Moroccan Cuisine

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Moroccan cuisine is marvelous, and here you will find a large assortment of great Moroccan recipes.

If you travel to the Northwest region of Africa to Morocco, and are invited as a guest into a traditional Moroccan family household, there are a few respectful manners you should be aware of.

Upon your arrival, you will most likely be offered some drink and a meal. Do not refuse, even if you are not thirsty or hungry. That would be an insult to your hosts. Up to three cups of tea is acceptable, don’t ask for more, and only taken as offered. If you taste the tea and do not like the flavor, out of courtesy at least sip on the first cup offered.

And if you are being invited over for a meal, especially if it is around noon time, avoid eating anything for several hours before arriving. You will certainly be asked to take a meal with the family, and it will be a multi-course feast, that you would shame the hosts by not partaking with them, and by not eating a good portion, too.

A Display of Moroccan Cuisine

Also, avoid staring for a long time at objects in the house that have special interest or intrigue to you. You will likely be offered to have it, as a gift. Devout Muslims that they are, they follow the Prophet’s admonition to avoid the “evil eye” – and any object that appears to be instilling the “evil eye” in a guest will probably be given to the guest to take away, so as to deter the sin of jealousy.

Okay, now that we have a few basic good manners rules to arrive by, let’s move on to the meal …

Moroccan Cuisine Family Meal Style

Please note: For your convenience, you can click on the recipes listed directly below and be taken directly to a page with just that one recipe on it, in printer-friendly format. You are certainly welcomed to read through this whole page, all the recipes are here as well, and there are some videos and pertinent information on background, history, customs, special notes, etc., so it is well worth the read.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order:

Bstilla (Moroccan Pigeon Pie)

Couscous with Harvest Vegetables and Lamb

Meatballs with Aïoli and Arugula

Moroccan Chicken Casserole

Moroccan Lamb Stew

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

The main meal of the day in Morocco is served at mid-day. And if you were invited for “lunch” as a guest into a Moroccan home, you would be honored and treated to a veritable feast.

rmorrocan meal

Moroccans are a very traditional and formal people, almost all the nation is Muslim, so there are several rules of etiquette that you would want to be aware of and adhere to during your guest visit for a meal, such as:

You will be expected to eat with your hands, but your right hand only. You may pass a dish with your left hand, but never touch the food with it. And when picking up food with your right hand, use only your thumb and the first two fingers – using more than three fingers is considered gluttonous behavior.

Also, to the Moroccan people, cleanliness is next to Godliness. Be sure to wash your hands before partaking in the meal. The host will provide clean fresh water, usually scented with orange zest or rose petals. After the meal, wash your hands again.

Bread is a staple and is served with all meals. Only the host is allowed to break and pass portions to the rest of the diners. Do not ask for more bread; if the host deems it necessary, he will break off another portion and pass it to you.  The host could be a she, but more often than not the women do not eat with the men.

The head lady is usually the house cook, but she will set the table for the men, and the man of the house takes over as meal host, while the women eat together separately. Exceptions are often made when a foreign female is a guest, and then the Moroccan ladies might join in the meal as well.

moroccan meal eating

During the meal, use your bread to mop up sauces and juices, and to dab your fingers to keep them tidy. Never lick your fingers during a meal – use the bread or a napkin if provided.

When everyone is seated, the host will say, “Bismillah,” – which means “Allah” – and everyone at the table repeats the request for God to bless the meal together in chorus. The meal has now begun.

During the meal, show respect for your host, be entertaining and conversant with the others, and praise the food. This is showing good table manners, and will gain you favor in the eyes and hearts of the family who is entertaining you as their guest.

lf you start getting full before the others at the table have begun to slow down in their eating, slow down yourself, and continue to eat, at least nibbling on some food. If you stop eating, the others will stop too, out of respect for you, but also to not appear as being gluttonous.

It is also considered gluttony to eat all the food set out on the table. When everyone stops eating there should be a fair amount of food still left uneaten. So do not be the one who reaches for that last helping of goat stew, it would show very bad form.

Now that you know the “do’s and dont’s” of dining as a guest in a traditional Moroccan family household, let’s move on to the first entree, a truly classic dish from the many traditional Moroccan foods. They say that variety is the Spice of Life, and on this ethnic foods adventure, you will soon discover that Moroccans like their food very spicy – so have at it!

