Moroccan Cuisine - Morocco - page 905

Drinks
To wash your diffa down and stay hydrated, you'll need a good amount of liquid. Day and
night, don't forget to drink plenty of bottled or purified water. Vying to quench your thirst
are orange-juice vendors loudly singing their own praises, and water vendors in fringed
tajine-shaped hats clanging brass bowls together.
Moroccan tap water is often potable, though not always - so stick with treated water or
local mineral water. Best bets are Sidi Ali and sparkling Oulmes; others have a chalky af-
tertaste.
If you're offered Moroccan mint tea, don't expect to bolt it and be on your way. Mint tea
is the hallmark of Moroccan hospitality, and a sit-down affair that takes around half an
hour. If you have the honour of pouring the tea, pour the first cup back in the teapot to help
cool it and dissolve the sugar. Then starting from your right, pour each cup of tea from as
high above the glass as you can without splashing. Your hosts will be most impressed.
Moroccan mint tea ('Berber whiskey') may be ubiquitous after meals, but you can find a
mean cup of coffee in Morocco, too. Most of it is French-pressed, and delivers a caffeine
wallop to propel you through the souqs and into the stratosphere.
TASTY BEAST: MECHOUI
Special occasions call for Morocco's very best beast dish: mechoui, an entire slow-roasted lamb. The
whole beast is basted with butter, garlic, cumin and paprika, and slow-roasted in a special covered pit
until it's ready to melt into the fire or your mouth, whichever comes first. Local variations may include
substituting a calf instead, or stuffing the lamb with some combination of almonds (or other nuts),
prunes (or other dried fruit) or couscous. Sometimes mechoui is accompanied by kebabs or kwa (grilled
liver kebabs with cumin, salt and paprika). Other than Moroccan weddings, the best place to have
mechoui is right off Marrakesh's Djemaa el-Fna around lunchtime, served with olives and bread in
Mechoui Alley. Do not attempt to operate heavy machinery or begin a whirlwind museum tour post-
mechoui; no amount of post-prandial mint tea will make such exertions feasible without a nap.
Moroccan Beer, Wine & Spirits
Yes, you can drink alcohol in Morocco without offending local sensibilities, as long as you
do it discreetly. Serving alcohol within many Moroccan medinas or within view of a
mosque may be frowned upon, and liquor licences can cost an astronomical Dh20,000 -
but many Moroccan guesthouses and restaurants get around these hurdles by offering
booze in a low voice, and serving it out of sight indoors or on a terrace. So if you're in the