Street food & casual
Snail Soup Stalls in Marrakech: The Babbouche Experience
One of Marrakech's most distinctive street foods hides in plain sight: steaming cauldrons of snails in a dark, spiced broth, sold from carts and stalls around Jemaa el-Fna and the city's neighbourhoods. Babbouche — snail soup — is a beloved local institution, prized as much for its warming, medicinal broth as for the snails themselves. It is an authentic thrill, and easier to enjoy than nervous first-timers expect.
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- 7 min
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- Street food & casual
- Updated
- 19 July 2026
At a glance
- Babbouche is snails simmered in a spiced, herbal, medicinal-tasting broth.
- Locals drink the broth as much as they eat the snails — it is prized as a tonic.
- You eat the snails with a pin or toothpick, then sip the broth.
- Carts around Jemaa el-Fna and the medina sell it cheap, day and night.
What babbouche is and why locals love it
Babbouche (also ghlal) is small snails cooked in a broth infused with a complex blend of herbs and spices — often including thyme, aniseed, liquorice root, mint, tea and other aromatics — that gives it a dark colour and a distinctive, almost medicinal flavour. For Moroccans it is more than a snack: the broth is considered a digestive tonic and a remedy for colds, fevers and aches, drunk for its warming, health-giving properties as much as for taste. That is why you see people sipping cups of the liquor with as much relish as they eat the snails.
The snails themselves are mild and tender, tasting mostly of the aromatic broth they are cooked in rather than anything strong. It is a gentler introduction to adventurous eating than it sounds, and a genuinely traditional Marrakech experience.
How to eat it
Eating babbouche is simple once you know the ritual.
- Order a bowl or cup: the vendor ladles snails and broth from the simmering cauldron.
- Use the pin: a pin or toothpick is provided — hook out each snail from its shell.
- Sip the broth: drink the aromatic liquor from the bowl once the snails are gone; this is half the point.
- Ask for more broth: vendors will often top up the broth, prized as the tonic.
- Cheap and quick: a portion costs very little — a warming street snack, not a meal.
Where and when to try it
The snail carts cluster around Jemaa el-Fna, especially in the evening when the square comes alive, and dot the medina and residential neighbourhoods across the city. They run day and night, and a bowl is a classic warming pick-me-up on a cool evening or a late night out. As with any street food, choose a busy stall with high turnover where the cauldron is constantly simmering — the heat and the throughput keep it safe and fresh.
Babbouche sits alongside harira as one of Marrakech's great cheap, warming street bowls — see the harira guide for the soup tradition, and the Jemaa el-Fna and late-night guides for the wider street scene. A food tour is a good way to try it with a guide who can explain the ritual and the herbs.
Frequently asked questions
What is babbouche?
Babbouche is Marrakech's snail soup — small snails simmered in a dark, spiced broth infused with herbs like thyme, aniseed, liquorice root and mint. Sold from carts around Jemaa el-Fna and the medina, it is a beloved street classic prized as much for its warming, medicinal broth as for the tender snails.
Why do Moroccans drink snail broth?
The aromatic broth is considered a digestive tonic and a traditional remedy for colds, fevers and aches, thanks to the medicinal herbs it is cooked with. Locals sip cups of the liquor for its warming, health-giving properties as much as for the snails, and vendors will often top up the broth for you.
How do you eat snails in Marrakech?
The vendor ladles snails and broth into a bowl or cup and gives you a pin or toothpick to hook each snail out of its shell. Once the snails are eaten, you sip the aromatic broth, which is half the point. A portion is very cheap — a warming street snack rather than a full meal.
What do Moroccan snails taste like?
Milder than you might expect. The snails themselves are tender and gentle, tasting mostly of the complex, aromatic broth they are cooked in rather than anything strong or off-putting. The broth is the star — herbal, slightly bitter and medicinal — making babbouche a more approachable adventurous food than it sounds.