Greetings! This is my second Morocco-inspired post and it's about food. The first post about the sights that I've seen in Rabat and Volubilis was posted here. More to come on Fez, Marrakesh, and Casablanca.
Before my trip to Morocco, I didn't know how much I would enjoy or dislike the local cuisine. I wasn't too concerned about it because in general, I'm willing to try new dishes from another culture when I travel. Plus, I was staying in hotels, so I thought I could 'wing' it if necessary. It turns out that I discovered and ate so many delicious meals in Morocco. They definitely enhanced my time there and deserve a post on my blog.
BREAKFASTS:
My hotel room rates included daily buffet breakfasts with all kinds of hot and cold choices so one meal was taken care of. The croissants, pains au chocolate, fresh pressed juices, tea and coffee were very good. Adding a choice of yogurt, cereal, hot items, or fruit, and I was ready for sightseeing for the next few hours!
WHAT ABOUT LUNCH, SNACKS, OR DINNER?
After my first lunch in Morocco, I knew I'd be eating well and inexpensively for the rest of my trip. I'm sharing photos of some of the dishes I tried in Morocco, from appetizers to desserts, and some street food, too.
In case you want to buy snacks, or groceries, the French grocery chain Carrefour has stores in all of the Moroccan cities that I visited, and the souk (local market or bazaar) was a lot of fun to browse what's on sale.
Appetizers: Small dishes, or tapas in Morocco, are great to try or share. Olives are common, they come in green, red, or black and were tastier than what I have at home.
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| Tapas: carrots, beets, olives, rice, Moroccan grains |
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| Olives, prunes, and lemon slices |
Soups: The butternut squash soup that I had was super hot and delicious. There were other vegetable soups as well.
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| Butternut squash soup |
Salads and vegetables: All kinds of fresh salads and cooked vegetables were available. I chose to eat well-cooked food only.
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| Cooked vegetables |
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| Salad choices with couscous in the upper right corner |
Meat dishes: Chicken, beef, and lamb are common meats on the menu. I thoroughly enjoyed the grilled chicken on skewers, served with rice and vegetables in Meknes but the beef tajine (or tagine) in Fez was definitely the highlight. The tajine is a vessel with a cylindrical top that slow cooks the meat inside until it’s fall-apart tender.
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| Grilled chicken on skewers, rice & vegetables |
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| Beef tajine with pitted prunes, almonds & onions |
Pasta: I had a tomato basil penne pasta, and a chicken mushroom sauce penne pasta on two different days. They were delicious and inexpensive, under CAD$8 each (about US$6) in a full service restaurant.
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| Tomato basil penne pasta in Marrakesh |
Seafood: The grilled shrimp on skewers with accompanying grilled vegetables at an oceanfront restaurant in Casablanca were top notch.
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| Grilled shrimp on skewers and vegetables |
Desserts: All kinds of pastries, hmm, which to try first?
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| Dessert choices |
Drinks: I drank bottled water most of the time when I was in Morocco. Hot mint tea was common but there was also many tea varieties. Soft drinks, beer, coffee, wine, and fresh juices were readily available.
Fruit: Sweet citrus fruits such as oranges, clementines, tangerines, grapefruits, plus prickly pears, pomegranates, figs, dates, and plums were abundant.
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| Fruit stand in Marrakesh |
Street food: Although I chose not to eat street food when I was in Morocco, it was fun to observe the street vendors and their customers. For example, one driver stopped his car and walked to the prickly pear vendor. He ordered a few prickly pears. The vendor cut the fruit open to serve on the spot. After having a few, the customer paid and walked back to his car to drive away.
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| Prickly (or cactus) pears for sale in Fez |
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| Sugar cane juice vendor in Rabat |
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| Moroccan bread for sale in Marrakesh |
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| Tajines in Marrakesh |
I enjoyed trying the different dishes in Morocco. One glance at the variety of herbs and spices sold in the local market, and I knew I was in for a delicious culinary adventure.
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| Herbs and spices in Marrakesh souk |
Are you an easy eater or a picky eater? Would you give new food a try or stick with what you know at home? I'd love to hear your comments.
