If by hand, then dilute the yeast in a small amount of water with sugar and mix with the rest of the products. Knead the dough. Divide the dough into two or four parts, roll into balls and with your hands ...
Pastilla
Dish based on Moroccan cuisine. Pies with meat filling and couscous, spices and raisins will not leave you indifferent. Pastilla is a traditional Moroccan dish, a layered meat pie traditionally made from squab (meat of young pigeons). In the modern world, the ingredients for its creation are often chicken, fish or offal. Often serves as an appetizer. Harissa is a spicy, red-colored pasty sauce made from chili peppers (sometimes dried or dried) and garlic, coriander, cumin, salt, and olive oil.
INGREDIENTS
Couscous - 100 g
Zira - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Cinnamon, almond petals, sesame
Garlic - 4 tooth.
Onion - 2 pcs.
Raisin...
Salted Lemons / Moroccan Cuisine
INGREDIENTS
As many lemons as will fit in a 1 to 2 liter jar
Coarse non-iodized sea salt
COOKING METHOD
Step 1
One of the main and most delicious condiments of Moroccan cuisine - salted lemons - must be prepared in advance, because it is not possible to buy it from us.
Step 2
Take as many lemons as will fit in a 1 to 2 liter jar and coarse, non-iodized sea salt. Thoroughly scrub all lemons with a brush to get rid of the waxy residue. Then, on each lemon, make vertical cuts that do not reach the center by 1–1.5 cm. Start these cuts with salt, stuffing it as tightly as possible.
Step 3
Place the lemons in the jar, pressing...
Moroccan chicken with raisins, prunes, honey and cinnamon
Moroccan cuisine is considered one of the richest and most diverse. The abundance of spices and spices makes it bright, and a huge range of products gives scope for the richest culinary imagination.
And Moroccan chicken is no exception: it is an amazing dish that breaks all “gastronomic stereotypes”. This chicken is not spoiled by the "dessert" dried fruit garnish and the aroma of cinnamon - on the contrary, something fantastic is obtained!
The perfect side dish for this dish is fried rice.
To make Moroccan chicken with raisins, prunes, honey and cinnamon:
Olive oil: 2 tbsp. spoons
chicken fillet: 400 g
cinnamon: 2 teaspoons
tomatoes: 3 pcs.
chicken broth: 400 ml
prunes: 50-70 g
raisin...
Moroccan twisted pancakes
Treat your big and small men with such unusual round pancakes (Rghaif) - Moroccan Meloui (Melvi, Melui)
Semolina (360 g for the dough and about 1/2 cup more for forming pancakes) - 360 g
Wheat flour - 250 g
Brown sugar - 2 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Yeast (dry) - 1/4 tsp
Water (warm) - 330 ml
Vegetable oil (for forming pancakes) - 150-200 ml
Butter (for forming pancakes) - 100 g
Honey (+ melted butter for sauce)
Mix flour, semolina, salt, sugar and yeast in a suitable bowl. Traditionally in Morocco, these wide clay dishes are used for kneading dough. Adding warm water, knead the dough.
Knead the dough for at least 20 minutes...
Tagine with chicken
A tagine is essentially a large ceramic frying pan with a lid. It is also the name of the most popular dish in Morocco. I did not exhibit this recipe, because tagine in the vastness of our Motherland is not a very common thing, to put it mildly. But then I thought that almost everyone has ceramic pots with lids, woks or, in extreme cases, ducklings. And today, finally, I captured the whole simple, I must say, cooking process in great detail. I highly recommend this recipe, it turns out juicy, tender and very fragrant chicken!
Chicken - 1.5 kg
Onion (large) - 3-4 pcs
Lemon (Salty) - 1 pc.
Black olives (to taste)
Ginger (fresh, piece 3-5 cm)
Garlic - 4-5...
Moroccan tagine with lamb and egg
Kefta Tagine. Moroccan tagine with lamb meatballs and fried egg in spicy tomato sauce. Today I have a very tasty Moroccan dish - Kefta Tagine. This is what is served at the Moroccan restaurant Le Timgad in Paris, which is located near the Arc de Triomphe (if you pass by, stop by to try the original). A distinctive feature of this tagine is the presence of lamb meatballs, cumin, paprika, saffron, fried eggs and olives. This tagine is best served with couscous, but rice will also be good. And be sure (!) to serve fresh cakes! They are very tasty to soak spicy tomato sauce and liquid yolk flowing from the "fried eggs". And about cilantro, about ...