Moroccan Lamb Stew

morroco goat stew

Ingredients:
For the Lamb-

(Note: You can also use goat meat, which is used equally as much as lamb in Morocco)

For the Spice Mixture-
To Garnish-
Serve With-
  • 10-12 oz. pumpkin, peeled, chopped into ½” to ¾” cubes and roasted in olive oil with a little seasoning.
Directions:
  1. Over medium heat, put the olive oil in a large casserole or saucepan. Once the oil is well heated, add in the onion and sauté for just one minute, or until nice and translucent.
  2. In a proper sized bowl, mix together well all the spice ingredients. Now add in the lamb pieces and toss them in the spices until they are well coated on all sides.
  3. Going back to the frying dish or pan, add in the spiced lamb and garlic. Fry until the garlic is browned and fragrant and the lamb cubes are seared and browned on all sides.
  4. Now stir in the saffron, apricots, chopped tomatoes, and cinnamon stick, and just enough stock to cover the meat cubes. Raise the heat until the stock is boiling, then reduce to where it is cooking at a mild simmer.
  5. You will want to let the lamb cook for a good hour, maybe more, until it is very tender. Stir the mixture often, using a wooden spoon, and if the stock level get lower than the level of the meat cubes, add in more as needed. If the stew seems too watery toward the end of the hour (or so) cooking, simply drain off some of the excess liquid into a saucepan, and reduce it over medium high heat until thickened, then return it to the stew.
  6. If you are new to Harissa paste, taste a little dab to see how it affects your palate. Then stir into the stew 3 tablespoons of the chopped fresh coriander, juice, honey, lemon zest, and the teaspoon (more or less, depending on your tastes) of Harissa paste.
  7. Serve the stew with roasted and cubed pumpkin, and sprinkle the remaining chopped fresh coriander over the top.

This next dish is selected from a long list of authentic Moroccan chicken recipes. A casserole, with the usual complex and taste blend of spices and textures. Put this on the table with your Lamb Stew for the perfect compliment to your Moroccan ethnic food adventure.

This delicious dish has a base of “Cauliflower Rice” which gives it a distinct and appealing texture.

Moroccan Chicken Casserole

Moroccan Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
  2. Make your cauliflower rice first. Chop the head of cauliflower into small florets. Push the florets through a food processor using the grating blade (if you have one, if not, you can use a hand grater).
  3. Spread the grated cauliflower rice out in a lightly oiled 9×13 baking pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
  4. In a deep, large fry pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over high heat. Add the chicken, brown the pieces well, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Once well browned, remove the chicken from the pan and set them aside.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the carrots, garlic, and ginger. Sauté until the onions are soft and translucent.
  6. Now add in the remaining tablespoon of butter and all of the spices. Stir and blend well. Next, add the minced cilantro, salt, the whole can of tomatoes (and all the juices) and the sliced red bell pepper. Return the chicken to the mix and let simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
  7. You are almost ready to bake the casserole. Pour the chicken mixture over the cauliflower rice and mix everything together thoroughly, you want the cauliflower to be completely blended with and saturated through by the sauce. Take your lemon and slice it very thinly, and lay the sliced atop the casserole.
  8. If your casserole dish does not have a cover, use tin foil to cover it, and bake for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove the lid or tinfoil and let it bake for another 25 minutes.

When you serve the casserole, heap a nice portion of the cauliflower rice on the plate, add a piece of chicken on top, and garnish with a slice of lemon. It should smell fragrant and enticing, and look very appealing, like this-

moroc cas dish

Yummy!

Quintessential to authentic and traditional Moroccan cooking, is the ancient precursor to the modern day crockpot, the marvelously conceived and very effective baked cooking implement known to all Moroccans, as the Tagine.

The tagine is a baked clay cooking vessel with a broad, circular base pan, topped with a conical lid, that promotes moisture retention and condensation, which bathes and cooks the stew inside with steam.

This steam coaxes the ingredients into a tender, silky texture. Much like the slow cooker we know and love today, back in ancient times the Moroccans used, and still do today, the Moroccan tagine pot as the proverbial put-it-on-and-let-it-go-cooker.

The tagine became such a prevalent means of cooking, that the dishes prepared in them came to be named after the cookware itself: Lamb tagine, Chicken tagine, Goat, tagine, Beef and vegetables tagine, etc.

The Moroccans of antiquity would set their tagines on bricks over coals. leaving the stew to cook for hours, but with modern day ovens and stovetops, you can do pretty much the same thing, in a bit less time, using a Moroccan tagine cooking pot in your kitchen.

Any authentic Moroccan tagine recipe would be best prepared, if you truly want the traditional experience and flavor, in a real tagine. And, for that reason, we here at Ethnic Foods R Us, offer you the ability to own one.

Here are three, of what we consider the best, options, just click on links to go to our online store to order the tagine of your choice.

Emile Henry Flame Top 3.7 Quart Tagine, Red

Moroccan Wave Cooking Tagine By Treasures of Morocco

Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 2-Quart Moroccan Tagine, Cherry

You can also see all three at once, complete with prices and specifications, by going to This Page.

