Cuisine of Morocco

Moroccan cuisine shares many similaries with Middle Eastern cuisines. The one Moroccan dish most people are familiar with is couscous. Usually, belly dancers entertain the diners while they eat.

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 pungeant, reasty flavor that Western lamb and mutton can have.

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.