Moroccan food: the dishes you can't miss

Moroccan food is made up of a number of dishes that no traveller should miss out on. In fact, tasting these dishes is a fundamental part of visiting this city, and the best way to do so is by booking a gastronomic tour of Marrakech. You won't regret it!

One of the best experiences on any trip is discovering the gastronomy, as its flavours, smells, condiments and ways of preparation are an important part of the culture. Morocco's cuisine ranges from tajines to couscous, harira to tangia, and is characterised by the presence of spices that greatly enhance its flavour.

This dish is actually named after the container in which it is cooked, as is the case with Spanish paella, which is an earthenware pot with an elongated cone-shaped lid.

Various types of vegetables are cooked in the pot along with the chosen meat (lamb, beef or chicken) and various different spices are added, such as turmeric and cumin. The cooking in its most traditional form must be slow, to the point that the dish takes several hours to complete. In addition, the peculiar shape of the vessel means that the steam remains inside and the meat is more tender and tasty.

Although they are all known as tajine, in reality there are different types depending on the ingredients that are added. Some of the best known are chicken with lemon, beef with plums and, on more special occasions, lamb. We recommend you book a full gastronomic tour to get to know all the variations, as there is also the Berber tajine, typical of the desert, and in the coastal areas you may also find some fish and vegetable tajines.

This dish is one of the most widespread in much of the world. You'll find it under different names depending on the country: köfte, kafta, kufta, kufteh... and it's simply minced meat mixed with spices and a few other ingredients.

Very popular from Morocco to Pakistan, via India, Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia, the main ingredient in this dish is meat, generally veal or lamb. If you have been to Marrakech with children, this recipe is likely to become one of their favourites.

To make koftas, all you need to do is mince the meat and then add garlic, parsley and onion. As for the spices, the number and type of spices depends very much on the cook. In Marrakesh, it is quite common to add Ras el Hanout, although it can also contain paprika, ginger or coriander. It can take the form of a meatball or something similar to a small hamburger. In the street stalls of the medina in Marrakesh and in Morocco in general, it is also often found inserted into a wooden stick like a skewer.

You don't have to travel to Marrakesh in winter (or any other city in the country) to enjoy a good soup. As in other Arab countries, this dish is very popular all year round, and there is even a version that is eaten for breakfast.

The best known of these is harira, a highly nutritious soup. For this reason, it is traditionally eaten when breaking the fast on the days of Ramadan, but you can find it at any time in restaurants throughout the country.

According to some hypotheses, the recipe originated in Al-Andalus and later became popular in much of North Africa. Harira soup includes vegetables, cereals, meat and pulses, usually chickpeas. However, what gives it its delicious flavour are the aromatic herbs (such as coriander and mint), tomatoes, lemon and, of course, spices such as harissa, which gives it a spicy kick. All this is thickened with a little flour.

If you travel anywhere in Morocco there is one food you can never miss: couscous. The name of the dish comes from the main ingredient, couscous, which is nothing more than wheat semolina.

As will be explained if you book a gastronomic tour of Marrakesh, for which you can buy your tickets now, there are almost as many ways to prepare this dish as there are houses. It all depends on the ingredients used to make the stew that accompanies the semolina. In all cases, a large quantity of vegetables is used, accompanied by **meat, chickpeas, onions, raisins and sometimes plums, although in the south of the country these sweet touches are less present.

To cook the semolina in the traditional way, you have to use a couscous bowl, a kind of steamer with a sieve over the casserole. In this way, the ingredients of the stew are cooked in the lower part and the couscous itself is cooked in the upper part. Although this system gives the best results, the cooking process of the semolina can take hours.

The word méchoui, meshoui or meshwi means 'roast' in Arabic, so it's not hard to guess what this popular Moroccan dish is all about. The main ingredient is lamb, the meat of which is the most prized throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Originally, the animal was roasted in a hole d ug in the ground and filled with wood. When the wood became embers, the whole lamb was put in and buried. The cooking lasted several hours.

Of course, the version found today in the best restaurants in Marrakesh uses more modern methods. The grill is still the ideal method, but in some places it is also roasted in an oven. For extra flavour, the meat is often rubbed with a not-too-spicy version of harissa sauce.