Moroccan chicken with raisins, prunes, honey and cinnamon
Moroccan cuisine is considered one of the richest and most diverse. The abundance of spices and spices makes it bright, and a huge range of products gives scope for the richest culinary imagination.
And Moroccan chicken is no exception: it is an amazing dish that breaks all “gastronomic stereotypes”. This chicken is not spoiled by the "dessert" dried fruit garnish and the aroma of cinnamon - on the contrary, something fantastic is obtained!
The perfect side dish for this dish is fried rice.
To make Moroccan chicken with raisins, prunes, honey and cinnamon:
Olive oil: 2 tbsp. spoons
chicken fillet: 400 g
cinnamon: 2 teaspoons
tomatoes: 3 pcs.
chicken broth: 400 ml
prunes...
Moroccan tea...
Moroccan mint tea, you can’t pass by it ... And every housewife has her own secret, many use 2 teapots, separately for green tea and mint, in the south you will be offered mint tea with orange water or oil, in season with orange tree leaves . In the north, the tea will be sweeter than in the south, the addition of pine nuts will be a pleasant surprise ... And with all this, the tea will be unique and with a unique taste, try
Mix sugar with butter, add the rest of the ingredients and leave the finished dough for 15 minutes in cling film
make the filling and form 12 balls
We form the dough into a sausage and divide into 24 parts
roll out the dough, put the filling on top and 2 part of the dough ...
Moroccan chicken liver on sour cream pancakes
I want to treat you to a very tasty dish. I love offal, especially liver. And you?
I cooked this recipe many times, it was very tasty, but today I cooked it differently, it turned out even tastier, my additions are below :)
Ingredients for 2 pancakes:
Chicken liver 600 gr.
Olives without stones 120 gr.
Pine nuts 3 tbsp.
cilantro 1 bunch.
Dill 1 bunch.
Garlic 6 cloves.
Olive oil 5 tbsp.
Salt, pepper, paprika.
For pancakes:
Sour cream 30% 250 gr.
Egg 1 pc.
Flour 6-7 tablespoons.
Butter 1 tbsp / spoon.
Sugar, salt
Cooking:
Wash cilantro and dill and finely chop.
Peel and mince the garlic.
Mix the liver with olives, pine nuts, herbs and garlic.
Add...
The cuisine of Morocco, despite the small size of this country, belongs to the most famous cuisines in the world. Such fame is explained quite simply - Moroccan culinary traditions combine elements of African, Arabic, Spanish, French, Jewish and Berber cuisines. How Moroccan chefs manage in such a cosmopolitan variety not to lose their own face, we will tell in this publication.
Regional preferences of Moroccans
Another feature of the cuisine in Morocco can be considered its contrast. Due to the geographical abundance of this country (hot coasts are replaced by snowy peaks), culinary traditions depend on the area and the people living on it. For example, the inhabitants of each of the Moroccan regions have their own opportunities for growing various crops. Those of the Moroccans who live in the desert mainly eat barley flour tortillas. Highlanders prefer dishes from legumes and vegetables, dairy products and fruits. And the inhabitants of the coastal region, who extract seafood from the sea, managed to make their cuisine the richest and most diverse.
But, regardless of the region of residence, all Moroccan cooks without fail use spices that grow in picturesque oases. Without adding ginger, zira, cardamom, saffron, coriander to dishes, it is difficult to imagine Moroccan cuisine. And in this cuisine, sweet can be combined with salty, and sour with bitter.
True, local customs may seem completely wild to many tourists - the fact is that Moroccans do not use cutlery while eating, but take food with their hands (using three fingers of their right hand). But that's the way it is here. In general, the cuisine of Morocco is very.
Spicy hearty meals
As in many other countries of the world, the Moroccan meal begins with soup (there are countless of them in the national cuisine of Morocco and they are all hearty and thick). The most popular soup in Morocco is "harira" - it is cooked with lamb and legumes. Quite often, local chefs cook both "ab gushte fasl" - a bean soup and a soup called "imjadra", for which lentils are used. The basis for other soups are chicken, fish and meat broths.
