Moroccan cuisine guide
Where it comes from
Moroccan cooking draws on Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian and French layers, and its signature is the pairing of sweet and savoury — lamb with prunes, chicken with preserved lemon and olives. The tagine is both the vessel and the method, cooking slowly in its own condensed steam. Couscous is traditionally the Friday dish, steamed rather than boiled.
Couscous was inscribed by UNESCO in 2020 as shared heritage across the Maghreb, which is worth knowing before claiming it as any single country’s.
Allergens and dietary needs
Wheat is the allergen most easily missed, because couscous is semolina and reads to many guests as a grain rather than a pasta. Almond and other nuts appear in both tagines and pastry, and sesame in bread and sweets.
Ras el hanout is a blend rather than a fixed recipe, and its composition varies by house — worth saying, since it is often the thing a returning guest is actually coming back for.
Naming it on an English-language menu
Name what is in the tagine rather than relying on the vessel. The word describes a method and a pot, not a dish, and an English-reading guest cannot infer lamb from prunes.
Say what your ras el hanout contains, at least broadly. It varies by house, and it is frequently the thing a returning guest came back for.
Staple ingredients
- couscous
- preserved lemon
- lamb
- spices