Moroccan cuisine attracts the attention of gourmets from all over the world – most of all, dishes from Morocco are loved in European countries. But not only Europeans like Moroccan dishes: in Russia it is also easy to find a restaurant where visitors can enjoy Moroccan dishes and touch an exotic culture for us. What is it, Moroccan cuisine, and what dishes are the hallmark of the country? We’ll tell you in the article.
FEATURES OF MOROCCA CUISINE
Morocco is a country in North Africa, located across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. The Mediterranean coast of Morocco and the mild subtropical climate annually attract tens and hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world to this country. Moroccan cuisine is loved in European countries, because, on the one hand, it contains many products familiar to these regions, and on the other hand, there are significant differences in cooking, which allows you to discover a new taste palette and appreciate different accents.
Moroccan cuisine is based on fish, poultry, lamb, combined with tomatoes, onions, peppers and eggplants. The main cultural symbol here is bread, which enjoys special honor and respect among the local population. And most of all in Morocco, couscous is valued – a specially prepared semolina, which is often included, along with bread, in the traditional daily diet of the people of Morocco.
Since Morocco is a Muslim country, traditions are observed here and all the great holidays inherent in this culture are honored. So, in Ramadan, after evening prayers in Morocco, it is customary to cook hearty lamb soup, which has become a real national delicacy. We will tell you more about it and other dishes popular in this country below.
MOROCCA DISHES TO TRY
Moroccan cuisine has been formed over many centuries under the influence of Mediterranean, Arabic, Andalusian and Berber cultures, adopting many specific features characteristic of neighboring peoples and countries. We will tell below about the most popular dishes in Morocco and beyond.
TAJINE – MEAT AND VEGETABLE stew cooked in pots
Tagine is a world-famous stew from Morocco that has been adopted in many other countries. Thanks to cooking in a special type of dish, the dish cooks rather slowly, due to which it gets a specific taste and texture. One of the most common dishes in Morocco is the Berber tajine, which is traditionally prepared with lamb, beef or goat meat and vegetables simmered in pots until the meat fibers have grown to a sufficient degree. softness.
Most of all, Moroccans love the sauce, which is obtained by cooking in a tagine – it is usually dipped in pieces of traditional Moroccan flatbread, which are called “hobz”. Also, when serving, pieces of such cakes are often used instead of spoons – to catch pieces of meat and vegetables from the dish. Such a stew, by the way, may well be vegetarian – in this case it is prepared from carrots and chickpeas. The dish turns out fragrant and juicy due to cooking in ceramic pots.
KEFTA WITH CUMIN, AROMATIC HERBS AND PAPRIKA
In Morocco, lamb and beef are most valued, which in its simplest form is fried in a pan or grilled with spices and herbs.“Kefta” means lamb, and it’s not uncommon to see a dish called “kefta tajine” on the menu – this is Life, Cheese and In-between Magazine – RoyalCheese.ru is another favorite way to cook lamb in Moroccan cuisine. In this case, meatballs are formed from meat and a mixture of spices and herbs, which, together with vegetables and tomato sauce, languish in a Moroccan tagine. The dish is garnished with poached eggs.
POULTRY BASTILLA WITH SAFRAN AND CINNAMON
Bastilla is a solemn traditional dish in Moroccan culture, which is customary to serve guests of honor and prepare for important events. Moroccan bastilla is a pie, most often from chicken meat, although until recently in this country, bastilla was prepared more often from pigeon meat, the meat of which was valued primarily for its delicate taste.
Moroccan bastilla usually has an unusually sweet flavor for us due to the use of quite a lot of cinnamon in the preparation, in addition to saffron, ginger, roasted almonds, peppers and orange flowers. To prepare this dish, you will also need Varga crispy dough and an omelet with herbs. There are quite a lot of types of bastilla in Morocco, if sweet chicken is not to your taste, we advise you to definitely try the sea Moroccan bastille, which is based on fresh fish and seafood.
You may be surprised, but this is a traditional dish of Moroccan cuisine, which the locals cook, if not every day, then every week for sure. Traditionally, couscous is served with lamb, beef or chicken stewed with vegetables. An unusual combination of flavors for us will be couscous tfaya, which is prepared on the basis of caramelized onions and raisins, combined with meat.
Sweet couscous is cooked here no less than regular couscous. It may surprise you, but usually couscous in Morocco is eaten from one large common plate, without sharing it in portions – this tradition of serving the dish still persists, especially among the local population.
LAMB WITH PRUNES AND HONEY
You can see that in Moroccan cuisine they love the combination of sweet and spicy flavors. Prunes, honey and cinnamon added to meat best characterize Moroccan cuisine, so we can confidently say that the combination of meat, hot spices and the sweetness of prunes is truly Morocco’s calling card. Lamb (or beef) is usually accompanied by ginger.
caramelized onions, fried mi ndal, and prunes boiled with honey and cinnamon. If you’re looking for a special Moroccan experience and aren’t intimidated by confident-sounding sweetness, this combination is a must-try. Usually, lamb with prunes does not leave gourmets indifferent, who advise lovers of a combination of sweetness and meat to try another similar Moroccan dish – chicken tagine with apricots and dried fruits.
