Cooking Berber : Amazigh and Rifi Cuisine in Morocco
Introducing Moroccan Amazigh and Rif Cuisine with recipes
On closing we will also let you know some of the best cooking classes which are held in traditional Berber villages with the use of handmade or locally made Berber style stove and cookware.
On Berber culture briefly
Berber or Berbére that means "man" or "human" and is not much liked as an expression, yet it still has remained the most widely used umbrella term by everyone who's not Moroccan, when it comes to describing all the tribes which have been living in the area of Morocco well before the Arabic invasion and Islamisation. While the largest tribes these days are called Amazigh, there are other tribes that are also referred to as Rif Tribe living in the Rif mountains. Then those tribes living in the Atlas mountains are generally called Zayanes. As you can see all tribes are most commonly named after their respective location. While these days most Berber people have seemingly merged with Arabs and you won't be able to distinguish them by their looks, they still do have distinguishing marks and many still talk their own tribal language ( which is not the same, it also differs according to tribe and location).
Today, around 40% of Morocco's culture including arts, traditions, culture derives from the ancient Berber tribes, around 50% derives from Arabic/Islamic culture and traditions and around 10% derives from the French who had perhaps the strongest effect on Moroccan culture overall. Berbers live all across Morocco both in the cities and outside the cities. Numerous tribes still live away from the cities and remain in mountainous areas. The most famous Berber towns include Chefchaouen (simply called Chaouen by the Moroccans. Their indigenous population is called "Chaouis", The ancient city of Ouarzazate is also a Berber/Touareg ancient city right by the foot of the desert. It's important to note that Touaregs are relatives to Berbers, but unlike Berber tribes, Touareg tribes do frequently change their location and rather live in the deserted areas like in and around the Sahara. The Berber tribes which live in Algeria are commonly referred to as Kabyles.
Berber cooking and cuisine
Much of Morocco's most popular dishes have Berber origins. This includes the ever-famous dish the Couscous and all of the dishes which are prepared in traditional triangle-shaped Tagine or Tajin. This is why the umbrella term of Tagine is applied to many foods that are prepared in this specific pot. The Berber tribes have a diverse cuisine with several dishes only cooked by particular tribes. This also depends on the location, climate, and on what plants, vegetables, fruits, etc can be grown on that location.
The Berber stove
Berber and tribal life is traditionally not rich. They generally live out of the small income of what they sell. These range from pottery to handicrafts to crops, fruits, argan oil, etc. This means, that the Berber cuisine is based on the bare necessities such as flour, water, couscous, milk. And also it means, that cooking anything that's at hand is good news for a family. Luckily, most tribes live in an area where they can grow some or more of their own crops. This way, they mostly have potatoes, carrots, and other plants at hand. Many families keep chicken, goat, turkey, or/and lamb as well. Other traditionally homemade/derived ingredients include corn, barley, ewe's milk, goat cheese, butter, honey, meat, and game if there is no space or money to house homegrown lamb, chicken, or other poultry.
Many of the dairy products are handmade if it's about a tribe that lives in the mountains where they can keep animals. The traditional Berber stove where Berbers cook is handmade, it's made out of clay and has a very unique shape. However, all those who don't have the chance to own a larger house where they can build this larger stove use simpler portable gas cookers, which are perfectly capable to handle even a larger tagine ( with the help of a slow cooker). You can get to spot these smaller cookers all across Medinas especially at or nearby the souks. Often larger stoves are used for baking bread for more families or for a larger community.
Cooking in a Tajine pot
Remember if you really want authentic taste you would need to try to cook your dish in a tajine. This is now widely sold online, however you will need a diffuser if you want to use it on a regular gas stove and also you need to cook it really slowly. Another recent alternate method is to simply use your slow cooker. Click on the photo below if you want to see the detailed steps to follow to cook in a tajine pot
The most popular Berber dishes
- Ahriche - Ahriche is a dish eaten by the tribes of Zayanes and Khénifra (Middle Atlas region). The name is derived from the Berber word for a stick; this is in reference to the dish's manner of cooking. It is a dish of tripe usually consisting of ganglion, caul, lung, or heart of an animal wound with intestines on a stick of oak and cooked on hot coals.
- Baghrir, a Semolina pancake-like bread
- Bouchiar (fine wafer without yeast soaked with butter and natural honey)
- Bourjeje (pancake made containing flour, eggs, yeast, and salt)
- Skillet Bread made with traditional yeast
- Couscous, a dish enjoyed worldwide - see recipe here
- Chakhchoukha ( Shakshouka or Shakshuka), a Chaoui dish made of flatbread eaten on special occasions. Shakshouka is now a very trendy dish and it has become so famous all over the Middle East, that now it's attributed as many of those countries' national dish. However, this is an originally Amazigh Moroccan dish.
- Moroccan Roasted Lamb - lamb, while more common than in other parts of the world is still mostly reserved for special occasions, especially, as it can provide sufficient meail for the whole family. There are several types of roasted lamb recipes, I would suggest this recipe for you to try in courtesy of BBC Good Food.
- Merguez, a spicy sausage often made with lamb. Try this Merquez Kofta recipe at courtesy of BBC Good Food
- Marmita: A pan full of different kinds of vegetables, meat, and a lot of spices.
- Pastilla /Bastilla– (Berber: besṭila,basteeya) a dish originating from the Spanish cuisine as its name shows. This is a leavy type of pastry filled with minced meat popular throughout Morocco. Bastilla is a staple food of Fez and it's available there in lots of varieties. A classic filling is squab and almond, but you’ll also find chicken, beef, fish or even pigeon bastilla. Typically, bastilla is both sweet and savoury, dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and it’s often served as a starter at weddings and other festive occasions. Try this Bastilla recipe as courtesy of Hairy Bikers.
- Tajine: has been used as an umbrella term for all dishes which are cooked in the world famous dish that has a real signature form and also runs under the name of Tajine. Do not mix however the Tajine used for cooking on stove with the more decorated Tajine that's only used for serving the food. Tajine can be anything that contains meat, vegetables, couscous at times and the signature Moroccan spices. This is slow cooking, this way, the best way to replicate this might be in a slow cooker. Some of the most popular varieties of Tajine in Morocco include the following:
Moroccan Cooking classes:
Please note, there are lots of Tripadvisor tours too, these can be costly but if you have no time or energy to check, then they can work too.
For UK tourists: https://www.lawrenceofmorocco.com/things-to-do/berber-cooking-class
Marrakech based: https://www.marrakechcooking.com/
Comments
Post a Comment