Moroccan Breakfast, Decoded
You're sitting at a riad table staring at 12 things you don't recognise. This is all of them.
A Moroccan breakfast arrives all at once. No courses, no order. Everything lands on the table in small dishes and you're expected to know what to do with it.
Here's what you're looking at.
The breads
There will be at least two, probably three.
Khobz — the round, golden, slightly dense bread you'll eat at every meal. Tear it, don't cut it. This is your spoon, your fork, and your plate.
Msemen — square, flaky, layered flatbread. Think of it as a Moroccan croissant, except it's cooked on a griddle and served with honey or soft cheese. The best msemen are crispy outside and almost translucent inside.
Baghrir — the thousand-hole pancakes. Spongy, cratered on one side, smooth on the other. They're made from semolina batter and the holes form naturally as the batter cooks. You pour honey or melted butter into the holes.
Some riads will also serve harcha — a dense, crumbly semolina bread that tastes like a savoury scone.
The spreads
Amlou — this is the one you've never heard of. Ground almonds, argan oil, and honey blended into a thick paste. It's sometimes called "Amazigh Nutella" and it's better than anything in a jar. Spread it on msemen.
Olive oil — usually a small dish of local olive oil for dipping bread.
Honey — often orange blossom or thyme. Drizzle it on everything.
Soft cheese (jben) — fresh, white, mild. Similar to ricotta. Sometimes mixed with herbs.
Butter — often smen (aged, fermented butter) at traditional places, or plain butter at riads that cater to international guests.
The extras
Olives — green and black, always present, sometimes marinated.
Eggs — usually hardboiled or scrambled with tomatoes and spices (a variation of shakshuka).
Bissara — in Fez, breakfast might include this dried fava bean soup drizzled with olive oil and cumin. It costs 5 dirhams at street stalls.
Fruit — orange juice (freshly squeezed, always), sometimes seasonal fruit.
The tea
Mint tea arrives at the end or throughout. It's green tea (Chinese gunpowder) with fresh mint and sugar. A lot of sugar. Refusing the sugar is fine but unusual. The tea is part of the meal — not a beverage, a ritual.
What to do
Take a bit of everything. Alternate sweet and savoury. Dip the msemen in amlou. Pour honey into the baghrir holes. Eat the olives between bites of bread and cheese. There's no wrong order.
The meal is meant to last. Nobody is rushing you.