Moroccan

What it is

Moroccan cuisine bridges the Berber kitchens of the Atlas mountains, the Andalusian refugee cooks who arrived after 1492, and the camel-caravan trade routes that pulled in saffron, ginger, and cumin from across the Sahara. The Friday couscous tradition still gathers extended families around shared platters.

How it tastes

Sweet meets savory more boldly here than in any other Arab cuisine. Prunes, apricots, dates, and honey are stewed into lamb tagines; cinnamon is dusted on chicken pastilla. Ras el hanout, a spice blend that can run to thirty ingredients, perfumes everything.

Signature dishes & techniques

The tagine — both the conical clay pot and the slow-stew it produces — is the country’s culinary symbol. Couscous, steamed three times over an aromatic stew, is the Friday family ritual. Pastilla wraps spiced pigeon (or chicken) and almond in flaky warqa dough, then dusts the whole thing with sugar and cinnamon.