If you're in Marrakech for more than two days, I recommend you seek out this dish to try.

One of the most popular street foods in Morocco (although it is also served in some restaurants) is the pastilla or pastilla.

If you've been around the medina in Marrakech, either on your own or with a gastronomic tour, which you can book ticketsfor here if youhaven't already, you'll probably have seen quite a few shops selling it, as it's a big hit with locals and visitors alike. I recommend, however, that you follow safety advice in Marrakech and only buy it from places you trust.

This is a kind of phyllo or puff pas try filled with shredded poultry, sultanas and dried fruits such as pistachios or walnuts. Although most of the ones you will find are chicken, it was traditionally prepared as pigeon meat and nowadays pigeon meat is considered an almost luxury food because of its flavour. It is garnished with cinnamon and icing sugar, and it is this mix of sweet and savoury flavours that makes this dish unique and delicious.

Tangia is possibly the least known of Morocco's traditional dishes, so if you visit the country you should not miss it. The dish is a meat stew. The recipe includes lamb, garlic, cumin, turmeric and preserved lemons, which are typical of the country. All this is cooked in a tangia, a jar that gives its name to the recipe.

Apart from the spectacular taste of the dish, the history behind it is also interesting. The men used to take the jar to the oven in their neighbourhood in the mornings when they went to work. The pot would be buried under the ground in the embers of the fire for about 5 hours. When the workers had finished their work, they would pick it up to enjoy its taste.

Whether you have taken a guided tour or if you have already learned your way around Marrakech and want to try tangia, I recommend you go to the medina to look for one of the places that serve it. One of them, the Souk Café, offers a particularly delicious one.

No one who has been to Morocco, no matter how long they have stayed in the country, has left without trying this delicious drink.

Mint tea, which is actually mint tea, can be considered the national drink. Not only will you find it in restaurants, tea shops and cafés, but it's often on offer in any shop you spend more than 15 minutes in.

Although the recipe is very simple- water, tea, mint and a good amount of sugar- it's hard to find one as good outside Morocco or in tea shops run by people from the Maghreb.

The drink is served in narrow, low cups, always hot, regardless of whether you've travelled to Marrakech in the summer. Its ubiquity is not only due to its taste, but it is considered a symbol of hospitality that should be offered to any visitor. It is said in Morocco that tea must be served three times: the first glass is "bitter as life; the second "strong as love"; and the third "sweet as death".

There's no better place to try it than on the terraces overlooking the Jamaa el Fna in Marrakech or in a café in the port of Essaouira, with beautiful views of the Atlantic.

Moroccan confectionery is quite different from that found in Europe, with its main ingredients being honey, dates, nuts, semolina and dried fruits.

Everywhere you go in Morocco you will find a large number of shops selling these sweets. You can also try them in cafés or pastisseries, a name that comes from the country's French heritage.

Among the best known are the famous baklavas, the curious gazelle horns or the makrud, but the variety is such that you will be unable to try them all.

Although they are not a food in themselves, no one can doubt the importance of spices in Moroccan gastronomy. Without them, all the dishes you will taste during your travels would be truly different.

Spices are also part of the tourist attractions you will find in the country. In every city there is a part of the souk specifically dedicated to selling them. There are few experiences more typical of the country than strolling around Rahba Kedima Square in Marrakech immersed in the colour and smell of spices.

The number of spices you'll find is almost endless, but here are the names of the most commonly used in case you feel like experimenting with them on your return:

• Ras el Hanout: the star of Moroccan food. In reality, it is a mixture of spices with no fixed recipe, as each shop presumes to make the best one. It is said that up to 30 different spices are used to create the blend.
• Cumin: if you are used to the jarred cumin sold in supermarkets, the smell and taste of this spice in Morocco will surprise you with its intensity.
• Harissa: another of the most commonly used spices in Morocco. It is made from a concentrate of smoked and roasted red peppers to which caraway, salt and garlic are added. Be careful because in some cases it can be a little spicy, although less so than the spice used in Tunisia.
• Sesame: roasted on the grill to give a different flavour to dishes.
• Orange blossom water: obtained by boiling orange blossoms, it is used in Moroccan sweets and desserts.
• Lemons preserved in salt: used in many Moroccan dishes, such as tangia.