A separate place in Moroccan cuisine is given to meat. Preference is given to lamb(here it is boiled, baked, fried, stewed, etc., served as a second course), but Moroccans also do not disdain other types of meat. Chicken in saffron or honey sauce, stuffed pigeons, camel meat simmered under the lid for several hours - all this can be tasted in any restaurant. And for Moroccans, shish kebab, revered by many and beloved in our country, is just a cheap (albeit very tasty) pleasure. It can be purchased along the roads and at the entrance to the oriental bazaars.
Traditional (and more refined than barbecue) Moroccan meat dishes include couscous - steamed semolina cooked with vegetables and stewed lamb. But since this dish requires several hours to prepare, then taste "Couscous" tourists do not succeed in every Moroccan restaurant. If you set yourself the goal of tasting this dish without fail, then you must remember that the method of preparing couscous is highly dependent on regional characteristics and the imagination of the cook.
Pigeon meat pies are very popular.. They are not always found in restaurants, since it is customary to cook such a delicacy exclusively for guests at home. In appearance, such a product resembles a pie made from the thinnest puff pastry, and the owners are convinced that the more layers of such dough in the pie, the greater their respect for the guests Yu.
Also, hospitable hosts can surprise their guests with "meshua" - lamb meat baked in a clay mold or roasted over an open fire. Sometimes, by special order, "meshua" can be tasted in some restaurants.
From fish dishes, fans of Moroccan cuisine are advised to try fried fish fillet balls with spicy sauce and "sharmulu" - fish with olives, parsley, coriander, onions, ginger, pepper, lemon juice and salt, and seafood - oysters in golden sauce and tubules dough stuffed with shrimps.
Sweet desserts
Another attraction that vividly characterizes the cuisine of Morocco is the presence of a huge amount of sweets in it. Perhaps this is the influence of Arab traditions, but deliciously cooked dishes delight representatives of all countries without exception. And how can you refuse sweets made from nuts and honey with the addition of fruits and spices?
Moroccan sweets are: "kaab el-gzal" (the local version of French croissants), "baklava" (the Moroccan analogue of baklava), "goriba" (reminiscent of oatmeal cookies), "makroud" (tubes with date filling), "pastila" ( almond dessert).
The favorite drink of Moroccans is mint green tea, to which sugar is added without fail. Of the other drinks in Moroccan taverns, you can find very strong coffee with cardamom. Being a Muslim country, Morocco is not too fond of fans of more strong drinks. And although alcohol, if desired, can be bought in special shops, local residents are more supportive of those tourists who manage with mint tea.
All dishes of Moroccan cuisine are original and interesting. They are prepared carefully, slowly and without haste, putting their whole soul into it. But, despite all the variety of Moroccan dishes, you need to get used to them gradually and carefully.
Moroccan cuisine is a bright mixture of the culinary traditions of the indigenous population (Berbers) with Arabic (the state religion of Morocco, like its neighbors Mauritania and Algeria, is Islam) and Mediterranean cuisines.
The basis of the cuisine of this country is vegetables, fruits (citrus, melon, watermelon and others), legumes (peas, chickpeas, shish, lentils, beans, soybeans), cereals (rice, wheat, millet, barley), fish (tuna, mackerel, perch, sardines, etc.), seafood (shrimps, rays, octopuses and others), meat (beef, lamb, lamb, veal, goat), poultry (chicken, duck, turkey), spices (hot pepper, garlic, saffron, cumin, ginger, coriander, parsley, turmeric, mint, anise, and others).
Before serving the main dishes here, as in other Islamic countries, they eat numerous snacks (meze). These can be olives, various pastas (for example, harissa), hummus, falafel, pickled beans (piah), vegetable salads dressed with olive oil (for example, Moroccan salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, potatoes and green peppers; salad with carrots and cilantro or shergi rice salad with radishes, citrus fruits and herbs). In general, Morocco is famous for its delicious and unusual salad recipes (for example, tabouleh, crab salad with oranges, eggplant and orange salad, octopus salad). In addition, at the beginning of the meal, they put a puff pastille pie (bastila, bistia) stuffed with chicken, herbs, nuts, eggs and onions.
Flat bread is always served with all dishes (sometimes they are eaten instead of cutlery).
Moroccan cuisine has several recipes for soups (for example, soups harira, imjadra, chorba, ab goushte fasl and others).
