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Grand Imperial Cuisine

The art and splendor of Moroccan cooking is found in the fabled cities of Rabat, Fes, Meknes and Marrakech.

Since the seventeenth century, no fewer than four imperial cities have laid claim to being the capital of the sherifan empire of Morocco. Rabat, Fes, Meknes, and Marrakech are all names that ring out as splendors of the past. Each was the capital in its time and they have never ceased being rivals. All have laid claim to their own styles of architecture, music and, of course, cooking.

Marrakech was founded in the eleventh century by Berber horsemen from southern Morocco, under the leadership of Youssef Ibn Tachfine who established the Almoravid dynasty, before being conquered by the Almohad sultan Abd al-Mumin in AD 1147. The city first owed its fame to the fact that it was on the trade route from Timbuktu to the north, used by caravans laden with spices and gold coins. Today, the cuisine of Marrakech is notably rich and is a reminder of those luxurious times of old. It is a somewhat ostentatious fare that is presented to foreigners who flow through the gates of city.

Tanjia marrakshia is a dish made by men for men. This meat dish takes the name of the tanjia, or earthenware amphora, in which it is cooked. Sealed with paper and string, the amphora is baked for as long as four hours.

The souks (markets) are unforgettable. They are bursting with spices and you can still purchase real ras el hanout, the fabulous alchemy of twenty-seven spices that is almost impossible to find today. It is also the city of tanjia marrakshia, a dish initially served only to unmarried men, which has gradually become the symbol of the local cuisine. There is also chicken with nigella seeds, couscous with sumach, and mezgueldi, a tagine of lamb with caramelized onions. Add to the delights of the palate vestiges from the past. Visit the Koutoubia mosque, the beacon of Almohad art, the famed square Jemaà el Fna, the koranic school Medersa Ben Youssef, the gardens of Menara, and the old medina.

Fes, founded by Moulay Idriss, was the refuge for Muslims and Jews who were forced out of Andalousia beginning in the ninth century. The last refugees arrived in the labyrinthine city in AD 1492, as the final tears fell on the cheeks of the last sultan of Grenada, Boabdil, who was defeated by the Catholic kings.

Fes el Jedid, a living mélange of cultures, was declared capital of the empire in AD 1250. In the dazzling homes that conceal their beauty behind the high walls of the old city of Fes, refined dishes are presented with style and grace. The cuisine of Fes resembles that of Tlemcen, a shared heritage from Andalousia of which both cities are proud. Fes has its lamb and squash tagine with honey; its vermicelli couscous with pigeons; its various recipes for carrots, savory, sweet or with cumin; its pigeon pastilla; and its partridge couscous. A must-see is the Karaouiyine mosque, the most prestigious Arab Muslim university of the medieval world, built to the glory of Allah in the ninth century, where precious manuscripts from the libraries of Grenada, Seville, and Cordoba found refuge after Spain fell to the Reconquista. Don’t miss the Danan synagogue, built in the seventeenth century in the mellah, the Jewish quarter, or the marvelous souk (market).

Meknes, the former capital of Moulay Ismaël, the Alawite sovereign, is the least well-known of the four imperial cities as a tourist destination. Modest in size, Meknes has retained the languor that is customary in provincial cities. In a city with a large Jewish population, tolerance reigns. And the cuisine is a conscious reflection of this openness. If it is true that the Jewish community has its own recipes, like chicken pâté, potato pastilla or stuffed mutton intestine, Muslims were also proud of their own cuisine that was similar to that of nearby Fes. But inhabitants of Meknes are supposedly stingy with their wealth and it is no accident that one of their specialties is called “the hen has flown.” Guests are promised a dish of chicken and garbanzo beans but what a surprise to see plates served only with beans! When the host is asked where the meat is, he invariably replies that the hen has flown off.

Rabat, the modern capital, has attracted many guests to its table. If the bazaars are not as showy as those of Fes or Marrakech, it is because the city prefers calm and modernity. Here reigns the cuisine of the makhzen, the official cuisine that has ties to every region of Morocco and the neighboring countries. Home cooking, rich and varied, is in every way astonishing. Some recipes are carefully guarded secrets like the famous bal farkh couscous made with sea bass.

A coastal city, Rabat shares the secrets of the sea with the other coastal towns of Assafi and Essaouira, but Rabat has no equal when it comes to cooking shad, a fish similar to the sardine. Assafi and Essaouira are famous for serving baddaz, couscous made from sweet corn, garnished with conger eel heads, and fried moray eel with honey.

In Rabat, you will also find kaak, a delicious cake, or zemata, a dish made with seeds (in Oujda, the town on the Algerian border, it is made with young wheat and covered with figs.)

Although the city of Tetouan is not strictly speaking an imperial city, its history renders it indispensable. In its vast memory reside the splendors of Muslim Andalousia, its riches, and its subtle perfumes. A direct heir to the culinary traditions of Grenada, Tetouan is also one of the only Moroccan cities to have been subjected to the influence of the Ottomans as the presence of bakhlava and ktaifs (a pastry made with shredded filo) attests, giving a special accent to border and coastal towns. Pastilla of chicken with preserved lemons also hails from this area.

A fountain in an old residence in Fes.

Riads are elegant homes discreetly nestled in the heart of medinas, which house a central patio decorated with a fountain.