Ingredients through time
Sugar and the Moroccan Sweet Tooth
Morocco has a famously sweet tooth, from the heavily sugared mint tea poured all day to the honeyed pastries and sugar-dusted meat pies of the festive table. Behind this lies a long history of sugar in the region — including a period when Moroccan sugar was so valuable it was reportedly bartered for Italian marble.
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- 8 min
- Topic
- Ingredients through time
- Updated
- 19 July 2026
At a glance
- Sugar cane was cultivated and refined in Morocco in the medieval and early modern periods.
- Under the 16th-century Saadian dynasty, sugar became a major source of wealth.
- A taste for sweetness runs through tea, pastries and the sweet-savoury style of cooking.
Sugar comes to the Maghreb
Sugar cane and the craft of refining it spread westward across the Islamic world in the medieval period, reaching Morocco well before European colonisation of the tropics made sugar cheap. Cane was grown in warm, well-watered regions such as the Souss, and sugar refineries operated to turn it into the prized sweetener.
This early sugar was a luxury, and access to it shaped elite cooking. The refined, sweet-savoury dishes of the cities depended on sugar and honey, and the habit of sweetening became embedded in the culture long before industrial sugar arrived.
The Saadian sugar boom
In the 16th century, under the Saadian dynasty, sugar production became a pillar of Moroccan wealth and export power. The trade was lucrative enough to fund the dynasty's ambitions, and it is often recounted that Moroccan sugar was exchanged for luxury goods from Europe, including fine Italian marble used in Saadian building projects in Marrakech.
- A royal industry: sugar was a strategic export that enriched the Saadian state.
- Sugar for marble: Moroccan sugar was reportedly bartered for Carrara marble.
- El Badi palace: Saadian Marrakech built lavishly on trade wealth of this kind.
- Later decline: cheaper New World and colonial sugar eventually undercut local production.
Sweetness in the cup and on the plate
Whatever the fortunes of the sugar industry, the taste for sweetness endured and intensified, above all once sugared mint tea became the national drink. Today sugar defines the Moroccan day: in tea served constantly, in trays of honeyed pastries, and in the cinnamon-and-sugar finish of dishes like pastilla and the sweet-savoury tagines of fruit and meat.
To follow these threads, read the history of Moroccan mint tea and the history of Moroccan pastries.
Frequently asked questions
Did Morocco produce its own sugar historically?
Yes. Sugar cane was grown and refined in Morocco in the medieval and early modern periods, especially in warm regions like the Souss, well before cheap colonial sugar. It was a luxury that shaped elite and festive cooking.
Is it true Moroccan sugar was traded for marble?
It is often recounted that under the 16th-century Saadian dynasty, Morocco's valuable sugar was bartered for luxury European goods including Italian Carrara marble, some used in Marrakech building projects. It reflects how lucrative the sugar trade then was.
Why do Moroccans like such sweet tea?
Heavily sweetened mint tea became the national drink, and sugar was long associated with hospitality and generosity. Offering sweet tea and pastries is a gesture of welcome, and the taste for sweetness runs deep in the culture.
How does sugar feature in savoury Moroccan dishes?
Morocco's sweet-savoury tradition pairs sugar and honey with meat, as in sugar-dusted pastilla and tagines of lamb with prunes or caramelised onion. This taste for combining sweet and savoury is a hallmark of the refined cuisine.