The most famous main dishes are tagine and couscous. A tagine is a spicy meat stew (however, there is also a chicken and fish tagine). Couscous is a wheat groat with stew, vegetables, raisins, nuts and various spices. In Morocco, there are many types of this dish (not only meat, but also chicken, fish, vegetables - with tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, turnips, pumpkin, peppers and onions). Shish kebab, kyufta, meshui (lamb on a spit) are also considered popular meat dishes.
Morocco loves fish and seafood. Famous fish dishes include samak kebab (marinated fish skewers) and samak bi tahina (fish wrapped in foil with spicy lemon sauce).
As you already understood, citrus fruits are loved, grown and exported in Morocco. By the way, a unique phenomenon in Moroccan cuisine is pickling lemons.
Baklava, shebakia (halva), makrud (rolls), kaab el-gzal (bagels) and many other desserts with honey, nuts and fruits are prepared from sweets.
Moroccans' favorite drink is green tea with mint. In addition to it, they drink juices, coffee with cardamom or coffee with milk.
Morocco's cuisine is one of the most amazing in the world. And this is due to some circumstances. Not only are we talking about an area of an ancient highly developed civilization, where the palace culture, characteristic of monarchies, reigns. We are also talking about a power that, being at the crossroads of world trade routes, was for a long time under the influence of various world cultures. And the main thing is that this culinary tradition contains ingredients that are found in different cuisines of the world, but the Moroccan cuisine itself is unique. An abundance of food. Maintaining balance and simplicity. A combination (on the effect of contrast - this is especially interesting!) of various and at the same time unusual products. Their unusual cooking methods. This and much more makes the cuisine of Morocco so unusual and one of a kind.
History of Moroccan cuisine
Moroccan cuisine was shaped by many nationalities who brought here all their best. These are Andalusian Moors, Turks, Arabs, Jews, French and so on. Undoubtedly, the oldest cuisine of the Berbers served as the base. It was they who came up with the most delicious couscous and the most original tagine, which have rightfully become the hallmark of Moroccan cuisine. Refugees from Baghdad and Spain also brought their dishes to this area. By the way, the local cuisine itself influenced the world cuisine, helping to develop the culinary traditions of the entire Mediterranean. And therefore, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Spanish cuisines, the cuisines of the Maghreb also have many features of Moroccan cuisine.
Dinner tradition in Morocco
The main meal in the country begins after the noon prayer. On the table - a sea of \u200b\u200bfood, but everyone starts meze appetizers in plates with hobsom, vegetable salads are placed, seasoned with Roman cumin and olive oil. Here are the olives and olives. Salads in the domestic culinary tradition are either an additional or independent dish served with a tagine or couscous. So:
- As part of the famous Moroccan salad - tomato, cucumber, green pepper, olives with boiled potatoes.
- They love salads with the participation of sweet peppers, cucumbers.
- Carrot salad with cilantro - just delicious.
- Shergi is another Moroccan cuisine salad. It is based on rice with radishes, herbs and citrus fruits.
- Batinjaan made from fried eggplants and oranges is seasoned with tomato sauce.
- And tabbouleh is prepared with mint, wheat, chopped parsley, tomato and olive oil.
- Hummus is a snack (in the form of mashed chickpeas) seasoned with garlic, lemon juice and sesame or olive oil. They also like piyah (pickled white beans), falafel (deep-fried pea balls), etc.
- For lunch, they also serve pastille (a layer cake with nuts, eggs, onions, chicken, parsley and almonds). Desserts include nutmeg melon, fresh fruit, watermelon, mint tea and honey nut pastry.
Main dishes
There are dishes in Moroccan cuisine, without which it is impossible to imagine it. For example, couscous is a traditional dish in the form of semolina, on top of which are vegetables and stew. Couscous, of which there are over 100 seasonal and regional versions, is fish, meat, chicken and vegetarian. It is prepared in some parts of Morocco by adding nuts, raisins, spices, turnips, pumpkins, onions, hot peppers, carrots, tomatoes and chickpeas.
As a rule, couscous appears on the table on special occasions and on Friday. True, you can eat it in restaurants in big cities, because it takes a long time to prepare. Tajine is also famous here, which is prepared with the participation of hot peppers. This is a super spicy meat stew served with bread. Locals cook incredibly delicious Moroccan sunny chicken, Moroccan lamb with honey and prunes, lamb goulash, goose on a spit, etc.
