Eating Out & Shopping In Morocco

Eating Out In Morocco

There are loads of booths, cafés and roadside stalls selling brochettes (grilled, skewered lamb or chicken), pizzas, lamb koftas and tajines (a traditional stew, slow cooked in a conical terracotta pot on charcoal). Meals from these Moroccan fast food outlets are incredibly cheap. French rule has left one sweet legacy, as fancy pastries are available in every big town.

Every dining experience is available in big towns: From street food and Pizza to restaurants serving traditional Moroccan food and others specialising in French or Italian, there are trendy bars and high-class restaurants. If you want to eat out in style and pay much less than you would in the UK visit www.bestrestaurantsmaroc.com Restaurant set meals can be a good cheap option and often comprise of a starter of Moroccan Salad, a choice of couscous or tajine followed by a fruit salad. In Essaouira at the restaurant on the corner of the square that separates the town from the fishing port it was possible to have the above three-course set-menu for 50Dh, the food was tasty and extremely good value for money.

Food worth trying: Pastilla ­- a pigeon pie (beware the tiny bones) from Marrakech, Mchoui - oven roasted whole lamb from Merzouga, Kefta Mkaouara - meatballs in a spicy tomato and onion sauce, sometimes including aubergines, with poached eggs floated on the top, and Salade Paysanne - a fresh salad dressed with Argan oil is sublime, and is available in the north of the country.

If you don't want to cook and you can't be bothered to go out, don't worry as many campsites have their own restaurants, not only can you eat there often they will deliver hot food to your pitch. On small family run campsites home cooked food is often available on request even if there is no restaurant.

Moroccan Tea - Tea will be offered if you visit a Moroccan me, and often in shops. Served in small glasses, usually the brew is flavoured with fresh mint and is very sweet. Drinking tea is as much about ritual as refreshment. The tea making ceremony involves pouring the tea back and forth between pot and glass before the final pour from a height into the glass.

Shopping In Morocco

Don't Dabble, Haggle!

Trying to buy non-essential items can be intimidating and frustrating as there are no set prices. Haggling is the accepted way of life when buying non-essential goods and any purchase can involve a long-drawn-out negotiation. Never haggle over food prices, if you feel the price for food items is too much just walk away.

Before trying to buy things in the souks you should visit a government shop where everything is sold at a fixed but slightly inflated price. Write down the prices of items you are interested in, you can use this as a guide in the souks assuming goods are the same quality.

Buying Souvenirs In Morocco

Carpets, rugs and blankets - These are the clichéd goods to buy. There probably are bargains to be had but carpets and rugs are not low cost items. The towns of Midelt, Azrou, Asni, Chichaoua and Tinerhir have good shops. Blankets and throws will be on sale throughout Morocco with some beautiful articles displayed.

Basketwork - Some interesting and mundane items are for sale: waste bins, plant pots, mats etc. Tazarine produces some good stuff but you can see wickerwork at many roadside stalls.

Woollen goods and fabrics - There are stunning knitted items for sale in the Essaouira area of the coast. Especially cheap are the beanie hats and there are also knitted and woven jackets for sale. Keep your eyes open and you will see kids knitting in the town and surrounding villages. Berber men often wear long lengths of fine material wound around their heads; women wear similar material as scarves and shawls. There are many different colours and types of fabrics available, especially in the south. The black material embroidered with glowing coloured patterns is particularly striking. Moroccan silk is made from cactus fibres.

Upholstery and curtains - Morocco is ideal for motor-caravanners who wish to re-cover their motorhome upholstery. With such wonderful fabrics and cheap skilled labour available this makes perfect sense. Some campsites can organise thisor search out sofa and mattress makers on the main streets. Other campers had taken measurements at home and brought curtain header tape and lining material with them so that they could get curtains made. Meknes and Marrakech have fabric souks, but so will most large towns.

Henna - Henna is widely available and of course you can be decorated at almost any tourist resort.

Wood Products - There are beautifully carved bowls and inlaid boxes, tables and stools for sale. Unfortunately some are made from local but unsustainable timber. We particularly liked the kebab sticks made with decorated cedar wood handles sold in Marrakech.

Leather - This is another opportunity to buy very good value goods, especially bags, briefcases, sandals and babouches (slippers). Pouffes and leather coats are also widely sold and souks in larger towns will have several sellers.

Pottery - Everyone says Safi is the best place to buy pottery but Chefchaouen has some lovely stuff in blue and Tamegroute has green glazed wares. Sale's pottery is often decorated with Islamic designs. Beware when buying tajine pots, as some are purely decorative and do not survive cooking temperatures. Moroccan cooking tajines are designed for slow/low cooking on charcoal, not high heat gas stoves.

Minerals and Fossils ­- These are available all over Morocco but especially in the High Atlas and down through Erfoud. There are some beautiful things for sale, beware of fakes, particularly the brightly coloured crystals, which are often coloured artificially. Deodorant crystals are often for sale at spice stalls. Look for white almost clear soft rock; this could be mistaken for ice and apparently comes in different grades. When this mineral is added to water it dissolves until the water reaches saturation point, the resulting brine is a completely effective underarm deodorant. A spray bottle is ideal for application. Quarter fill the bottle with crystals, add water and use daily.

Jewellery - Moroccan made jewellery is not as widely available as you ink. Historically Jewish smiths who have now left the country made jewellery. Tiznit has a jewellery making souk and there are some lovely coral pieces on sale in Asilah and to the north.

Kohl - This is a mixture of soot and other ingredients, used by women to darken the eyelids and as mascara. Kohl is sold loose and is reasonably priced, and is particularly available in the Marrakech area.

Rose water and Attar of Roses - The area around Skoura, El Kelaa Moa and Boumalne Dades specialises in rose growing and the rose fragranced water is sold all over the area. There are a couple of small factories, which you can visit but most of the petals are exported to Grasse in France, for use in the perfume industry.

Brass and Copper - Not only are there some lovely old items lurking in souks (especially teapots) there is still a thriving brass and copper industry, particularly in Fez, where you can order items to your own specifications.

Apothecary Souks - Cures for almost every ailment imaginable are available. A tour of a stall is interesting and shouldn't be missed. Herbal Viagra is allegedly hard to beat!

Olive oil soap - Particularly sold around the Demnate area.

Traveling To Morocco: Things You Need To Know

View our blog here with Things you need to know when it comes to navigating Morocco!