Key Ingredients in Moroccan Cooking

Moroccan olives are a must ingredient in Moroccan cuisine. In fact, every Moroccan kitchen has jars and jars of these delicious Moroccan marinated olives. They can be black, green or red, and they come with different marinades, all delicious and full of flavors!

We can’t have a breakfast in Morocco without marinated olives. So, for your next brunch, get some black Moroccan olives. They are filling, healthy and they marry DIVINELY with goat cheese and fresh bread. YUM!

In every Moroccan kitchen pantry you will find gallons of Moroccan olive oil stocked. In fact, Moroccan olive oil is used on a daily basis and Moroccans often buy a large stock at a time to never run out.

Authentic Moroccan olive oil has a little sweetness and delicacy to it, which are very rare in other olive oils.

Olive oil is a key ingredient in Moroccan cooking, used to cook mostly everything, from traditional tagines to seasoning salads and toasts.

In Morocco, we also love to use it as a dip for crispy bread, mixed with a little of honey. Try it, your taste buds will be in heaven, we promise!

Well, Moroccan tea is already a Moroccan cuisine celebrity.

In Morocco, you get served Moroccan tea many times a day, at breakfast, in the afternoon and sometimes at night when you are invited at someone’s house.

The secret to make Moroccan mint tea is to use Moroccan tea leaves and PLENTY of mint. The result is a refreshing drink where every sip feels like being on vacation in Morocco.

Distilled orange blossom water is another essential Moroccan ingredient.

In Morocco, we use it to flavor most of our pastry dough, from cookies, to cakes to pancakes.

We also love to add a few drops to our tea, or spray it in the air as it has great relaxing properties. If you want to get ready for a good night sleep, a couple drops in your tea and a spray on your pillow will do wonders! Just make sure you choose organic distilled orange blossom water.

We can’t skip this one! In Moroccan kitchens, Moroccan preserved lemons are as important as fresh lemons. They are THE ingredient that gives Moroccan chicken tagines that extraordinary delicious flavor.

In fact, Moroccan preserved lemons marry beautifully with poultry, and you can basically add them to any chicken-based recipe.

So, the next time you cook a chicken-based dish, cut 1/2 preserved lemon in small cubes and add it to the marinade. You will be thrilled at the result!

If you love a little spice in your food, then please, get some authentic Moroccan Harissa! It’s one of the most delicious and wholesome spicy purees you can taste, especially if you get a 100% natural and traditional Harissa.

Moroccan Harissa is very versatile and can be added to any dish to get an interesting spicy flavor. Sometimes, we spread a light base on fresh bread, and top with some avocados or hummus, and it’s everything!

Another secret ingredient, yet an essential in Moroccan cooking! Moroccan saffron is one of the highest quality saffrons in the world and one of the most expensive.

We use it in Morocco as an aromatic ingredient in Moroccan tagines, Moroccan mint tea, but also as a herbal medicine to help with fatigue and to restore energy. It’s also believed that it has great aphrodisiac properties.

Every house in Morocco has a jar of Saffron, but it’s used very sporadically, at special occasions, and in very small quantities (a few threads at a time) as it can be very strong.