First meal
The list is not so long, but there was a place in it for soups that both guests adore and the local population cooks with pleasure. They are served on special occasions. Harira is made from lamb, vegetables and legumes, seasoned with turmeric. Harira's roots began with the Berbers. As a rule, the dish is served in Ramadan. Chorba is considered a hearty and thick soup cooked on the basis of chicken broth with spices. Local celebrity! Known among guests and locals and fish soup, imjadra, Moroccan fish soup, ebaba (bread soup), ab goushte fasl, Moroccan chickpea soup, and other purely typical Moroccan dishes.
Products used in Moroccan cuisine
Of course, without fresh vegetables, cereals, herbs, fruits, which this land is rich in, spices, meat and seafood, of which there are also a great many, local culinary dishes cannot do. The Moroccan canned olives of Meknes and Marra Kesh became famous all over the world. Very much here they like different legumes (ordinary peas, chickpeas, shish, soybeans, lentils, beans) and grains (wheat, barley, millet, rice). There are many fish in the coastal waters. Highlanders supply meat from cows, sheep, goats and poultry (ducks, chickens and turkeys). There are not so many spicy dishes here, but you cannot cook harissa without garlic and hot peppers, salt and olive oil.
And yet ... Moroccan cuisine is distinguished by a bizarre combination of spicy and sweet. The country loves to pickle lemons! And as a result, they are eaten all year long, while extracting even more flavor from them. The finished pulp will have a jelly-like appearance, and the crust becomes softer and softer. And the lemon has a more intense flavor. So lemons and citrus fruits in general are prepared only in the cuisine of Morocco.
Bread
The most important product of the Moroccans. The Berbers were planting fields long before the Romans conquered their lands. By the way, it was the Moroccans who were the first to sow durum wheat used in the confectionery industry, from which semolina is also made. By the way, true couscous is also made from wheat. If a wheat substitute is used here, then only in cases where durum wheat is not enough.
Every family meal in a Moroccan family involves a freshly baked loaf of bread on the table. But it is not just eaten, but often used as cutlery - you can imagine how delicious it is to dip a fresh piece of bread into the first or second dish, picking up leftovers with it like a spoon ... By the way, Moroccan hostesses always bake their bread - in mainly in the form of a large roll, which is convenient to dip into liquid dishes. The dough is kneaded on water, without adding any fats or milk.
Meat
Moroccans are well aware of what real meat is. And Moroccan cuisine, whose recipes are carefully studied by many culinary specialists and lovers of delicious food all over the planet, cooks it incomparably! Lamb is the most delicious meat dish in Morocco. Young lamb, which does not have an unpleasant smell, characteristic of the mass of European breeds, is stewed, grilled, and baked. It is customary to serve it on the table, accompanied by chickpeas, raisins, onion sauce or apricot jam, while spices with aromatic herbs are added to it. There is no pork in Moroccan cuisine because Muslim traditions forbid it. But beef, veal and goat meat are in use here. Meshvi, vefta, shish kebab, kamuniya are the most popular of the huge variety of meat dishes. But in the finished meat, local chefs are very fond of adding fruits to dishes. This combination of products came here from Middle Eastern recipes from the Middle Ages from Baghdad.
Bird
Chicken, steamed, grilled or fried, makes delicious dishes that are also often served with vegetables. It is stuffed with almonds and rice, raisins and eggs, herbs or all of these combined. For example, jej emshmel chicken with olives and lemon can serve as an example of a traditional food pairing. The sauce under which this dish is served consists of hot pepper and Roman cumin, or parsley and eggs. And they also cook tagine from chicken in butter with pepper, onion, chickpeas, saffron, lemon and almonds, marshmallow, etc.
Fish and seafood
This is what plays a huge role in cooking. Spontaneous markets, port restaurants will always offer the buyer the freshest seafood and fish:
- tuna,
- sardine,
- rock perch,
- mackerel,
- shrimps,
- octopus,
- slopes.
All this is used in the manufacture of snacks, salads and pastries. Crab salad with orange or octopus salad is a real delicacy. As a rule, fish is grilled or stewed, it can be stuffed with, say, mackerel, tomatoes, etc. Fish tagine with vegetables is very popular among both locals and guests. Another fish dish is samak-bi-tahina. This is a fish fillet fried in foil with lemon sauce. Samak-ke-bab is also incomparable - pieces of marinated fish on a skewer.
