Ramadan Foods in Morocco

The shape of a Ramadan day

For the lunar month of Ramadan, observant Muslims fast from dawn to sunset — no food, drink, or smoking during daylight. The day's eating therefore folds into two meals: ftour (the sunset breaking of the fast, known regionally as iftar) and suhoor (a lighter meal before dawn). Cities grow quiet and shuttered by day, then come alive after sunset with markets, sweets and late-night sociability.

The ftour table is the heart of it. Families gather as the maghrib call to prayer sounds, and the first thing to touch the lips is usually a date and a sip of water or milk, following prophetic tradition, before the soup arrives.

Harira — the soup that breaks the fast

Harira is the definitive Ramadan dish: a fragrant, slightly thick soup of tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas, enriched with a herb-and-flour or egg tie, and perfumed with ginger, pepper, coriander and celery. Sometimes it carries a little lamb. Restorative, warming and gently filling, it is exactly what a fasting body wants at sunset. It is eaten with dates, chebakia and lemon wedges, and though it peaks in Ramadan, Moroccans enjoy harira year-round.

The sweets and companions of ftour

Ramadan is when Morocco's honeyed sweets shine, because the fasting body craves quick, sustaining sugar at sundown.

• Chebakia: sesame-coated, flower-shaped dough fried and soaked in honey and orange-blossom syrup. The essential Ramadan sweet, made in huge batches at the start of the month.
• Sellou (sfouf): a dense, unbaked mixture of toasted flour, ground almonds, sesame, honey and spices — energy-rich and made to keep.
• Dates (tmar): traditionally the very first food eaten, for quick natural sugar; see our dates buyer's guide.
• Msemen, harcha and baghrir: the folded and griddle breads reappear at ftour with honey and cheese.
• Boiled eggs, dried fruit and nuts, and milky drinks round out the spread, along with juices and, of course, mint tea.

Suhoor, the pre-dawn meal

Before the fast resumes at dawn, families eat suhoor — a lighter, sustaining meal designed to carry them through the day. It leans on slow-release foods: more harira, breads, eggs, dairy, and sometimes a bowl of the wheat-berry porridge or the semolina soup. Hydration matters, so drinks feature heavily. In many neighbourhoods a nfar (a horn or drum player) or the pre-dawn call still helps wake people in time.

After the fast: the late table and Eid

For many families, ftour is the first of two evening meals. After breaking the fast with harira, dates and sweets, people pray, rest and socialise, then eat a second, more substantial dinner later in the night — sometimes a tagine or a lighter main — before the pre-dawn suhoor. The result is a nocturnal rhythm in which markets, cafés and streets buzz late into the night, and the whole social life of the month shifts after sunset.

The month builds to Eid al-Fitr, the festival that ends Ramadan. Fasting gives way to feasting: families gather for celebratory meals, sweet breads and cookies are baked in quantity, and trays of pastries and dates are shared among relatives and neighbours. It is one of the great food celebrations of the Moroccan year, the joyful counterpart to a month of discipline.

Visiting Morocco during Ramadan

Ramadan is a beautiful, atmospheric time to visit, but it changes the food landscape. Many local restaurants close during the day and reopen for ftour; tourist-facing restaurants, hotels and riads generally serve as normal. Out of respect, avoid eating, drinking or smoking conspicuously in public during daylight, even though as a non-Muslim visitor you are not expected to fast.

The reward is the electric energy after sunset: markets thronged, sweets piled high, and an openness to sharing the ftour that is hospitality at its warmest. For the etiquette that still applies, see food customs, and for the soup itself, the harira tradition connects to the wider world of Moroccan soups.