Tagines & slow-cooked
Dafina (Skhina — Moroccan-Jewish Sabbath Stew)
دفينة · dafina · skhina
Dafina — also called skhina, 'the hot dish' — is the great Sabbath one-pot of Moroccan Jewish kitchens, assembled on Friday and left to cook on a very low heat overnight so a hot meal is ready on Saturday without lighting a fire. Meat, chickpeas, potatoes, whole eggs, wheat or rice and sweet spices meld over the long, slow cooking into something dark, rich and profoundly comforting.
- Origin
- Moroccan-Jewish communities (Fez, Marrakech, Essaouira)
- Type
- Overnight Sabbath one-pot
- Eaten at
- Shabbat lunch (Saturday)
- Key flavour
- Slow-cooked beef, chickpea, egg, sweet spice
What Dafina is
Dafina layers beef or lamb (often with marrow bones), chickpeas, whole potatoes, wheat berries or rice, dates or sweet potato and a handful of eggs still in their shells, seasoned with cinnamon, cumin, turmeric and sometimes honey.
The sealed pot cooks on a very low flame or hotplate from Friday evening through the night; by Saturday lunch the meat is falling apart, the eggs (haminados) are brown and creamy, and everything has taken on a deep, unified savoury-sweet flavour.
Origin & story
The dish answers a religious need: observant Jews do not cook on the Sabbath, so a hot midday meal must be started before sundown on Friday and kept warm without tending. Versions of this overnight stew exist across the Jewish world; the Moroccan one is dafina or skhina.
It was a centrepiece of Jewish community life in cities like Fez, Marrakech, Essaouira and Meknes, and remains emblematic of Moroccan-Jewish cuisine both in Morocco and in the diaspora, where it is cooked to this day.
Key ingredients at a glance
- Beef or lamb, often with marrow bones
- Chickpeas
- Whole potatoes (and sometimes sweet potato)
- Wheat berries or rice, often in a cloth pouch
- Whole eggs in their shells (haminados)
- Dates or a little honey
- Cinnamon, cumin, turmeric and pepper
This is a flavour snapshot, not a recipe.
When & how it's eaten
Served as the main Saturday lunch, ladled out so each person gets meat, a brown egg, potato and grains; the long-cooked eggs, peeled at the table, are a prized part.
It is a communal, celebratory family meal that anchors the Sabbath rather than an everyday dish.
Regional variations
Recipes are intensely family-specific: some add a stuffed meat-and-rice roll (kouclas), others quince, chestnuts or extra sweet potato; sweetness and spicing vary between Fassi, Marrakchi and Essaouira traditions.
It is the Moroccan cousin of the wider Sephardi and Mizrahi hamin/adafina, and shares its overnight-slow-cooking logic with festive Muslim keep-warm dishes.
Where to try it in Marrakech
Dafina is home and community cooking rather than a restaurant staple; Essaouira and the old Jewish quarters (mellahs) of Marrakech and Fez are where its heritage is strongest. Learn its context in the guides.
The overnight one-pot technique connects to Morocco's other slow-cooked dishes explored in an authentic home cooking class.
Frequently asked questions
What is dafina?
Dafina, or skhina, is the Moroccan-Jewish Sabbath stew: meat, chickpeas, potatoes, wheat or rice and whole eggs cooked overnight on a low heat so a hot meal is ready for Saturday lunch without cooking on the Sabbath.
Why are whole eggs cooked in it?
Eggs left in their shells cook slowly in the pot overnight, becoming brown, creamy long-cooked eggs (haminados) that are a signature element, peeled and eaten with the stew.
Is dafina still made today?
Yes — it remains a living tradition in Moroccan-Jewish households in Morocco and across the diaspora, cooked most weeks for Shabbat.