Spices
The fragrant soul of Moroccan culture is the local Moroccan cuisine, whose photo recipes awaken the imagination and stimulate the appetite. And so it was called by the local writer Edmond Maran-el-Maleh. Salads, tagines, confectionery here are flavored with water infused with orange flowers. They also love it here:
- Chile,
- hot pepper,
- coriander,
- dried ground ginger,
- parsley,
- black pepper,
- cinnamon.
Well, and other spices, without which no one dares to cook traditional dishes of couscous, bistia, tagine and more. Let's add here ground cumin (cumin), which is put to chicken and various meat dishes - this is the most popular spice in Morocco. Turmeric is an indispensable component of harira. Saffron is used in rice dishes. Dried spices ras-zhl-hanut are also designed to flavor dishes. Mint is added to Moroccan tea. Anise goes into baked goods, while sesame goes into desserts and pastries
desserts
There are enough desserts and pastries in the cuisine of Morocco, moreover, they were brought by the Arabs. Sweets are often based on fruits with spices. Resort and big cities like to offer honey pastries to tourists. And in the Berber villages, you can only enjoy a simple flour dessert made from thin dough. Here is just a short list:
- Kaab el Gzal is a type of croissant sprinkled with sugar and stuffed with almond paste.
- Baklava is a popular pastry layered with nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and honey syrup.
- Makrud - sweet tubes stuffed with dates.
- Briouats are a variant of spicy and sweet pastries.
- Shebakia - local halva, etc.
- Beshkito - crispy biscuits.
The drinks
Moroccans prefer green mint tea, similar in taste to mint infusion. By the way, it acts as a separate dessert in the national meal. One of the favorite rituals in the country is tea drinking with relatives and friends. Moroccan mint tea or orange flower tea are just a few of the teas.
Traditionally, people in Morocco learn how to brew tea, not forgetting such an important point as the technique of pouring tea. Due to the curved spouts of the teapots, small cups can be filled with this drink from a great height. And in Morocco, everywhere there is hot strong coffee with cardamom. It is difficult to get used to the drink right away, but once you get used to it, you want it again and again. And coffee with milk (kahu kasse) is not so popular here.
Morocco has long been engaged in the cultivation of grapes, and many winemakers lived here before Islamization. And after the Muslim foundations were established, winemaking gradually disappeared, starting to develop only with the arrival of the French. And they took this matter seriously - the wine from here was delivered even to France, where it was mixed with local wines. As a result, under the French labels, it came to the consumer. True, winemaking came to naught when the country became independent. I must say that Moroccan wines are in great demand in other countries of the planet. Local winemakers are proud of red wines:
- Cabernet President,
- AitSuala,
- Maghreb,
- Taleb,
- Rest-le,
- Buluan.
Well, and other wines that are included in the collection of red wines. The best white wines are Schude Sautel, Bassro and Valpierre. If we talk about stronger alcohol, then we will talk about Mahia, whiskey and imported gin.
The locals are sure that Moroccan cuisine recipes with photos of which even the most famous chefs write down in their notebooks owe their most delicious dishes to Moroccan housewives. That is, most often they like to eat homemade food. Meanwhile, there are already many public food outlets open here. If you come to the bazaar, then connoisseurs of the exotic of the East will be delighted with these amazing places - there are so many inviting aromas of mouth-watering dishes. Fans of traditional food can visit the establishments located on Djemaa el Fna square in Marrakech.
In the recreation centers of Morocco, cafes and restaurants appeared due to the influence of French traditions. But here you can mainly taste a lot of European and French dishes. Fast food outlets sprang up in large numbers in the 1980s. The signature dish is the Spanish bocadillo. After 20 years, Moroccan catering began to be distinguished by the massive appearance of food stalls - in mah-laba they sold various dairy products, ready-made breakfasts and juices. True, closer to 2000, more and more world-famous restaurant chains appeared in large Moroccan cities. If you have a sensitive stomach, beware when choosing Moroccan dishes. But this does not mean that you should not eat local food at all. After all, in order for you to get a full impression of Moroccan cuisine, you must definitely try its dishes.
