Food in Mohammedia

Mohammedia is the relaxed seaside cousin in the Casablanca orbit, a half-hour up the coast from the big city and long favoured by Casawis for weekend escapes. Once a small port called Fedala, it grew around oil refining and a busy harbour, but its beaches, its golf course and above all its fish have given it a second identity as a low-key resort town. People come here to slow down, walk the corniche and eat seafood straight off the boats.

The town's food centres on its fishing port. Trawlers and small boats land sole, sea bream, sardines, prawns, squid and the occasional lobster, and the restaurants clustered near the harbour and along the seafront turn that catch around quickly -- grilled over charcoal, fried crisp, or baked in chermoula with tomato and pepper. This is not fussy cuisine; it is fresh fish cooked simply and eaten with bread, salad and a wedge of lemon, ideally within sight of the water.

Away from the seafood terraces, Mohammedia keeps the cafe culture of the wider Casablanca region: pavement tables for coffee and pastries, French-style boulangeries, and juice bars. The central market handles everyday produce, olives and spices, while the beachfront fills on summer evenings with families, ice-cream sellers and the smell of grilling fish drifting off the terraces. It is an easy, unpretentious place to eat well by the ocean.

Signature dishes of Mohammedia

These are the dishes that define Mohammedia's food identity -- the plates that locals are proud of and visitors should seek out.

Where to eat in Mohammedia

Every city has its food neighbourhoods -- the streets, quarters and markets where locals eat and where you should too.

The cooking identity of Mohammedia

Mohammedia cooks the Atlantic coast style: fish first, and fish kept simple. Chermoula -- the green marinade of coriander, parsley, garlic, cumin and paprika bound with olive oil and lemon -- is the constant, brushed onto whole fish before grilling or worked through baked preparations with tomato and pepper. Squid and prawns are fried or grilled fast so they stay tender. The French colonial legacy of the wider Casablanca region shows in the town's cafe and boulangerie habits, but the soul of local eating is a plate of grilled sea bream by the harbour, seasoned with nothing more than salt, cumin and a squeeze of lemon.

Market guide

The essential stop is the fishing port, where you can see what came in that morning and pick your fish before it is grilled or fried to order -- prices track the catch and are best midweek. The central municipal market handles the rest of the pantry: seasonal fruit and vegetables, cured and cracked olives, preserved lemons, and spice stalls for cumin, paprika and ras el hanout. For bread and pastries, the town's boulangeries reflect the French-influenced Casablanca coast, turning out baguettes alongside Moroccan msemen and harcha. Summer weekends bring extra stalls and street-food carts along the corniche.

Best time to visit for food

Late spring to early autumn (May to September) for beach weather and the liveliest seafront, though the fish is good year-round.

Food tips for Mohammedia

• Eat at the fishing port for the freshest fish at the fairest prices, ideally at lunch when the catch is newest.
• Choose your fish by weight and confirm the price before it is cooked -- this is normal practice at port restaurants.
• Visit midweek if you want to avoid the Casablanca weekend crowds on the corniche.
• Pair a grilled-fish lunch with a walk along Plage Sablette and the corniche.
• Try the fried calamari at a seafront cafe as an easygoing, inexpensive introduction to the local catch.