If you are looking for an awe-inspiring adventure by yourself or with your friends, celebrate your hard year at work by planning a memorable trip to Morocco. Known for its rich history and culture, millions of tourists arrive into this country for insightful experiences.

Gastronomy and Morocco

Another thing that the country is absolutely famous for is its magnificent culinary culture. The local cuisine is extremely diverse and uses a variety of nuts, vegetables and spices. In addition to this, it is hard to find a place in this country that doesn’t serve divine mint tea with every meal. Hot or cold, this drink is served everywhere regardless of the time of the year.

Spices are used rather lavishly in the local foods. The remarkable flavours here are achieved with a combination of cinnamon, cumin, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, sesame, among many others. Lemons, olives and oranges also feature regularly in Moroccan food.

Traditional Foods you cannot do without

• Couscous

This delicacy is made out of semolina grains and is steamed in a colander type dish that is called couscousiere. Considered the staple food of the country, this is one of the most popular Moroccan meals you can have. Served along with stew or tagine, it can also be mixed with vegetables and meat to be served as a main course. Almost all local Moroccan restaurants will serve this dish on Fridays.

• Tagine

This spicy stew of vegetables and meat is made by simmering it for hours together in a conical clay pot. Many restaurants will offer to you a number of variations of this dish including honey-sweetened lamb or beef tagine, chicken tagine with olives and lemon; and also fish or prawn tagine in spicy tomato sauce.

• Kaliya

This is an extremely popular Berber contribution to the cuisine of Morocco. This dish consists of tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, and lamb served with bread of couscous

• Bastella

This popular dish is made by layering pieces of flakey dough in the middle of spiced, sweet meat filling. This usually has lamb or chicken but is best when made with pigeon. These layers also come with almond paste fillings. The dish is baked and coated with dusting of powdered sugar after the dough is wrapped into plate-sized pastry.

• Harira

Most Moroccans love to start their meals with a warm bowl of Harira. This is a savoury soup that is made with chick peas, lentils, tomatoes, vegetables and lamp stock. Much in contrast to its gourmet cuisine, this dish is common among blue-collar workers.

• Bissara

Soups are a common breakfast item in Morocco. Bissara is essentially a thick glop that is made with the help of split peas, and a generous portion of olive oil. You can find stalls selling Bissara near markets and medinas every morning.

Understanding Moroccan Food Preparation

After a round of local cuisine while in Morocco, you may notice that vegetables feature rather often in all their foods. Whether it is steamed into salads or as a complement dish, eggplants are the most commonly used vegetables.

Favourite meats among locals include chicken, lamb, poultry and also camel. These meats are often stewed or steamed served as skewers. Known as brochettes locally, these can be found along most busy streets in Morocco. The coastal areas most often consume fish – boiled or fried.

Influenced by African, Jewish, Arabic, Berber and Mediterranean flavours, there are no surprises when one says that Moroccan food is rated to be among the best in the world. Its countless dishes and variations promise visitors of a memorable gastronomical tour of the country.

Information Box

• Many of the eateries in Morocco are so popular that they require prior registration. With companies such as The Flash Pack, you can plan your foodie tours around major cities with great ease
• The best time to visit Morocco depends on what you plan on doing and seeing. The ideal time to visit Marrakech and Fes is between April and early June. September through November is also ideal if you don’t like crowds.
• Food lovers absolutely love to visit the country during Ramadan, when most traditional sites and attractions may be shut during the day time but after sunset, the streets burst in fervour and celebration with the best foods you can possibly find.