Moroccan food, your questions answered
Page 3 of 5 · Showing answers 49–72 of 120
3 answers
Spices & flavour
The blends and pastes behind the taste: ras el hanout, harissa, chermoula, the tagine spice palette and whether any of it is chilli-hot.
How do I avoid overpaying for spices in Marrakech?
Know roughly what you want, shop where locals do, haggle calmly, and never take the first price as the real one.
Read the answerWhat food souvenirs should I buy in Morocco?
Spices, argan oil, amlou, preserved lemons, dates and a teapot set — edible and useful reminders of the trip.
Read the answerCan I bring Moroccan food home on a plane?
Dried spices, argan oil, dates and sealed goods usually travel fine — but check liquids rules and your country's customs.
Read the answer21 answers
Ingredients & pantry
The store-cupboard building blocks a Moroccan kitchen runs on — preserved lemon, smen, argan oil, amlou and mint tea.
What is preserved lemon?
Whole lemons cured in salt and their own juice until soft, mellow and intensely citrusy — a tagine essential.
Read the answerWhat is smen?
Morocco's aged, fermented butter — salted, buried and matured until it's funky, savoury and cheese-like.
Read the answerIs argan oil edible?
Yes — culinary argan oil is a toasted, nutty Moroccan delicacy, quite different from the cosmetic kind.
Read the answerWhat is amlou?
The 'Berber Nutella' — a rich spread of roasted almonds, argan oil and honey from southern Morocco.
Read the answerWhat is Moroccan mint tea made of?
Green gunpowder tea, fresh spearmint and plenty of sugar — poured from a height into small glasses.
Read the answerWhat fruits are in season in Morocco, and when?
Strawberries and cherries in spring, melon and figs in summer, citrus and pomegranate through winter.
Read the answerWhat is Moroccan olive oil like?
Robust, often peppery and green-tasting — a genuinely major olive oil producing country, not just an importer.
Read the answerWhat nuts are used in Moroccan cooking?
Almonds lead by far, with walnuts and sesame close behind — toasted, ground into pastes, or scattered whole.
Read the answerWhat is a nous-nous coffee in Morocco?
Half espresso, half steamed milk — Morocco's everyday café order, named simply 'half-half'.
Read the answerWhat is sellou (sfouf)?
A toasted flour, nut and sesame paste eaten by the spoonful — no cooking required once it's made.
Read the answerWhat is khlea?
Spiced, dried meat preserved in its own rendered fat — Morocco's traditional way of keeping beef without a fridge.
Read the answerWhat are beldi olives?
Morocco's own wrinkled, oil-cured black olive — intensely savoury and central to the everyday olive spread.
Read the answerHow is argan oil actually made?
Cracked by hand from a fruit that grows only in southwestern Morocco, mostly by women's cooperatives today.
Read the answerWhat is harcha?
A crumbly, cake-like semolina griddle bread, closer to cornbread than to a flatbread.
Read the answerWhat oil do Moroccans cook with?
Olive oil for cooking, argan oil for finishing — two Moroccan oils with very different jobs.
Read the answerWhat's the difference between smen and regular butter?
Smen is butter transformed by salt, age and fermentation into a pungent, savoury seasoning — closer to blue cheese than to a spread.
Read the answerWhat flour is used in Moroccan bread?
Mostly white wheat flour and durum semolina — often blended for the country loaf's soft crumb and firm crust.
Read the answerWhat fresh herbs are used in Moroccan cooking?
Coriander, parsley and mint lead — the fresh green thread running through tagines, salads, soups and tea.
Read the answerWhat meat do Moroccans eat most?
Chicken, lamb and beef lead the table — all halal, with lamb the meat of celebration and chicken the everyday staple.
Read the answerWhat fish and seafood do Moroccans eat?
With two long coastlines, Morocco eats superbly from the sea — sardines above all, plus whiting, sea bream and shellfish.
Read the answerDo Moroccans eat cheese?
Some — fresh soft cheeses have a long rural tradition, and processed cheese is a modern breakfast staple.
Read the answerGo from question to kitchen
Turn these answers into a hands-on cooking class or food tour in Marrakech.