The Moroccan dishes encyclopedia
Page 3 of 4 · Showing dishes 49–72 of 94
16 dishes
Salads & cooked mezze
The cooked and raw small plates that crowd a Moroccan table before the main dish arrives.
Cooked wild greens salad
Bakoula (Khobiza)
بقولة / خبيزة · bakoula / khobiza
Wild mallow greens simmered soft with cumin, paprika and preserved lemon — an earthy cooked salad with deep Moroccan Jewish roots.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze, Shabbat and family tables
Cooked sweet salad
Moroccan Carrot & Orange Salad
سلطة الجزر بالبرتقال · slata l-khizzu bi-l-limun
Cooked carrots dressed with orange, cinnamon and orange blossom water — a bright, faintly sweet salad on the mezze table.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze table
Cooked root salad
Moroccan Beet Salad
سلطة الشمندر · slata sh-shmandar
Cooked beetroot dressed with cumin, orange blossom water and a little sugar — the deep-red staple of the mezze table.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze table
Cooked salad / dip
Moroccan Courgette Salad
سلطة الكوسة · slata l-koussa
Courgettes simmered down soft with garlic, cumin and paprika — a lighter, greener cousin of zaalouk on the cooked-salad table.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze table
Raw chopped salad
Shlada (Moroccan Tomato & Cucumber Salad)
شلاضة · shlada
The raw, chopped tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion salad dressed with oil and lemon — the fresh counterpart to Morocco's cooked mezze.
- Eaten at
- Starter, every meal, mezze table
Cooked salad / dip
Batata Mchermla (Potato Salad with Chermoula)
بطاطا مشرملة · baṭāṭa mcharmla
Boiled potato dressed warm in garlicky, cumin-spiced chermoula — a hearty, everyday cooked salad on the Moroccan mezze table.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze table
Cooked salad / mezze
Matbucha (Slow-Cooked Tomato & Pepper Salad)
مطبوخة · maṭbukha
Tomatoes and roasted peppers cooked down slowly with garlic and paprika into a thick, sweet-savoury jam — a cornerstone cooked salad of the Moroccan mezze table.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze, Shabbat table
Cooked salad / mezze
Khizou Mcharmel (Cooked Carrot & Cumin Salad)
خيزو مشرمل · khizzu mcharmel
Cooked carrots dressed warm with garlic, cumin, paprika and vinegar or lemon — a bright, tangy cooked salad from the chermoula-style mezze family.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze, everyday side
Cooked salad / mezze
Chlada Felfla (Grilled Green Pepper & Tomato Salad)
شلاضة الفلفلة · shlada felfla
Grilled and peeled green peppers with tomato, garlic and preserved lemon — a smoky, fresh cooked salad that cools a spread of richer dishes.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze, with grills
Cooked greens salad / mezze
Selk (Cooked Swiss Chard Salad)
سلق · selq
Swiss chard stewed down with garlic, olive oil, cumin and a little lemon or preserved lemon — a soft, savoury greens salad from the cooked-mezze table.
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze, everyday side
Seasonal delicacy / cooked vegetable
Terfess (Desert Truffles)
الترفاس · t-terfas
Wild desert truffles from Morocco's arid plains — earthy, potato-like tubers gently sautéed or stewed, a fleeting and prized spring speciality.
- Eaten at
- Spring, special meals
Marinade / herb sauce
Chermoula (Herb & Spice Marinade)
شرمولة · sharmula
Morocco's essential green marinade and dressing — coriander, parsley, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon and olive oil, the flavour behind countless fish and cooked salads.
- Eaten at
- With fish, salads, tagines — year-round
Chilli paste / condiment
Harissa Marocaine (Moroccan Chilli Paste)
هريسة · harisa
A garlicky, cumin-scented red chilli paste, milder and often more aromatic than its Tunisian cousin — Morocco's go-to heat for soups, sandwiches and grills.
- Eaten at
- Side condiment, year-round
Preserved fat / flavouring
Smen (Preserved Fermented Butter)
سمن · smen
Salted, aged, fermented butter with a pungent, cheese-like funk — a prized Moroccan flavouring that deepens couscous, tagines and soups.
- Eaten at
- Flavouring for couscous, tagines, soups
Sweet condiment / cooked side
Matisha Msletta (Sweet Tomato Jam)
مطيشة مسلّطة · maṭisha msleṭṭa
Tomatoes cooked slowly down with honey, cinnamon and sometimes fried onion into a glossy, sweet-savoury jam — the classic sweet counterpoint to grilled meat and kefta.
- Eaten at
- With kefta, grills, guests
Preserved condiment / flavouring
Hamd Markad (Preserved Lemons)
الحامض المرقد · l-ḥamd l-marqad
Whole lemons salted and left to cure until soft, intensely aromatic and mellow — the preserved citrus that flavours tagines, salads and fish across Morocco.
- Eaten at
- In tagines, salads and fish — year-round
7 dishes
Grills & street food
Charcoal-grilled kefta and brochettes and the fried potato cakes of the medina — Marrakech eaten standing up.
Spiced minced meat
Kefta
كفتة · kefta
Spiced minced meat — grilled into juicy skewers or simmered as meatballs in a tomato tagine cracked with eggs.
- Eaten at
- Street grills, home dinners
Charcoal-grilled skewers
Brochettes
قطبان · qotban / brochettes
Cubes of marinated lamb, beef, chicken or liver skewered and grilled over charcoal — the smoky heartbeat of Marrakech evenings.
- Eaten at
- Evening street food, grills
Grilled spiced lamb sausage
Merguez
مرقاز · merguez
Thin, spicy lamb sausage laced with harissa and fennel — the fiery red skewer that stands out on any Moroccan charcoal grill.
- Eaten at
- Grills, sandwiches, evening street food
Stuffed, battered and fried fish
Sardines Farcies (Stuffed Fried Sardines)
سردين محشي · sardin mahchi
Two sardine fillets sandwiched around a garlicky chermoula paste, dipped in spiced batter and fried crisp — Morocco's favourite way with its cheapest fish.
- Eaten at
- Street food, sandwiches, home meals
Grilled liver skewer
Boulfaf (Grilled Liver in Caul Fat)
بولفاف · boulfaf
Lamb liver wrapped in caul fat and grilled fast over charcoal until crisp outside and rich within — the prized bite of Eid al-Adha.
- Eaten at
- Eid al-Adha, grill stalls
Baked chickpea-flour cake
Karan (Essaouira Chickpea Cake)
كاران · karan
A baked chickpea-flour cake, dusted with cumin and sliced hot from the tray — Essaouira's Jewish-Moroccan street snack.
- Eaten at
- Street snack, market stalls
Charcoal-grilled whole fish
Grilled Fish Chermoula
حوت مشوي بالشرمولة · ḥūt mashwi bi-chermoula
A whole fish marinated in garlic, herbs and spice, then grilled over charcoal until the skin blisters — Morocco's simplest way with a fresh catch.
- Eaten at
- Coastal lunches, grill stalls
1 dishes
Savoury pastry & pies
The warqa-pastry showpieces: sweet-savoury pastilla, crisp briouat fingers and the coiled almond mhanncha.
Taste these dishes in Marrakech
Cook them in a hands-on class or taste them on a guided food tour.