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Okay. Whether or not you choose to use a traditional tagine, and again, that is optional, you can cook these scrumptious dishes with modern day cookwares, these following three traditional Moroccan tagine recipes will surely warm your heart and taste buds.

Up first, on our choices, is a traditional Moroccan lamb tagine. Enjoy, and please invite some family and friends over for this Moroccan ethnic food adventure.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

lamb tagine

Ingredients:

You will need: If you want to experience the traditional and authentic way of preparing this dish, a cookware – precursor to the modern day pressure cooker – known as a Moroccan Tagine.

Directions:
  1. Place the oil in your tagine (or Dutch oven or a large cooking pot), and bring the heat up to medium high.
  2. Fry the onion until fragrant and translucent.
  3. Now add in the lamb meat, and fry until just browned on all sides.
  4. Season with coriander, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
  5. Add enough water into the pot to cover the meat.
  6. Place the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to just a lively simmer, and cook for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is nicely tenderized. Your mixture should by now have a stew-like texture. If it is still a little soupy after one hour of cooking, displace lid a little.
  7. Now add in the golden raisins, almonds and pears, and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the pears are cooked through and softened.
  8. Serve with rice, with fresh chopped cilantro leaves sprinkled over the top as a garnish.

Couscous, the delightfully textured and tasty staple, derived from granules made from crushed durum wheat, is a traditionally favored ingredient in many Moroccan dishes. We will be sharing with you lots of authentic Moroccan couscous recipes, from mild to spicy Moroccan couscous, with more variations of ingredients, be it in the kind of meat, types of vegetables, or spices combinations, than you can imagine.

Let’s start off with this one, which will show you the basics of how to make Moroccan couscous, and which is also counted among the more traditional versions of Moroccan couscous recipes.

Couscous with Harvest Vegetables and Lamb

lamb couscous

Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 links spicy merguez lamb sausage, chopped into 1-inch slices
  • 1 large red onion, peeled and rough chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1-1/2 tsp. salt, divided
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp. freshly grated ginger root
  • 1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1-1/2” to 2” cubes (Note: You can also use pumpkin, or yam, or sweet potato with the same results, so use what is available to you fresh from your local market)
  • 4 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and crosscut in halves
  • 2 turnips, peeled and chopped into 1-1/2” cubes
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 5 cups lamb broth
  • 1 young zucchini, about 8 oz., halved lengthwise and chopped into ¼” thick cut slices (do not peel)
  • 1 (15.5 oz.) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  • 10 oz. uncooked Osem North African Couscous
  • Fresh cilantro or mint leaves, chopped, for garnish
Directions:
  1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat.
  2. Add in the sausage, and sauté for about 5 minutes.
  3. Now add in the garlic and onion and sauté for around 5 minutes, or until they are fragrant and softened.
  4. Add in 3/4 teaspoon of salt as well as the carrots and turnips, and stir and blend together well.
  5. Add in the smoked paprika, ginger, and cinnamon, stir into the dish thoroughly.
  6. Now add in the lamb broth, and bring the entire mixture to a rolling boil.
  7. As soon as the rolling boil is reached, turn the heat down to where you are cooking on a slightly lively to mild simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes—until the squash cubes are tender when poked with a fork.
  8. Add in the chickpeas and zucchini, stir well with the rest of the ingredients, and simmer about 10 more minutes—until the zucchini is softened, but not falling apart.
  9. Add in the raisins, stir them well throughout the dish, then cover the skillet and lower the heat to just a very mild simmer while you prepare your couscous.
  10. Cook the couscous as per the instructions on the package, along with ¾ teaspoons of salt.
  11. Once the couscous is well cooked, fluff it with a fork, then keep it warm until ready to serve.
  12. To serve, create an attractive large mound of warm couscous on a large serving platter and place it in the center of your table. Remove sausage and vegetables from pot with slotted spoon, and place them around the mound of couscous, then sprinkle the cilantro or mint over the couscous for a garnish. Pour the broth into a lipped serving bowl (or maybe 2 or 3 bowls, if you have lots of guests), and set on table.
  13. Give each guests a bowl, and invite them to help themselves to however much couscous, sausage, and vegetables as they desire, and pass the broth for them to pour however much they wish over their meal portions.

B’stilla, also called Pastilla, bastilla, bisteeya, or bstilla, is an elaborate poultry meat pie, traditional in Morocco, but inherited from the Andalus.

Traditionally the meat used is fledgling pigeons (squab), but since squabs are quite often difficult to get, other game poultries, like quail and Cornish hens are used. If none of those alternatives are available, even shredded chicken is used today, and you can even use fish meat in a B’stilla’s filling

An authentic and traditional Angolan cuisine dish, it is most often served at the beginning of large, multi-course meals for special occasions.

