Food in Zagora

Zagora lies deep in the Draa Valley, the long ribbon of palm groves that snakes south from Ouarzazate toward the Sahara. It is a desert-edge town, famous for the old painted sign that reads Timbuktu, 52 days -- a reminder that this was a staging post on the camel-caravan routes that once carried gold, salt and dates across the great desert. Today Zagora is a gateway for travellers heading into the dunes and the palmeraies, and its food is oasis food: built around dates, the produce of irrigated gardens, and the slow tagines of a hot, dry land.

Dates are the heart of it. The Draa Valley is one of Morocco's great date-growing regions, and Zagora's palm groves yield many varieties, from soft and syrupy to firm and dry, sold in the souk in glossy pyramids and eaten daily -- with tea, with bread and oil, or cooked into tagines and sweets. Around the dates, the oasis gardens grow vegetables, herbs, pomegranates and almonds under the shade of the palms, and these fill the everyday table. Meat means goat, lamb and dromedary, cooked long and slow in tagines seasoned with cumin, ginger and dried spices to suit the heat.

Nearby, the village of Amazrou preserves an old Jewish kasbah amid the palms, a reminder of the trans-Saharan trade that once made this valley prosperous, and the pottery town of Tamegroute lies within reach. For the traveller, Zagora is the last real town before the sand, a place to drink mint tea in the shade, eat a slow tagine, and load up on the finest dates in Morocco before heading into the desert.

Signature dishes of Zagora

These are the dishes that define Zagora's food identity -- the plates that locals are proud of and visitors should seek out.

Where to eat in Zagora

Every city has its food neighbourhoods -- the streets, quarters and markets where locals eat and where you should too.

The cooking identity of Zagora

Zagora cooks oasis and desert food, shaped by heat, scarcity of water and an abundance of dates. Tagines are the workhorse, cooked long and slow over low fires to tenderise goat, lamb or camel and to draw sweetness from onions and the local dates, seasoned with cumin, ginger, turmeric and dried spices rather than fresh abundance. Oasis gardens under the palms provide the vegetables, herbs, pomegranates and almonds that round out the table. Bread is central, sometimes baked in the sand or ashes in the desert tradition, and dates are eaten at every turn -- with tea, at breakfast, and cooked into savoury and sweet dishes. It is resourceful, warming cooking built on what the palmeraie provides.

Market guide

Dates are the reason to shop in Zagora. The souk sells the Draa Valley's many varieties in glossy pyramids, and the autumn harvest is the best time to buy them at their freshest and cheapest. Around the dates, stalls carry almonds, pomegranates, oasis vegetables, dried herbs, cumin and the spice blends of the south, along with henna and local crafts. The big weekly market days pull in oasis farmers and desert families trading produce and livestock. Look out for local honey and, in the palmeraie villages, home-pressed olive oil. As a desert town far from the cities, Zagora runs almost entirely on cash in small notes.

Best time to visit for food

October to April for bearable temperatures and the date harvest in autumn; summers are extremely hot in the Draa Valley.

Food tips for Zagora

• Buy dates in autumn straight from the souk -- the Draa Valley grows some of the best in Morocco, in many varieties.
• Try a tagine sweetened with local dates for a genuine oasis specialty.
• Visit Amazrou across the river to see the old Jewish kasbah among the palm groves.
• Drink mint tea in the shade during the heat of the day, as locals do, before eating later.
• Carry plenty of cash; this is a remote desert town with little card acceptance.
• If heading into the dunes, arrange a desert camp meal -- tagine and bread cooked in the sand is part of the experience.