Salads & cooked mezze
Hamd Markad (Preserved Lemons)
الحامض المرقد · l-ḥamd l-marqad
Hamd markad — 'laid-down' or preserved lemons — are whole lemons packed in salt and their own juice and left to cure for weeks until the peel turns soft, translucent and deeply fragrant while the sharpness mellows into a rounded, savoury citrus. It is one of Morocco's essential preserved ingredients, indispensable to chicken tagines, cooked salads and fish.
- Origin
- Across Morocco and North Africa
- Type
- Preserved condiment / flavouring
- Eaten at
- In tagines, salads and fish — year-round
- Key flavour
- Salty, fragrant, mellow citrus
What Hamd Markad is
Lemons — often small, thin-skinned varieties — are quartered nearly through, packed hard with salt, pressed into a jar and covered with lemon juice, then left to cure for several weeks as the salt draws out water and softens the peel.
Curing transforms them: the bitterness and raw acidity fade, leaving a soft, silky rind with a deep, almost floral, savoury-sour aroma. It is mainly the peel that is used, rinsed and chopped or sliced.
Origin & story
Salt-preserving citrus is an ancient North African and Middle Eastern technique for keeping lemons long past their season, and preserved lemon became one of the defining flavours of Moroccan cooking.
Its most famous role is in the chicken-and-olive tagine djaja mqalli, but it threads through fish dishes, cooked salads and countless tagines, adding a savoury citrus depth fresh lemon cannot.
Key ingredients at a glance
- Lemons (thin-skinned varieties preferred)
- Coarse salt (a generous amount)
- Extra lemon juice to cover
- Optional spices (peppercorns, bay, cinnamon stick)
- A clean, sealable jar
- Time (several weeks to cure)
This is a flavour snapshot, not a recipe.
When & how it's eaten
The rinsed peel is chopped or sliced into tagines, cooked salads, fish dishes and dressings; a little of the salty, fragrant flesh and brine can also season a dish.
It is a flavouring, not eaten in quantity on its own — a small amount lifts a whole tagine.
Regional variations
Some jars are plain salt-and-lemon, others spiced with peppercorns, bay or cinnamon; whole small lemons or larger quartered ones are both common. The cure deepens with age.
It is inseparable from djaja mqalli and turns up in chermoula, cooked salads and fish tagines across the Moroccan table.
Where to try it in Marrakech
Sold from big jars in every Moroccan souk and used in countless dishes; a souk-to-table food tour shows how central it is. Read more in the guides.
Learn to cure and cook with preserved lemon in a tagine cooking class.
Frequently asked questions
What are preserved lemons?
Whole lemons cured in salt and their own juice for weeks until the peel turns soft and intensely fragrant and the sharpness mellows — a staple Moroccan flavouring.
Which part do you eat?
Mainly the rind, rinsed of excess salt and chopped or sliced into dishes; the soft flesh and brine can also be used to season.
What dishes use preserved lemon?
Most famously chicken tagine with olives (djaja mqalli), plus fish dishes, chermoula, cooked salads and many other tagines.