Marrakesh’s Most Versatile and Delicious Street Food

When most people think of Marrakesh and Moroccan food they will probably be thinking about mint tea, couscous and tastily spiced tagines. Although these three foods and drink items do make up part of the standard Moroccan diet, there many other dishes and flavours to experience.  One of the best ways to taste proper Marrakesh food is by ordering some from a market stall. As a guide for your trip to Marrakesh to get the very best tasting food experience possible we will now look at some of the most interesting and popular dishes.

Harira Soup

Across Marrakesh there are many variations on this dish available.  The essence of any good Harira Soup is a base of spiced chickpeas and tomato with pasta and lentils mixed into it. The base is normally flavoured with coriander, parsley, lemon, cinnamon, saffron and lots of ginger to give a heady aroma.  It is served at almost any time of the year, although it is most popular with Moroccans during the festival of Ramada where it is served with lemon, figs and bread to signal the end of fasting.

M’Semmen – Pancakes From Moroccan

Conceptually an m’semmen has a lot in common with a roti or pancake.  M’semmen are prepared and cooked by street vendors on hot plates using lots of oil and are topped with many different toppings.  A great example is in the morning when M’semmen become a sweet starter for breakfast with butter, sugar, jam or honey being used to flavour the savoury pancake.  Depending on personal taste and the time of the day you will find that people in Marrakesh have anything from cheese, spices and even chocolate on their M’semmen.

Pastilla – A Marrakesh Sweet Pastry With A Twist

One of the most delicious and at the same time, intriguing dishes you are likely to have on a trip to Marrakesh.  A Pastilla is several layers of sweetened pastry that are stuffed with that rather odd filling of chicken or pigeon.  The whole thing is then covered in lashings of icing sugar.  Despite the meaty content, it has a flavour similar to that of a nutty dessert made with peanut butter and has a very similar texture.  One thing’s for sure pastilla does not taste like pigeon or chicken.

Where is The Best Place in Marrakesh to Eat?

Although many locals avoid it, if you are a serious food tourist you will want to immerse yourself in the experience of visiting the Djemma el-Fna square at night.  Over 100 different market stalls are set up every night and serve a wide variety of traditional dishes.  The square is arranged by number by what each stall serves to make easier for you to navigate your way around.  Around the edge of the market is where you will find the nut, dried fruit and fruit juice stalls. Then at one end, there are a wide range of snail stalls and soup stalls at the opposite end.  The middle stalls all sell similar things such as tagines, couscous, fish and salads.

share post to:
Author
A mum, a traveller and a blogger, never happier than when holiday with my family but love writing about my travels and listening to yours too. Say hello if you come across my writings online x

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *