It’s not that we didn’t enjoy anything in Morocco. The mint tea throughout the country is amazing. You can smell the strong, sweet smell of mint cutting through the almost physical scent of life in the medina.

Prepped mint tea in Marrakech

They load a teapot full of fresh mint, add a good heap of sugar and then pour on boiling green tea. To aerate and cool the tea, it is poured into tiny glasses from ridiculous heights, adding to the ever present smell in the air.

In fact we like most of the drinks we had in Morocco. There were lines of fresh orange juice stands in Marrakech that we repeatedly worshiped, our bodies craving cold, vitamin-filled fruit in the sweltering heat.

Yet, Morocco is almost a dry country. It is more common to see men smoking from hash pipes than to find alcohol. The culture is over 90% muslim and prohibits the imbibing of alcohol, although hash appears to be acceptable.

Flag Especial

The drinks are expensive and the beer, Flag Especial, tastes like it was brewed by people that would never drink their own product — a pale imitation of real beer with a gnarly aftertaste.

Couscous and Tajine are the two most common food types on the menu, anywhere in the country. We are not sure how varied the cuisine really is, and if tourism has been the cause of limiting food to two basics, but you will have to work hard to find more than this in “authentic” restaurants.

Meatball Tagine

Either dish comes with vegetables and choice of chicken or lamb. Accompanying salads were simple: tomatoes, cucumber and a little seasoning. Sometimes we could find lentil or eggplant salads. For the most part, these dishes lacked the full flavor or seasoning we really wanted. It was kind of boring, sadly.

Pigeon for sale

Of all the foods we would try, we never imagined any of it would contain pigeon. The bird is a delicacy to Moroccans and a flying rat to some of us. Surprisingly, pigeon tastes like a chicken, but smaller. Pastilla, or as we called it: “pigeon pie,” is a flaky pastry filled with mince and covered, curiously, with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Considered a specialty, you often have to order this ahead of time.

Pastilla

Twice we tried it, and found it dry and tough. Maybe we were unlucky and flaky, sugared pigeon can be really good?

Street food was a little more varied. We had fried fish and potato balls, fried onion pancakes, Merguez sausage sandwiches. However, there weren’t as many food stalls in Fez or Tangier as we expected.

We were told time and time again that the best food in Morocco was prepared at home, this was not a country that cared for or could afford to eat in a restaurant.

A special lamb dish cooked in the hammam (bathhouse)

However, Marrakech’s Djemaa el Fna central square was packed with food stalls and entertainers at night. They served all manner of dishes, still simple in ingredients but with greater range than most restaurants.

This is also most likely where we went from sick to worse. It may have been the spleen we tried, the general lack of hygiene; if they do wash anything, it is from 50 gallon plastic drums taken from questionable water sources. The food here doesn’t taste particularly better but the atmosphere of the crowds and buzz of humanity drew us to take the risk that backfired.

We also tried a very modern style restaurant in Marrakech our last night called Le Marrakchi. The interior was a lush red with beautiful lighting and a Fez shaped lamp over the door.

Our dinner at Marrakachi

We were entertained by belly dancers, not a technically Moroccan tradition but fun anyway, and dinner was comprised of many little salads we had never tried nor could identify.

Menu at the Café Des Épices

Other “hip” restaurants tempted us with their misters and plush seating, but the food was forgettable at best. Though everything was plated and presented beautifully, sauces needed spice and punch, salad dressings more than simply oil and pepper.

On a last note, McDonalds was entertaining. They had developed a special sandwich for Morocco known as the McArabia. It was flatbread, with a spicy “patty” (although we are not sure what the meat was) and an “arabic” sauce that seemed like a spiced ketchup.

We were saddened to have eaten at McDonalds but also felt we needed the comfort. Somehow eating the McArabia is one of our fondest memories of food in Morocco.