Breakfast

Moroccan breakfast is simple by nature.  Pancakes, fatty sausages, and loads of potatoes are not normal fare.  Instead you'll find something lighter though usually carbohydrate-laden.  

Typical Moroccan Breakfast Options

If you're visiting Morocco and staying either at someone's home or in a riad or hotel you'll be presented with a variety of different foods. However most people eat a simple breakfast of bread with olive oil and tea. Some things you might find are;

• baguettes or khobz – Moroccan bread (always)
• croissants or other types of pastries
• olive oil to be eaten with the bread, slathered on as we might do with butter
• butter
• some type of jam
• Moroccan mortadella – it's meat and it comes in a package like this.  It's a processed turkey bologna.
• La Vache Qui Rit cheese triangles – known in the US as Laughing Cow cheese
• m'semmen (special occasion)
• beghrir (special occasion)
• you might also find some fruit or yogurt such as traditional Moroccan Raib
• eggs/omelette in some cases
• eggs with khlii (a type of salted lamb or beef)
• mint tea
• coffee
• orange juice

I find Moroccan breakfast to be a contrast tom other meals.  It surprises me how vast the styles, flavors and complexities of lunch and dinner meals can be, while breakfasts and even sweets to some degree are pretty basic.

Where to Eat Breakfast in Morocco

A third type of breakfast; not the one at a hotel or in a home is out on the streets.

No guided tour is going to take you to breakfast here, and they're probably not going to tell you about it either.  Chances are you won't see too many women eating here. At first glance you won't sit down, you'll keep walking by.

Set up inside street-side shops are you'll see scenes similar to this; large pots or tajines dotting gas burners. Bread and tea pots with glasses. For breakfast there are a variety of different options that will vary based on the stall you visit.  

My favorite is white beans in a tomato sauce.  MarocBaba chooses b'ssara and a stew of lamb stomach.  The interior eating area is very simple, maybe rustic is a good word for it.

The plates are cleared and washed immediately.  You can have as much bread as  you want (the huge baskets under the cooking area let you know there's plenty to go around).  A pot of hot mint tea is standard.  

As you eat you'll see many men and boys passing in and out to eat something quickly on their way to work or school.  The best part is – the price is a steal.  You'll have a great, filling breakfast for under $3.

Moroccan Breakfast Recipes

Want some specific ideas of where to eat breakfast in Marrakech or brunch in Marrakech? Pick up my guide to dining in Marrakech! It's full of ideas for all times of day.

Six years ago, I boarded a plane and set off to spend my last spring break in Morocco.  A few months earlier I had met MarocBaba and decided that I needed to go back even if it was only for six days.  It wasn't my first international trip but it was a little different.  We had only known each other three days and I was going to be staying with his family.  I was so excited to see him but very nervous about staying with his family.  What was appropriate?  How should I act?  What should I wear? Add on about 100 more questions to that list – if it weren't for all the adrenaline of actually making the trip I'm sure I would have had a panic attack.

I remember vividly the first morning.  Flying low over Marrakech, waiting in an EXTREMELY long line for passport control and even more time waiting for my suitcase – all while my heart was pounding more than a million beats a minute.  The experience of entering the visitor's hall to find MarocBaba standing there beaming is a once in the lifetime memory.    We rolled away in a taxi and pulled up to his house, where my heart started beating more – this time it was the panic attack starting up.  All went well, I settled in a bedroom and changed my clothes and then I was served this;

It's the same soup from the top, and it was my first taste of “real” Moroccan food.  Not the tourist versions of famous Moroccan dishes we had been fed while on our tour.  MarocBaba simply calls it white harira, though I'm sure there's another name for it.  I've got to be honest – I don't like this.  I didn't like it from the beginning and dumped a lot of sugar in hoping it might taste like Cream of Wheat (it didn't).  BUT MarocBaba and our kids love it, so you should give it a chance.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fine semolina
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp good quality olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 – 1 cup of milk

Directions

In a medium saucepan begin to heat water on medium-high heat.  Pour in the oil and slowly add the semolina and mix in using a whisk.  They key to this is a smooth texture so whisking while cooking is necessary.  Add the cumin, salt and pepper and continue to whisk.  Once the mixture starts to slowly bubble add half of the milk, turn down the heat to low and continue mixing.  The consistency of this is slightly thicker than a soup but should still be a liquid.  If it gets too tight, add more milk.  Cook on low for 1-2 minutes to blend flavors.

Serve in a bowl, sprinkled with cumin on top.  Dates are traditionally served on the side with a hot cup of mint tea.