Cuisines of Morocco

Produce

Where the food comes from

Lamb from the Middle Atlas, sardines from Safi, oranges from Berkane, argan from the Souss, saffron from Taliouine, dates from the Tafilalet. The map below pins each origin region; hover an item to focus its sources.

Map requires NEXT_PUBLIC_MAPBOX_TOKEN. Origins are listed below.

Meat

  • Lamb

    Mutton and lamb come overwhelmingly from the Middle Atlas pastoral belt — the Timahdite and Sardi breeds — and from the steppes of the eastern plateau.

    • Middle Atlas (Timahdite) — Timahdite breed; mountain pasture.
    • Boulemane plateau — Sardi breed; transhumance.
    • Eastern High Plateau (Oriental) — Beni-Guil breed; PGI status.
    • High Atlas (Imilchil) — Summer high pasture; the Aït Atta migration.

  • Beef

    Beef cattle concentrate in the irrigated plains around Fez–Meknès and the Gharb, and again in the Doukkala. The Atlas mountains provide draught and dual-purpose stock that ends up in khlii.

    • Fez–Meknès plain (Saïs) — Dairy and beef cattle; alfalfa.
    • Gharb plain — Irrigated lowland herds.
    • Doukkala (El Jadida) — Coastal grazing.
    • Middle Atlas slopes — Stock that becomes khlii.

  • Chicken

    Beldi (free-range, slower-growing) chickens from rural smallholdings; industrial broilers from the Casablanca–Settat–Berrechid corridor.

    • Berrechid–Settat corridor — Industrial broiler hub.
    • Souss villages — Beldi chicken; rural backyards.
    • Rif foothills — Beldi chicken from northern smallholdings.

Seafood

  • Seafood

    Morocco lands more sardines than any country on earth — a 3,500 km Atlantic-and-Mediterranean coastline running from Saïdia to Lagouira. Each port has its own catch.

    • Tangier (Strait) — Mixed Atlantic-Mediterranean catch; tuna.
    • Al Hoceima — Mediterranean grouper, sea bream, octopus.
    • Saïdia (eastern Med) — Sardine, anchovy, sea bass.
    • Larache — Atlantic sardine; oyster beds.
    • Casablanca — Largest landings — sardine, hake.
    • Safi — Historic sardine capital.
    • Essaouira — Atlantic sardine, sea bream, conger; the harbour grills.
    • Agadir — Largest fishing fleet by tonnage.
    • Tan-Tan / Laâyoune — Octopus, cephalopods, southern sardine.
    • Dakhla — Oyster farms; cuttlefish; high-value catch.

Fruit

  • Oranges

    Citrus thrives on the irrigated coastal plains. Berkane in the east is famous for clementine; the Souss ships navels by the boatload; the Gharb grows the bulk of bitter and Maroc-Late.

    • Berkane (Triffa plain) — Berkane clementine; PGI.
    • Souss-Massa — Navel and Maroc-Late; export hub.
    • Gharb plain (Kénitra) — Bitter and sweet orange.
    • Tadla (Beni Mellal) — Mid-country citrus belt.

  • Dates

    The date palm threads through the Drâa, the Tafilalet, and the southern oases. Mejhoul from Erfoud is the export-grade fruit; bouffegous and jihel are the everyday eating dates.

    • Tafilalet (Erfoud / Rissani) — Mejhoul date capital.
    • Drâa Valley (Zagora) — Bouffegous, jihel; long oasis line.
    • Tata-Akka oases
    • Figuig — Eastern oases; aziza date.

Tree fruit

  • Argan

    The argan tree (Argania spinosa) grows nowhere else on earth. Its endemic range is a triangle between Essaouira, Agadir, and Taroudant — a UNESCO biosphere.

    • Essaouira hinterland — Northern edge of the argan range.
    • Souss plain (Agadir/Taroudant) — The heart of the argan biosphere.
    • Anti-Atlas (Tafraout) — Highland argan; women's cooperatives.

  • Almonds

    Almonds grow across the Rif and in the foothills of the Anti-Atlas. Tafraout is the sentimental capital — pink granite hills, blossom in February.

    • Tafraout (Anti-Atlas) — Beldi almond; pink-rock orchards.
    • Rif (Chefchaouen) — Northern almond groves.
    • Tata oases — Pre-Saharan almond.

Grain

  • Wheat & semolina

    Hard durum and soft bread wheat cover the rain-fed plains. The Saïs (Meknès) and the Chaouia are the breadbaskets; the Gharb adds irrigated yield.

    • Saïs plain (Meknès–Fez)
    • Chaouia (Settat)
    • Gharb plain
    • Tadla

Vegetable

  • Mint

    Spearmint (na'na') is a staple irrigated crop. Mequinez is famous; the Haouz around Marrakech grows year-round bunches for the tea-glasses of the country.

    • Meknès — Mequinez mint; the most prized.
    • Marrakech-Haouz
    • Souss

Spice

  • Saffron

    Moroccan saffron is grown almost entirely on the high plateaux of the Anti-Atlas around Taliouine. Harvest is two weeks in late October, by hand, before sunrise.

    • Taliouine — Crocus sativus; PGI; the heart of saffron country.
    • Taznakht — Eastern edge of the saffron belt.

  • Cumin

    Domestic cumin from the eastern hills and the Rif; supplemented by Indian and Syrian imports. The everyday spice — alongside salt, the side-table seasoning for mechoui.

    • Taza
    • Rif foothills
    • Eastern plateau

Fat / oil

  • Olives & olive oil

    The Picholine Marocaine grows almost everywhere there is hill country. Meknès is the formal capital of olive oil; Fez and the eastern hills follow close behind.

    • Meknès (Saïs) — Picholine Marocaine; the country's olive-oil capital.
    • Fez region
    • Beni Mellal foothills
    • Taza–Taounate — Eastern hills; small estates.
    • Marrakech-Haouz

Dairy

  • Smen

    Aged, salted butter — produced household-by-household across the country, but most often associated with the Middle Atlas pastoral belt and the great kitchens of Fez.

    • Middle Atlas pastures
    • Fez (kitchen tradition)
    • High Atlas (Aït Bouguemez)

Preserve

  • Preserved lemon

    The doqq lemon — small, thin-skinned, almost-sweet — is the variety preserved in salt. It grows in the eastern Souss and in pockets of the Haouz.

    • Souss (Taroudant) — Doqq lemon orchards.
    • Marrakech-Haouz

  • Honey

    Mountain and desert honeys — euphorbia from the Souss, thyme from the Atlas, jujube and carob from the Rif. The pre-Saharan euphorbia (daghmous) is the most prized.

    • Souss (euphorbia) — Daghmous honey; bitter, intense.
    • Middle Atlas (thyme)
    • Rif (carob, jujube)
    • Anti-Atlas (sidr)