Cuisine of Morocco
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Influence and history
Being at the crossroads of many civilisations; the cuisine of Morocco has been influenced by the native Berber cuisine, the Arabic Andalusian cuisine, brought by Moors and later Moriscos when they left Spain, the Turkish cuisine from the Turkish occupied Algeria and the Middle Eastern cuisines brought by the Arabs.
The history of Morocco is reflected in its cuisine. Political refugees left Baghdad in the Middle Ages and settled in Morocco, bringing with them traditional recipes that are now common in Morocco but forgotten in the Middle East. We know this because there are striking similarities between a 12th century (Common Era) collection of recipes by Al-Baghdadi, and contemporary Moroccan dishes. A signature characteristic is cooking fruit with meat, for example quince with lamb or apricots with chicken. The same thing happened when many Morisco : Muslim refugees where expelled from Spain during the Spanish inquisition, this is why Moroccan cuisine is so rich.
Main dishes
COUSCOUSs.jpg
The main Moroccan dish most people are familiar with is couscous which is of very old and has probably a Berber origin.
The most commonly eaten red meat in Morocco is lamb. The breed of sheep in North Africa has much of its fat concentrated in its tail. This means that Moroccan lamb does not have the pungeant, reasty flavor that Western lamb and mutton can have.
Among the most famous Moroccan dishs are Couscous, Pastilla, Tajine, Tangia. Although Harira is a soup, it is considered as a dish in itself.
External links
- A synthetic presentation of moroccan cuisine (http://www.focusmm.com/morocco/mo_coumn.htm)
- 30 Recipes chosen from the Moroccan cuisine (http://www.mincom.gov.ma/english/gallery/cuisine/recipes/index.htm) a must
- Open Directory Project: Moroccan Cuisine (http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/World_Cuisines/African/Moroccan/)
- African Studies (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Cookbook/Morocco.html)
- Some recipes books (http://cookingbooks.org/n_1898697876.htm)
- Moroccan Recipes (http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/food/food.htm)
Recipe books
- Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from My Moroccan Kitchen, by: Kitty Morse, Laurie Smith ISBN 081181503X
- Scent of Orange Blossoms: Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco, by: Kitty Morse, Owen Morse ISBN 1580082696
- Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, by: Paula Wolfert, Gael Greene ISBN 0060913967
- Food of Morocco: Authentic Recipes from the North African Coast, by: Fatema Hal ISBN 962593992X