The History of Mint in Morocco

An old herb with a newer starring role

Mint has been grown and used around the Mediterranean since antiquity, valued as a flavouring, a digestive and a medicine. In the Arab and Andalusi culinary traditions that shaped Moroccan cooking, mint and other fresh herbs featured in dishes, drinks and infusions long before it became tied to tea. Its cooling fragrance and reputed digestive properties made it a natural addition to the herbal repertoire.

Mint's defining Moroccan role, however, is more recent. It became inseparable from the national identity only when it was paired with imported green tea — a combination that took hold in the 19th century and rapidly became the country's signature drink. The herb that had long grown in Moroccan gardens found its great purpose in the teapot.

Mint and the tea ritual

Moroccan mint tea combines Chinese gunpowder green tea, generous sugar, and a large bunch of fresh spearmint, brewed and poured from a height into small glasses. The mint is essential — its fresh, sweet aroma defines the drink — and the quality of the leaves matters greatly to those who make and serve it. Tea is offered to guests as the first act of hospitality, prepared throughout the day, and woven into every social occasion, from a business negotiation to a family gathering.

This ritual made mint one of the most in-demand herbs in the country. In markets across Morocco, fresh mint is sold in great fragrant bundles, and a household will get through it steadily. The specific spearmint variety used for tea, nana, is prized above others for its clean, sweet flavour.

• Nana spearmint: the variety prized for tea, valued for its clean, sweet aroma.
• Hospitality: mint tea is the first offering to any guest and a fixture of social life.
• Market herb: sold fresh in large bundles, a steady staple of the household.

Cultivation, medicine and the kitchen

Mint is grown widely across Morocco, but the fertile plains around Meknes are especially associated with high-quality tea mint, and the herb is an important commercial crop. Beyond tea, mint retains its older uses: it is brewed as a simple infusion to settle the stomach, used medicinally in folk remedies, and appears occasionally in cooking — in some salads, with certain vegetables, and in a handful of dishes — though its culinary role is far smaller than its role in the glass.

For the drink that made mint a national symbol, see the history of Moroccan mint tea, and for the trade that brought its partner, green tea, to Morocco, see tea trade and Morocco.