La cuisine marocaine est souvent considérée comme l'une des meilleures du monde. Elle se caractérise par une très grande diversité de plats, couscous, innombrables tagines, pastilla, méchoui pour les plus connus, mais aussi bien d'autres plats souvent connus des seuls Marocains mais tout aussi succulents : le tagine mrouzia, la tangia, le kebab, la harira (la soupe de la rupture du jeûne), la seffa ; il existe aussi beaucoup de recettes régionales et chaque lieu a sa variété de menthe pour préparer le thé. La pâtisserie marocaine est aussi très variée et très raffinée.
L'originalité et la richesse de la cuisine marocaine tiennent à la multitude d'influences qu'elle a subies : la cuisine arabe, certaines recettes encore en cours remonteraient à l'époque des Abbassides, la cuisine berbère pour le couscous en particulier, la cuisine morisque pour les ragoûts et tagines et le mélange sucré salé. On peut également noter une influence des cuisines turque, juive et des cultures culinaires venant d'Asie du sud (Inde...).
la cuisine marocaine a donc subi plusieurs influences qui en font une des cuisine les plus riches et variées car elle a intégré toutes les cuisines du monde tout en y ajoutant sa petite touche qui en fait une cuisine conviviale et sensuelle.
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. Further influences upon Moroccan cuisine came from the Morisco (Muslim refugees) who were expelled from Spain during the Spanish inquisition.
Main dishesThe main Moroccan dish most people are familiar with is couscous which is very old and is probably of 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 pungent, reasty flavor that Western lamb and mutton can have.
Among the most famous Moroccan dishes are Couscous, Pastilla, Tajine, Tangia. Although Harira is a soup, it is considered as a dish in itself.
L'originalité et la richesse de la cuisine marocaine tiennent à la multitude d'influences qu'elle a subies : la cuisine arabe, certaines recettes encore en cours remonteraient à l'époque des Abbassides, la cuisine berbère pour le couscous en particulier, la cuisine morisque pour les ragoûts et tagines et le mélange sucré salé. On peut également noter une influence des cuisines turque, juive et des cultures culinaires venant d'Asie du sud (Inde...).
la cuisine marocaine a donc subi plusieurs influences qui en font une des cuisine les plus riches et variées car elle a intégré toutes les cuisines du monde tout en y ajoutant sa petite touche qui en fait une cuisine conviviale et sensuelle.
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. Further influences upon Moroccan cuisine came from the Morisco (Muslim refugees) who were expelled from Spain during the Spanish inquisition.
Main dishesThe main Moroccan dish most people are familiar with is couscous which is very old and is probably of 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 pungent, reasty flavor that Western lamb and mutton can have.
Among the most famous Moroccan dishes are Couscous, Pastilla, Tajine, Tangia. Although Harira is a soup, it is considered as a dish in itself.
