What to drink with Moroccan food : Moroccan beverages & food
Below we are going to talk about What to drink with Moroccan food while you are visiting Morocco.
Food and beverages
Moroccan dinners typically begin with a thick, nourishing soup, most commonly the spicy, bean and noodle Harira. Alternatively, you might start with a salad (often very finely chopped), or serve it as a side dish with your main course, which is often a plateful of kebabs – either brochettes (tiny chunks of lamb on skewers) or Kefta, which is ground beef (minced lamb). A few hole-in-the-wall restaurants specialize in soup, which they sell by the bowlful all day – such establishments are usually identified by a pile of soup bowls in front. In addition to Harira, and notably for breakfast, some establishments sell Bisara, a thick pea soup topped with olive oil.
Tajine, essentially a stew, is another food you’ll find everywhere. It’s steam-cooked gently in an earthenware dish with a conical pottery cap. Tagines are traditionally made with lamb or mutton, prunes and almonds, or chicken, olives, and lemon. Tagines of fish or vegetables, or tagines of meatballs topped with eggs, are less common.
Meals at restaurants
Restaurants typically serve seafood, particularly along the coast, lamb or mutton in a tagine, and chicken, either spit-roasted or in a tagine with lemon and olives. Pastille, a juicy pigeon or chicken pie baked with filo pastry coated with sugar and cinnamon, is also available on occasion; it is a Fez specialty. And, of course, there’s Couscous, Morocco’s most renowned dish; Berber in origin, it’s a massive bowl of cooked semolina piled high with veggies and mutton, chicken, or occasionally fish. Mechoui-roast lamb, which may even take the form of a whole sheep roasted on a spit, can be found at festivals, which are always good for novel food, and at posh tourist restaurants. Another specialty in Marrakech is Tanjia, which is jugged beef or lamb cooked slowly in the embers of a hammam furnace.
Dessert may consist of a pastry, a crème caramel, or maybe yoghurt, which is frequently – even in low-cost establishments – the restaurant’s own. Otherwise, you might get fruits, such as oranges or a fruit salad.
Moroccan cuisine
If you eat in a local cafe or are invited to someone’s home, you may find yourself eating with your hands rather than a knife and fork. Muslims eat only with their right hand, and you should do the same. Hold the bread between your fingers and scoop with your thumb; it’s generally easier to reject the mushy center of the bread and utilize only the crust – as many Moroccans do. It is courteous to take only what is immediately in front of you when eating at a shared plate as someone’s home, unless the host specifically offers you a piece of meat.
Eating vegetarianism
In most of Morocco, vegetarianism is met with little understanding, though restaurants are growing more conscious that tourists may be vegetarian, and many establishments now offer a meat-free tajine or couscous. In larger cities, meatless pizzas are also offered. If you are a really strict vegetarian or vegan, it may be worth taking some basic goods (such as yeast extract, peanut butter, and veggie stock cubes); otherwise, please advise your guide about your dietary choices so that he/she can inform each restaurant where you will eat.
Alcoholic beverages
As an Islamic country, Morocco discourages the consumption of alcohol, and it is generally not available in city Medinas. Ordinary bars are very much all-male preserves, which may make women uncomfortable, but up-market bars, particularly in Marrakech or Casablanca, or in categorized (ranked from 3 to 5 stars) hotels, are usually fine for both men and women to drink wine or beer.
Moroccan wines can be tasty, if a tad heavy to drink without a meal. The greatest is the pinkish red Clairet de Meknes, created in the French claret manner and purposely light. Another good one is Beauvallon, which is normally conserved for export. Other kinds to try include the powerful red Cabernet, as well as Ksar, Gurrouane, and Siraoua.
Soft drinks, tea, and coffee
The national drink is mint tea, sometimes known as ‘Moroccan Whisky’ by certain Moroccans. Chinese gunpowder green tea flavored with mint sprigs and sweetened with a lot of sugar, usually from a sugar loaf (you can ask for it with little or no sugar). Moroccans often add wormwood (Chiba in Arabic) to their tea in the winter to keep the cold at bay.
A variety of great freshly squeezed juices are also available at cafes and street stalls: orange juice (some of it contains sugar; however you may ask to have it without). There’s also almond milk, banana juice, and apple juice. Panaché, a mixed fruit milkshake with raisins, is also popular.
Moroccan tap water is normally chlorinated and safe to drink, however bottled mineral water is preferable. Coffee is best served at French-style cafés, either cassé (with a few drops of milk) or lait ( with big amount of milk). If you liked our article regarding what to drink with Moroccan food please check bellow our related topics.