Morocco isn’t the first place that pops into mind when the idea of a Christmas destination comes up. However, there is a large (and growing) foreign population in Morocco and yes, there are Moroccan Christians so Christmas DOES exist. This article explores the fascinating blend of North African flavors and holiday traditions, offering a unique culinary experience.
Christmas in Morocco: A Blend of Cultures
When we moved here, I really mourned the loss of the holiday as it held strong memories and sentiments. Growing up it was a religious holiday in our home, but as I got older became more secular. Walking into one of the malls in Marrakech last December and losing it when I saw that Christmas tree. I’m sure people thought I was nuts but it was something familiar and eased some of the sadness I felt being away from my family at that time. If you’re thinking to visit during this time you’ll find a mix of the holiday and no trace at all. Wait, does Morocco celebrate Christmas? The answer is no - and yes. Outside of the big cities you won’t find any notion of Christmas. Children go to school as normal, most people have no idea that it’s Christmas. Morocco is a majority Muslim country and Christmas is not a Muslim holiday so Morocco at Christmas is not a holiday.
Keep in mind in many cities like Marrakech, Christmas through New Year’s is the HIGH tourism season. If you’re looking for Morocco Christmas tours, you want to book and sign up as soon as possible. Companies offer private tours but you can also join a group tour through places like Intrepid or G Adventures who run regular tours throughout Morocco.
If you want to have a traditional Christmas experience stay in a bigger city like Marrakech, Agadir, Fez, or Rabat. Of all these places Rabat is where you’ll find the most sense of the holiday due in large part to the number of foreign people who live and work there. Hotels and restaurants in bigger cities also will typically offer Christmas menus and sometimes special events related to the holidays.
If you are religious, don’t think you’ll be out of luck in Morocco. There are churches throughout the country. Owing to the Spanish and French influence the majority of churches are Catholic. Ask at your hotel or riad and they may be able to help.
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If you want to see Christmas decorations, you’ll need to get out of the medinas and head to the new neighborhoods and shopping malls.
For a warm and inviting holiday go south to Agadir, Mirleft or way south to Dakhla. Temperatures here will still be warm enough to possibly take a swim in the ocean (if you’re tough or have a wetsuit), or at least do some sun bathing.
The mountain villages are also a great location to consider. Imlil is just 90 minutes from Marrakech and is a quaint but beautiful spot.
Finally, a camel trek in the Sahara is always a great way to spend a holiday.
A North African Christmas Dinner
I HAD grown up in western Canada, and, because of my family's heritage, I'd been nourished on Arab food. This had made me appreciate zesty but not over-spiced dishes. Yet for years - perhaps because of embarrassment - I dared not tell any outsider about this cuisine, which we had consumed in southern Saskatchewan during my youth.
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But as the years rolled by, I decided that others should enjoy the delicacies of the Middle East. I was thinking of this as I feasted on that savory turkey in Morocco, and suddenly it struck me: Why not have a North American Christmas dinner prepared with the taste of North Africa and the Middle East?
Without doubt, a festive meal cooked with the exotic touch from that part of the world would appeal to many cooks. A repast, flavored with the herbs and spices of these countries, would be a unique experience, which lovers of gourmet food would want to savor.
Such is this Christmas dinner prepared with the condiments of North Africa and the Middle East. When served - to use the well-known expression - ``It's a dinner `fit for kings.''''
IT was in Rabat, the beautiful capital of Morocco, that I first dined on turkey cooked North African style. I had been invited to a Moroccan home on one of the Muslim feast days.
As a treat, a turkey had been prepared in my honor. Turkeys are cooked in Morocco only on special occasions, so I felt I was an esteemed guest.
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As we sat around a low brass table eating chunks of savory pieces with our hands, I became enthralled with the aroma and flavor of the turkey. Never had I tasted such a delicious one.
Our host, in true North African fashion, would urge us on, offering us succulent morsels. But the turkey was so appetizing, I needed no encouragement.
Equally delectable was the roast lamb I had feasted upon amid the cedars in the Atlas Mountains a few days before.
A Berber friend in the town of Khenifra prepared a sumptuous diffa (feast) for us, in which mechoui (roast lamb) was one of the main dishes.
The lamb and the accompanying vegetable platters tasted so good that I have never forgotten that great Moroccan feast.
You may be most familiar with what’s considered the national dish of Morocco, couscous, a very small pasta made from semolina wheat. I find this meal especially fun because I use a ceramic dish called a tagine, typically used in Moroccan cooking.
It’s also the name of the dish that’s cooked in it, which is a slow-cooked stew that includes a variety of vegetables, dried fruits, and nuts.