A pie that combines salty and sweet and flavors, baked in layers of crisp phyllo pastry dough sheets. B’stilla is an ethnic adventure taste treat you will long remember, and want to repeat often.

B’stilla

(Moroccan Pigeon Pie)

Pigeon pie with beetroot

 

Ingredients:
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
  2. Toast the ground almonds in a saucepan with 1 tsp. of olive oil over medium high heat, until nicely browned; set aside.
  3. Combine the ras el hanout, saffron, and chili flakes in a mixing bowl, to create one seasoning mixture.
  4. Place your poultry in a large cooking pot, with just enough water to barely cover the meat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cook, covered, until poultry is cooked through, about 40–45 minutes.
  5. Transfer poultry to a cutting board, but leave the juice infused water in the pot, simmering, uncovered.
  6. Allow the meat to cool, then remove skins and bones and shred the meat.
  7. After the simmering juiced water is reduced to 1 cup (usually 30 minutes will do it), turn the heat off and allow to cool, then whisk in the 3 eggs, and set aside.
  8. Wipe your pot clean and add more olive oil, turn the heat up to medium-high. Add in the garlic and onion and cook about 8 minutes, until very fragrant and turning golden brown.
  9. Now add in the seasoning mixture, cook 1–1/2 to 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
  10. Stir in the toasted ground almonds, the shredded meat, sauce, cilantro, parsley, salt, and pepper. This is your pie filling. Set aside for now.
  11. Grease a 9″ springform pan with butter. Lay 1 phyllo sheet on a work surface and brush with melted butter. Place into the springform pan, if the edges hang over, that’s okay—you actually want that, a considerable amount of dough hanging over the sides. Repeat with another sheet phyllo. Spread one third of the filling over the dough. Repeat this process of layering two more times.
  12. Now fold the corners of phyllo over the top layer of filling, then top the whole dish with the two remaining sheets of buttered phyllo. Tuck and fold the hanging over corners of phyllo up and over the dish, making a covered casing for the filling.
  13. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set, 30–35 minutes.
  14. Allow to cool some, then remove it from the pan. Garnish the pie with a light dusting of cinnamon and confectioner’s sugar before serving.

There are lots of Moroccans, and descendents of Moroccans, living in the USA and, hence, quite a few Moroccan restaurants – mostly in major metropolitan areas. So the Old Silly has had the pleasure of tasting a great deal of the fabulous foods that have come from that Northwestern African country, shaped similar to, and about the size of, the State of California.

And let met tell you. Moroccans can make out-of-this-world meatballs. Not to take anything away from French, Italian, or even the many Asian style meatballs, but if I had to, for the rest of my life, only have one kind of meatball?

Give me the meatballs that are a major part of Moroccan Cuisine – especially the ones made with ground lamb, WOW!

As with any culture, there are of course a vast array of variations on what all goes into a Moroccan lamb meatballs recipe – as many as there are cooks who prepare them. Moroccan lamb meatball recipes can be any range of spicy and/or hotness, and can even include a small percentage of other kinds of meat, which some think compliments and enhances the flavor of lamb meat.

But I’ll go with this recipe which, after having tried quite a few, in my humble but considerably experienced opinion, is the best!

Moroccan Meatballs with Aïoli and Arugula

Moroccan Meatballs with Arugula

Ingredients:
Directions:
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pita pieces with the milk and let sit until the pita is saturated and soft—about 5 minutes should do it.
  2. Add the ground lamb, the oregano, the mint, 1 cup of the parsley, ¼ of the minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix and combine thoroughly, and then divide the meat mixture into thirty-six balls, about 1 ounce apiece
  3. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil and, working in batches, sauté the meatballs for 5 to 6 minutes, until nicely browned (they won’t be well done on the inside yet), and then transfer to a platter and set aside.
  4. Put the rest of the olive oil into pan, still at medium-high heat, and fry the crushed garlic until fragrant and golden, about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.
  5. Add in harissa, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Adjust the heat to where the mixture is at a lively simmer, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, until the sauce is until is slightly thickened.
  6. Now put the meatballs back in the pan, put a lid on the pan, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the meatballs are well done and tender.
  7. While meatballs are cooking, make your aïoli.
  8. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining minced garlic, the egg yolks, salt, and pepper (to taste). As you whisk, drizzle in some safflower oil, whisking and drizzling as needed until your aïoli is emulsified.
  9. Now whisk in the lemon juice and yogurt, combine all ingredients completely, and then drizzle your aïoli over the meatballs.
  10. To assemble the dish and serve, create a bed of arugula on a large, attractive serving platter; put the aïoli-drizzled meatballs on top of the arugula, then the halved cherry tomatoes, dispersed evenly throughout the meatballs, and garnish with basil and the remaining parsley.

 

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