Trying the food of a country is one of the reasons we travel. We love street food and trying new spices and spice combos. Markets or a food walking tour are usually top of the list. That reminds me - I haven't used our tagine at home in a couple of years. I must get it out again. All of this looks and sounds utterly delicious.
ReplyDeleteI think you'd love the local markets in Morocco, Jo, because you're such a great cook and baker. The variety of herbs and spices is staggering. Some of them I couldn't name but they smell delicious!
DeleteSome familiar foods but also many that are exotic to me. Thanks for the culinary postcards, Natalie!
ReplyDeleteSSG xxx
Thanks, SSG, for your comment.
DeleteI am intrigued by the prunes dish. I actually really like prunes, but can't say I've ever had them in a savoury dish. I think I'd like it.
ReplyDeleteThe beef tajine with prunes was excellent, Leanne. It tasted much much better than it looked. I didn't think the sweet prunes would go with a savoury meat dish either but in this case they worked well together.
DeleteIt makes me feel hungry just looking. I would definitely be happy to try the dishes. I love how the food is presented.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ann, for your visit and comment. Yes, the food presentation was quite nice even where I had my meals were budget to mid-range restaurants.
DeleteHi, Natalie - You had me at the 'olives that are even tastier than the ones we have at home.' The rest of the post when on to make me salivate with hunger. Looks absolutely delicious -- I would not have known what dishes to choose!
ReplyDeleteHi Donna - Olives are everywhere in Morocco. When I was there, it was the start of olive harvest time. I'm not keen on eating olives at home but in Morocco they taste much better with smaller seed inside. The food choices were fantastic.
DeleteI've enjoyed meals cooked in tagines before but I'm not a big fan of anti-pasto (olives etc) so would struggle with that. But love the chicken skewers, beef tagines etc...
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're having a great time!
I love the grilled meat, grilled seafood, and tagines in Morocco, too. Thanks, Deb, for stopping by.
DeleteHmm, while these dishes look delicious, some of them would definitely be a stretch for me. But I am reminded of the Afghanistan food served at my daughter's wedding this summer, which reassures me that everything you sampled was no doubt savory and scrumptious. In a perfect world, I imagine street food would be most flavorful of all. But my daughter is just back from Mexico City where her whole family and in-laws picked campylobacter. Which is apparently very dangerous to her unborn baby. Wish they had followed your rule about street food there.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I hope your daughter's family and in-laws are alright by now. When I travel overseas, I follow my rules of "cook it, boil it, or peel it", no matter how tempting the local dishes look.
DeleteI’m all for trying new things, expanding my horizons, and that includes food. :-) As other people commented before, the food culture of the places we visit makes the trips richer and more exciting. Plus, going to the country of origin of certain dishes is much more authentic than trying them in a western country. Many ethnic restaurants here change dishes to fit the tastes of their customers.
ReplyDeleteI could tell from your photos that you didn’t try the street food or ate at “hole in the wall” places. :-) Everything looks delicious and was served in style.
We shopped in Carrefour grocery stores in French Polynesia and the French Caribbean islands as well. Very modern and lots of choice.
It looks like you had an amazing time in Morocco an tried many different foods. Good for you!
My trip was active and relatively short so I took precautions not to get sick. I chose to go to the mid-range restaurants for lunch or dinner since they were inexpensive compared to North American prices and they had clean washrooms.
DeleteNothing finer that eating where the locals dine. We always prefer to do that than try and keep to our "usual" foods. Much more fun trying new food, especially cheese, olives and the list goes on :-)
ReplyDeleteGood on you for trying new food, Suzanne, and you're right about eating where the locals dine. I always do a visual scan to see how busy the restaurant is with the locals. If it's busy, it's likely very good.
DeleteI'm a pretty picky eater but love to try new and different things. If they have lots of hot mint tea in Morocco, I will be so happy as it is one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shannon, for your visit and comment. Hot fresh mint tea is very popular in Morocco. It's served with or without sugar.
DeleteExperiencing the local foods is just one wonderful facet of travel, isn't it? Everything looks yummy. I would love to wander those markets.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is, LuAnn. The markets in Morocco are colourful and interesting. I followed my local guide's advice to visit the Medinas or souks during the day and stay vigilante of my belongings and surroundings. I'm glad to say I have no horror story to share.
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