Morocco: food , culinary and eating traditions

The Moroccan Cuisine

Morocco:  food , culinary and eating traditions

Morocco’s cuisine and culinary customs are defined by multiple factors:  first is the Islam, which has quite a huge impact on both the type of food people consume and also on the way they consume that food. The second should be the climate which varies between Mediterranean – and Desert types. Which in a nutshell means that it’s hot and dry throughout the year with the exception of the 3 winter months.  The climate has a large effect on cooking and preserving habits of course, among other influences and this is exactly what I’d like to say a few words about in this piece.

The influence of Islam on Morocco’s cooking culture

The most important element of Islamic eating culture as we all know is not to consume any pork. According to the Quran, the real limits on consuming meat are – not to consume any meat which is pork, which is left for dead and which was killed in the name of any god or symbol other than Allah.

Islam takes eating habits very seriously and pays large attention on the balance of the body and soul.  Quran enforces the consuming of fresh and healthy food and it also says that overeating is Haram (prohibited), as a bad habit that can lead to several bad illnesses and laziness.  

For breakfast it is suggested that it’s best to consume the three key products: salt, olive oil and bread. 7 dates a day also bring good.  The consuming of fruits is highly suggested, but it’s not part of local customs to eat raw vegetable all in all.

As many people do not have a big house and cannot invest on a big fridge, or freezer, that’s why it’s in the culture not to store things for long, except for key ingredients, such as oil and flour. This is an absolute necessity as food when left outside would go wrong so quick. Families with a fridge also only store the most necessary products in there which includes dairy products, milk and eggs most often than not.

People only buy as much as they can eat for an exact meal.

Moroccans generally buy every ingredients to cook for one occasion, leftovers are of extreme rarity. It is also against the Islamic religion to throw away leftovers, especially bread, this is another key element of local eating habits. Most homes have a small shop selling bread and key ingredients of food very near and going to the souk is a regular program for local women and housewives, that’s also why storing is not heavily pushed as well.

It is also part of Islam to help the poor therefore upon every big celebrations, such as the Eid at the end of Ramadan and the Eid in October/ November when people sacrifice a lamb for the family table, the wealthier ones bring lambs or part of their own lambs for the poor. In Islam it is a duty to help poor and it is part of the Zakat and the traditional purification Muslims need to go through before being eligible to start the holy month of Ramadan.

In Morocco eating is traditionally with the right hand ( using the left hand is seriously Haram and is considered a big impoliteness even from tourists )  and bread is used as a helper or a spoon for fishing food. People do eat from the same bowl or plate and there is no such thing as division of food on separate plates between family and friends.

The traditional drink is tea, most commonly mint tea as it has a certain refreshing effect once consumed and its flavor adds up to the food consumed just perfectly. Apart from tea of course a growing number of families like to consume Coke or Fanta/Mirinda/Orangina too.

Water is also consumed in large quantities, either in its natural form or with lemons and cucumbers in it.

Coffee is also consumed, most commonly cooked Turkish style, which means that the ground coffee is put in boiling water, stirred non-stop for a few minutes than it’s let to cool down, which will bring the grounded coffee at the bottom and pure coffee remains in the top section of the bowl.

The key family meal in Morocco is the Couscous, about which I will write more in detail in my next article.

Let me clarify, that this is largely based on my own experiences and memories, but I am always eager to learn, so teach me with comments and let me know if anything I wrote is something you did not experience while being in Morocco.