Moroccan Cuisine - Morocco - page 898

TOP TIPS FOR ENJOYING STREET FOOD & STAYING HEALTHY
Make a beeline for busy stalls Moroccans are sticklers for freshness, and know which places consist-
ently deliver. Snak stalls have better turnover of fresh ingredients than most fancy restaurants, where
you can't typically check the meat and cooking oil before you sit down to dinner.
Check out the cooking oil Is it extremely smoky, pungent or murky? Hold out for fresher, cleaner
cooking oil.
Always look over the ingredients Check the food on display, especially if you'll be ordering meat or
seafood. This is no time to get squeamish. Are the fish eyes still bright, the hearts bloody and the
snails alive? That's a good sign for adventurous foodies who want to try fried fish, skewered, grilled
lamb hearts, and steaming snail soups.
Clean your hands right before eating Much of what we call 'food poisoning' is actually illness
caused by bacteria transferred from hand to mouth while eating.
Use your bread to scoop up food This is how Moroccans eat, and it makes sense. If you're using
utensils briefly rinsed in cold water, hygiene-wise, you're sharing a rather intimate moment with the
stranger who used them before you.
Stick to your own purified or bottled water It takes time adjusting to local water, so it's better to
drink purified or bottled stuff - and never drink out of rinsed-and-reused stall glasses.
Wait until your second-to-last night If your stomach is skittish, hold out for that street food adven-
ture. If dinner goes down a treat - as it should - you'll be back tomorrow.
Street Eats
Sidewalk cafes and kiosks put a local twist on Continental breakfast, with Moroccan pan-
cakes and doughnuts, French pastries, coffee and mint tea. Follow your nose and rumbling
stomach into the souqs, where you'll find tangy olives and local jiben (fresh goat's or
cow's milk cheese) to be devoured with fresh khoobz (Moroccan-style pita bread baked in
a wood-fired oven until it's crusty on the outside, yet fluffy and light on the inside) .
Khoobz can be found wrapped in paper at any hanout (cupboard-sized corner shops found
in every neighbourhood).
In the souqs, you can't miss vendors with their carts piled high with fresh fruit. They're
right: you'll never know how high oranges can be stacked or how delicious freshly
squeezed aseer limoon (orange juice) can be until you pay a visit to a Moroccan juice-
vendor's cart. Drink yours from a disposable cup or your own water bottle, because the
vendor's glasses are rinsed and reused dozens of times daily.
One savoury southern breakfast just right for chilly mornings is bessara (a steaming-
hot fava-bean purée with cumin, olive oil and a dash of paprika), best when mopped up