Though you can get street food in Morocco any time of day, night time is the right time for the exotic. Folks there actually eat an extra meal in the evening, grazing the street stalls, before sitting down for a conventional supper at 10 p.m. or later…
Khobz Bread – A staple among staples in Morocco…
The souqs in Marrakesh, Fez and other sizeable centres across Morocco crawl with street food vendors all day. You can get breakfast and lunch as easily you can supper. Many natives actually cruise the market stalls for early evening treats before returning home to enjoy a late, sit-down supper.
Street vendors in the desert realm offer a surprisingly large variety of snacks as well as more substantial fare. It doesn’t hurt that Morocco can boast a substantial Atlantic coastline as well as extensive agricultural uplands.
The plentiful street food in Moroccan maketplaces is famous for its variety, exotic elements, fabulous flavours and low cost – you can get almost anything on offer for just a few dirhams per serving. ((US)$1 = 10 – 11 dirham.) Its easy to go overboard!
On our menu today
Bread
Served with almost everything (except desserts), there are at last half a dozen varieties that Moroccans consider indispensable. Most are flatbreads of different thicknesses and textures that show up as sandwich wrappers and soup dippers. But some are also grab-and-go faves with various simple toppings. Overall favourites include khobz (a round, flattish loaf thicker than a typical flatbread), beghrir (spongy bread, a bit like crumpets), harsha (buttery bread made of fine semolina) and rghaif (flaky, layered flat bread).
Bessara
Fava Bean Soup. Thick, creamy, flavourful, with lots of garlic, and served with a drizzle of lemon-infused Olive Oil.
Eaten at all meals, usually with khobz (a favourite dipping bread).
Snail Soup
This traditional staple is usually prepared and sold by vendors who specialize in it. They customarily sell nothing else – except maybe for dipping bread. Unlike other Moroccan street foods, Snail Soup is flavoured with a traditional blend of a dozen or more spices and herbs; a unique pleasure for its devotees.
Spicy Sardines
You might think of Portugal first, when considering sardines as a street food. Tapas is a whole street food sub-culture in northern Africa that originated in the Iberian Peninsula.
Spiced Sardine Balls in Red Tomato Sauce
But they’re extra special in Morocco: stuffed with a rich spicy chermoula paste of tomato, coriander, chili, garlic, paprika, cumin, olive oil and lemon juice, battered, and fried until golden brown. Served with fried green chilis. Sometimes sold as finger food; more often as a sandwich stuffing.
Eggplant / Aubergine Fritters
Basically, rounds of Egg Plant dipped in a paprika-seasoned batter and deep fried for just a moment. Then served on a plate with a simple salad or spicy white bean stew called loubia. Just one example of the many veggie delights to be found in the Moroccan souq.
Grilled Specialties
Waste not, want not. It’s a guiding creed of Moroccan dining, as it often is in desert climes. Common grilled or fried goodies you can order include cow’s udders, tongues, tripe, liver and feet.
Vendors will cook the meat in large chunks or whole form, then chop it up and serve per your preference on disposable plates (usually with fries on the side), or folded into flat bread sandwiches.
Sheep’s Head
The street food of North Africa is as different from that of the continent’s southern realms as night is from day. Except for a core specialty dish, Sheep’s Head. As we reported from South Africa last week in this space, the head is boiled until tender, then scraped to remove the hair and served either as a whole head or a lateral half. In Morocco, it’s commonly dusted with cumin, salt and chili pepper.
See what I meant…
… About the world of difference between street foods in the northern and southern geographic extremes in Africa? Get Googling, and try some of these simple yet mouthwatering Moroccan street food treats!
~ Maggie J.