Moroccan cuisine and unfussy. Dishes have envolved from Persia via the Arabs . From Andalucia with the returning Moors and from the colonial French but the overrriding principle is to throw all the ingredients into a dish and then leave it to cook slowly . Prime exhibit is the national dish of tajine. it's essentially a slow-coooked stew of meat (usually lamb or chicken ) and vegetables ,with olives tangy preserved lemon, almonds or prunesprunes employed for flavouring .The name describes both the food and pot it's cooked in-a shallow earthen ware dish with conical lid that traps the rising steam and stops the stew from drying out .The other defining local staple is couscous ,which is again the name of the basic ingredient (coarse-ground semolina flour ) and of the diush ; the slow-cooked grains are topped witha rich meat or vegetables stew ,not unlike that of a tajine , it's full meal ,not a side dish . Don't expect a menu in most traditional Moroccan restaurants, including many places ,once customers are seated the food simply arrives .First thing will be a selection of small hot and cold dishes,called salad moroccaine , actually carrots ,peppers, aubergine, tomatoes and the like ,each prepared differently s well as diced sheep brains and chopped liver , next briouettes -little envolopes of paper-thin ouarka (filo) pastry wrapped around ground meat, rice or cheese and deep friend, next pastilla (or b'stilla )which is ouarka pastry filled with shredded pigeon or chicken , almonds ,boiled egg and spices.
