The dish that reigns at the Berber table is tajine

fresh meat braised with vegetables and seasoned with saffron, olives and marinated lemon. For dessert, one feeds with fruits ripened in the sun: violet and green figs, amber dates or sweet oranges.

Rich in spices and fresh herbs, Moroccan cuisine is often called royal. The best-known spice, ras el hanout, is a blend of 35 ingredients, such as nutmeg, aframomum from Madagascar, four spices, cumin, sweet pepper, coriander, cardamom and sesame. Another important spice is saffron, extracted from the crocuses that grow in the valleys of the Anti-Atlas. For Moroccans, the most expensive spice in the world is a "force that allows health to circulate in the body", because saffron stimulates the immune system.

The dishes are often seasoned with coriander and the very widespread cumin. Added to meats (especially fatty lamb) and eggs, it occupies the place of pepper at the table and remains the most used spice after salt.

Among the products beneficial for health, there is the fruit oil of the argan tree, endemic tree of Morocco. Consuming this oil rich in unsaturated fats regularly stabilizes the cholesterol level, decreases blood pressure and increases the body's resistance. This oil, known for its light hazelnut aroma, is used for the preparation of salads, especially Moroccan salad (tomatoes in cubes, onion, pepper and spices).

Obligatory on a Moroccan table, the olives marinated with spices are served mostly as input. But Moroccans also consume them at breakfast or as snack during the day. Countless olive trees (green, pink, black ...) are found in markets and grocery stores.

Moroccan cuisine abounds in spices. One of them, ras el hanout, consists of more than 30 ingredients. It is not surprising that she is named Queen of Spices.
The classic Berber dish is called tajine. This name refers not only to a dish of meat braised with vegetables, but also to the container in which it is prepared. In clay, the dish consists of a hollow plate and a bell cover. Tagines are easily found on stands and in street restaurants, most often heated in temporary wood-burning ovens. At home, they heat directly on the burner of the gas oven.

The meat prepared in a tagine (lamb, beef, poultry) is tender and full of the aromas and flavors of the ingredients that accompany it, such as tomatoes, onions, potatoes, peas and olives. The lamb is often seasoned with almonds, dates or prunes and the tagine of poultry owes its original flavor to the lemons which give it a taste of tonality.

Apart from the harira, 

Moroccans do not eat soup. Harira is an obligatory meal of ramadan, a tasty beef bouillon with chickpeas, lentils, fresh vegetables, onion, beans, egg, flour, ginger, coriander, pepper, saffron and butter. Thus, the harira has the filling texture of a goulash. Often, the soup is served with fine pasta. During Ramadan, it is served with sweet cupcakes based on melted sugar, flour and nuts.

The refined dish, served on Friday (holy day of the Muslims), is couscous. In Morocco, it is believed that this traditional Arabic dish is the most tasty when prepared by a woman. This recipe requires cooking fine wheat semolina and then adding aromatic broth of vegetables and meat (lamb, beef, poultry). In the restaurant, one can take royal couscous, prepared with the three meats.

Apart from the harira, couscous is the only Moroccan dish consumed with a spoon, for the others one traditionally uses the hands. But if a Moroccan was told that he ate with his hands, he might feel hurt. He would correct us and explain that he uses Adam's fork, or a piece of flat bread with which to get some good pieces. Moroccan mothers teach their children at an early age that to hold Adam's fork it is necessary to use only three fingers of the right hand. 

Only gourmands use four and the devil five. We must not forget the symbolism of the right and left sides of the Muslim world, where the law is akin to the good and the saint while the left corresponds to evil.

A rather original Moroccan dish, pastilla, is a patty of puff pastry, stuffed with pigeon meat (possibly poultry or fish) accompanied by grapes, almonds and spices. The whole is roasted and, at the end, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The preparation of the pastilla requiring several hours and being rather difficult, the dish is served only by some restaurants in big cities.

The base of the tea is mint tea, considered the most Moroccan Moroccan drinks. It is nicknamed Moroccan whiskey because it is said that after the fifth glass, the head begins to turn, which is possible because it is a very strong infusion from a mixture of green and black tea. Preparation is a ritual. 

First, prepare the infusion of black and green teas and then add a lot of sugar and, in the end, put fresh mint sprigs in a teapot or a glass. The aroma of this tea is unrivaled and the sugar that is added generously symbolizes strength, vitality and energy. 

Mint has refreshing properties and is ideal for invigorating the body. It is served everywhere, as it is a symbol of Moroccan hospitality. Thus, they are offered in Berber houses, cafes, street stalls, souks, small shops or the streets of a medina. In Morocco, it is said that the first glass of mint tea to start the day must be strong as life, the second sweet as love and the last sweet as death.

In the evening comes the time to have the main meal, the dinner. First the appetizers: various types of olives, marinated carrot, white and red cabbage, Moroccan salad, chickpeas in a spicy sauce, braised and roasted aubergines, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes cooked with dill and lenses. As a main dish one serves tajine or couscous and on the coast of the fried fish.

In dessert, among the popular sweets is the "gazelle horn", a small cake filled with marzipan, as well as cumin cakes, almond cuts, marmalade and briouates. There is also the amlou, an interesting kind of liquid almond butter (grilled almonds ground with honey and argan oil). The amlou is consumed during the breakfast or to taste it with bread that one dips there. The delicacy is widespread especially in the region of Agadir and in the Middle Atlas, where the argan tree grows.