Simple and hearty
In the countryside, breakfast is primarily a preparation for the working day.
In Morocco, it is traditionally built around tea and bread, which can occasionally be replaced by msemmen, a type of Moroccan pancake. The tea, which is very sweet, is flavoured with mint or, when it does not grow in winter because of the cold, with wormwood or rosemary, or even served plain.
Bread is an essential component. It is dipped in the inevitable olive oil and honey, and now jam as well has become a local habit. Butter, black olives and hard-boiled eggs are also added to the meal, depending on the means.
In the mountains or the plains of the Souss, argan oil can replace olive oil. The traditional amlou is also served with bread. It is a very calorific, semi-liquid mixture of sweet almonds mixed with argan oil and occasionally honey. It provides the farmers with the many calories they will burn in during their workday.
Winter is the season for hot soups, such as hsouwa and bessara.
Bessara is a thick, dry bean soup served hot, sprinkled with cumin and covered with a thick layer of olive oil. It is eaten by hand with betbot, an unleavened bread. When you reach the bottom of the bowl, the bessara has thickened with the cold.
Hsouwa is a pearl barley soup, very popular in the countryside. It is often mixed with milk, which gives it its white colour. It is eaten with a spoon, without bread, seasoned with thyme and mint.
Finally, it is hard to forget the harira, even if it is often more appreciated in the evening than in the morning, with a sfenj, a very popular doughnut.
In the small roadside stalls, which open early in the morning to feed those going to work, one can always find tripe, tqlia, calf’s feet, ker3in, white beans in tomato sauce (loubia), hard-boiled eggs.
Breakfast at Dar Rana
Breakfast is based on the basics of the Moroccan country ftour, such as mint tea, msemmen, Moroccan pancakes, bread, olive oil, complemented by other dishes from different horizons: eggs in all their forms, especially with khlie, dried beef, dried fruit, fresh fruit cut into pieces, orange juice, goat’s cheese with black olives, and other dishes inspired by the vegetable garden.
