Glossary

Both a conical clay cooking vessel and the slow-cooked dish prepared in it. The cone-shaped lid creates a self-basting convection cycle: steam rises, condenses on the cool inner surface, and drips back onto the food.

Communal neighbourhood bread oven where families send raw dough to be baked daily. Functions as social infrastructure — a gathering point where neighbourhood news travels.

Round flatbread baked daily in communal ovens (ferran). Serves as the primary eating utensil in Moroccan meals. Torn by hand, never cut.

Square, flaky layered flatbread cooked on a griddle. Often served at breakfast with honey or soft cheese. The best are crispy outside and almost translucent inside.

Semolina pancakes with characteristic thousand-hole surface. Holes form naturally during cooking from carbon dioxide bubbles and absorb honey or melted butter.

Dense, crumbly semolina bread with a coarse exterior. Cooked on a griddle, tastes like a savoury scone. Often eaten at breakfast.

Tomato-based soup with lentils, chickpeas, celery, and herbs. Traditional first food eaten to break the Ramadan fast at sunset. Every family has their own recipe.

Marrakech specialty: beef or lamb sealed in a clay urn with preserved lemons, saffron, and smen, slow-cooked 6–8 hours in the ashes of a hammam (public bathhouse) furnace. Known as the bachelor's dish.

Layered pie of shredded pigeon or chicken with almonds, eggs, and cinnamon, wrapped in warqa pastry and dusted with powdered sugar. Represents the convergence of Portuguese, Moroccan, and Jewish-Sephardic culinary traditions.

Whole lamb slow-roasted underground or in a clay oven for hours until the meat falls from the bone. Pulled apart by hand and served with cumin and salt.

Shredded msemen layered with lentils and chicken in a fenugreek-spiced broth. Traditional postpartum recovery food, believed to aid new mothers.

Literally 'head of the shop.' A master spice blend of 20–40 ingredients unique to each merchant, potentially including cumin, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, rosebuds, and lavender. No two blends are identical.

Herb and spice marinade essential to coastal Moroccan fish cookery: cilantro, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon juice, and olive oil. Also used for baked vegetables.

Aged, fermented butter with a strong, complex flavour. Salted and sometimes flavoured with oregano or thyme. Used in couscous, rfissa, and traditional tagines. Can be aged for years or even decades.

Thick paste of ground almonds, argan oil, and honey originating in the Souss Valley. Sometimes called 'Amazigh Nutella.' Eaten at breakfast spread on msemen or bread.

Moroccan mint tea: Chinese gunpowder green tea brewed with fresh spearmint and sugar. Poured from height to create foam. Not merely a beverage but a social ritual with specific etiquette.