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Cooked lentils make a simple, hearty, and inexpensive meal eaten at home or from street-stall vendors. The fresh herbs, stirred in at the end, give the lentils an appealing earthiness as well as a vivid touch of color. Lentils are often prepared as a cooked salad. To make this recipe as a salad, boil the […]

Bessara is a rustic, hearty soup much beloved in Morocco. The purée of cooked small dried split fava beans is a specialty of the Rif Mountains, where it’s ladled into bowls and served with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of sweet paprika. In the northern part of the country, bessara is […]

This recipe comes from a damp, cold winter’s dinner at Dar Nour—“House of Light”— inside Tanger’s dense, whitewashed Kasbah. Into a dining room full of books, intimate photos of the city’s rich literary history, patterned Berber textiles, European antiques, and flickering candles, the silky, scarlet soup was presented in a heavy white tureen. It was […]

Harira is Morocco’s best-known, and best-loved, soup. Families eat this herb-rich, tomato-based soup year-round. During Ramadan, however, it’s obligatory, and pots of the soup simmer away in kitchens across the country. Accompanied by dates and honeyed, flower-shaped cookies sprinkled with sesame seeds called chebakia, a bowl of harira is the traditional way to break the […]

This is a smaller version of the straightforward and fairly standard, slightly domed loaves found throughout the country. Serve the bread, or another bread, with every savory recipe in the book. For a celebratory variation that is especially popular during Eid al-Adha festivities to accompany lamb dishes, blend 1 teaspoon orange flower water and 1 […]

Bread is something so simple, so quotidian in Morocco. But at times, it’s elevated to more than that. This bread, with pieces of black olives (ideally bold, salt-cured ones), coarsely ground walnuts, and sautéed onions, is adapted from one that a Marrakech dada (traditional family cook), Khadija Dilali, prepares for the year’s main celebrations. It […]

This layered, square Berber flatbread is cooked in a skillet or on a griddle until the edges are golden brown. Drizzled with honey, a warm rghayif is a favorite for breakfast or a snack. Some in Morocco also turn the flatbread into a savory treat and eat it with preserved meat called khlea (see page […]

The classic stuffed Moroccan pastry called pastilla (also spelled b’stilla and variations in between) is filled with a rich mixture of pigeon or chicken, almonds, eggs, and cinnamon. A seafood version, with fish, shrimp, and calamari, as well as, perhaps surprisingly, thin Asian rice noodles, is modern, festive, and very popular. I have heard from […]

Hot, stuffed phyllo shapes called briouats are delectable appetizers. Folded into small triangles, cigar-shaped cylinders, or even rectangles, they come with an array of fillings, from spiced ground kefta to sweet milky rice (see page 59). My favorite is this one with fresh unsalted cheese called jben—especially with a brushing of honey to give the […]

What a delicious surprise to bite into one of these small stuffed pastry appetizers and find it packed with sweet, milky rice! If desired, prepare these briouats in triangles, following the rolling instructions for Phyllo Triangles Stuffed with Fresh Cheese (page 61). See note for preparing the oven. 1⁄2 cup/100 g short- or medium-grain rice […]