Best Couscous in Meknes — Friday Tradition in the Granary City

Couscous is the Friday dish across Morocco, and in Meknes it draws on the produce of one of the country's most fertile regions — a plain of grain, olives, vineyards and vegetables that made Meknes a great imperial granary. The classic is couscous with seven vegetables (carrot, turnip, courgette, pumpkin, cabbage, chickpeas and more) piled over tender lamb or chicken and moistened with the spiced broth it steamed above. With such rich farmland around it, the vegetables here are abundant and fresh, and the couscous is generous.

The magic is in the grain and the steaming. Real couscous is hand-rolled semolina steamed in stages over the simmering stew in a couscoussier, fluffed and separated with butter or oil between steamings until each grain is light and distinct — never boiled into a wet lump. A good Meknes plate is fragrant with saffron, ginger and onion, and may be finished with sweet caramelised onion and raisins (tfaya) for a sweet-savoury version with chicken.

Because it is a Friday dish, that is the day to seek it out: restaurants and canteens across the medina and the ville nouvelle put couscous on as the plat du jour on Fridays, freshly steamed rather than reheated. On other days a well-made version is harder to find. A home-style couscous, cooked for the family table from the region's own produce, remains the finest of all.

Eat it the traditional way if you can — from the shared platter, rolling a small mouthful with the right hand, or with a spoon — and go easy beforehand, since the platter is generous. Order one between two, pair it with the region's excellent olives, and make Friday your couscous day in Meknes.