A Glossary of Moroccan Ingredients

Preserves and fats

These pantry workhorses are what make Moroccan braises taste unmistakably Moroccan.

• Preserved lemon (l'hamd markad): lemons cured in salt and their own juice for weeks until soft and intensely aromatic. Only the rind is used, sliced into tagines for a salty-citrus tang. Full detail in our preserved lemons and smen guide.
• Smen: aged, salted, fermented butter with a pungent, cheese-like funk. A little melts into tagines, couscous broth and tanjia for savoury depth.
• Argan oil: a nutty, amber oil pressed from the argan tree, native to southwest Morocco. The culinary (roasted) version dresses bread, couscous and salads; see olive oil and argan.
• Olives: cured green, violet and black olives are eaten as a nibble and cooked into tagines; cracked green olives with preserved lemon is the classic pairing.
• Amlou: a spread of roasted almonds, argan oil and honey — Morocco's answer to nut butter, eaten at breakfast.

Spices and blends

Moroccan food is warmly spiced rather than fiery. Chilli heat is usually optional and served on the side as harissa.

• Ras el hanout: the flagship blend — 'head of the shop' — mixing a dozen or more spices. See our dedicated ras el hanout guide and the spice pillar.
• Cumin (kamoun): earthy and ubiquitous; sits on the table as a condiment for grilled meat and eggs.
• Sweet paprika (felfla hlouwa): colour and mild sweetness for tagines and chermoula.
• Ginger (skinjbir), turmeric (kharkoum): the golden base notes of many tagines and couscous broths.
• Saffron (zaafran): the prized red threads that colour and perfume festive dishes; often stretched with turmeric in everyday cooking.
• Cinnamon (qarfa): used in both savoury (pastilla, lamb-and-prune tagine) and sweet contexts.

Herbs, aromatics and flavourings

• Coriander and flat-leaf parsley: the fresh green backbone, usually tied in a bundle for braising or chopped into chermoula and salads.
• Fresh mint (nana): the soul of Moroccan tea; also in some salads.
• Garlic and onion: grated onion forms the melting base of most tagines.
• Orange-blossom water (ma zhar) and rose water (ma ward): floral distillates that scent pastries, milk drinks, salads and the hand-washing basin.
• Harissa: a fiery chilli-garlic paste (more Tunisian in origin but widely used) served on the side for those who want heat.
• Chermoula: not a single ingredient but the essential marinade — coriander, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon and oil — for fish and vegetables.

Grains, pulses and sweeteners

The carbohydrate base of the Moroccan table is broad: couscous (steamed semolina), khobz and the griddle breads, plus rice and pasta such as the tiny berkoukes. Chickpeas, brown and green lentils, and dried broad beans anchor soups like harira and hearty everyday stews.

For sweetness, Moroccans lean on honey, dried fruit — especially dates, figs, apricots and raisins — and sugar, which also sweetens tea heavily. Toasted sesame and blanched almonds finish countless pastries and tagines.

Where to buy them

Almost everything here is cheapest, freshest and most interesting bought loose from a spice merchant (attar) in the souk, where you can smell and compare before buying. Whole spices toasted and ground at home keep their punch far longer than pre-ground supermarket jars. Our spice-souk guide covers how to buy well and avoid the tourist markups, and the markets pillar maps where to go. To see these ingredients turned into finished dishes, browse the recipes, and to understand how they arrived in the Moroccan pantry, read a short history of Moroccan cuisine.