Plant-Based Moroccan Holiday Menu
I’m sharing something a little different than what you might typically expect for a holiday meal, my plant-based Moroccan Holiday Menu. I’ve made this on previous holidays, and my family loves it. Of course, it’s plant-based and vegan. I’m hoping it’ll spark your cooking creativity. It’s good to think out of the box occasionally, don’t you think?
Like many people around the holidays, my life has been absolute chaos. The restaurant industry gets incredibly busy around the holidays. No one wants to cook when they're about to cook for the whole family!
I also only get an extra day off. So, it barely seems like the holidays actually count as a break! But that's no excuse not to make absolutely delicious food. I'll take any excuse to make an enormous meal. Although nothing quite hits the spot like hot food on a cold winter's day.
There's a second annual cookie exchange that I'm absolutely bringing cookies to. I want to say that I'm testing out recipes for the big day. But I'm not going anywhere this year. If anyone wants to spend Christmas with me, they're absolutely coming here!
So, I'm really just making anything and everything that sounds delicious to me. Which is going to be any and every holiday cookie that I want for the cookie exchange. Plus, Moroccan food.
I also am in a part of the world that insists on celebrating Christmas on the 24th, instead of the 25th. This isn't something that I'd ever come across until moving to Wisconsin. This likely has to due with the amount of European and Latin American immigrants. Although, because of this, it's become absolutely imperative to do something on Christmas Eve. Even though I'm a steadfast Christmas day kind of person. After all, who doesn't want an extra day to get everything ready?? It also gives me an extra day to grocery shop.
So, I decided to make the one thing I cannot make on Christmas Day because all of the purveyors of live lobster are closed.
I designed this Christmas to be as low stress as possible. Cookies are best made ahead of time. They last several days when stored in an airtight container. A lot of cookies also require a chilling period.
I also made the Macaroni & Cheese on the 24th.
Chickpeas can be soaked ahead of time. So, if after you've gone through all of the festivities on Christmas Eve, if you can remember, grab 2 cups of chickpeas and soak them the day before! I did not remember to do this, but you certainly can if you have the time. It will give you one less thing to do on Christmas Day.
Although these chickpeas are for a salad, rather than being blended into something like hummus or baba ghanoush.
I tend to start bread right away because I know that it's going to have a proof time and I don't want to have to worry about it. Although a smart person would start with quick soak chickpeas.
Followed by bread. And then roasting the ingredients for the roasted carrots/cauliflower and starting the rice cooker for couscous.
I didn't precisely follow this to the tea. Despite wanting this to be a simpler cooking process, it was the most complex menu I've done in years!
Just make sure to make the chickpeas and sweet potatoes before the tagine recipe. You can cook the bread and roasted carrots and cauliflower at the same time. Just adjust the cooking time for the carrots and cauliflower, since the temperature is higher.
Overall, this meal was absolutely delicious. I've been making Moroccan-inspired dishes for weeks afterwards. Which is absolutely the sign of a good meal! The star was definitely the roasted carrots and cauliflower, though.
As a general rule, I don't like to edit images. Food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm. Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color.
So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes. My place has very warm lighting, though. So, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural hues.
I hope you find this Moroccan Menu intriguing and perhaps give it a try.
Moroccan Christmas Party: A Culinary Adventure
It's about that time! Our Moroccan adventure a few years back was one for the record books. We packed it full of incredible food, tons of adventure and a lot of spa time (it's where I live my best life). Moroccan food is loaded with tons of fun spices, herbs, nuts and dried fruit... the works. And guess what - it's super healthy!
I took the best of the best from our time in various parts of the country and gave it my coastal spin. There's a tagine, tons of herbed couscous, the most incredible harissa olives you'll ever have in your life and more! It tastes like you're wandering the food stalls in the souks and your kitchen will smell incredible!
It's the perfect dinner party menu for no matter who's coming over! Picky eaters will love it, and adventurous eaters will appreciate a fun new spin on a dinner menu!
Ready to see what we've got in store...
Every meal in Morocco, no matter what part of the country you're in, starts the same way... mint tea!! There's no real recipe for it - just hot water and fresh mint leaves! It's refreshing and clears your palate and I drank approx 3990384 glasses of it a day and I haven't stopped since returning home.
Here are some Moroccan dishes perfect for a holiday feast:
- Marinated Green Harissa Olives - if you're obsessed with olives like me, Morocco is your place. Every market is lined from floor to ceiling with olives of every shape and color! Just toss your fav olives with my harissa sauce to give them an extra punch.
- Roasted Eggplant Dip aka Zaalouk with Homemade Naan! It's a North African version of baba ganoush and I don't think I've ever loved eggplant more than this.
- Moroccan Tomato Salad - this simple salad was my LIFE in Morocco. I ordered it at every single meal and I could never get enough.
- Chicken Tagine with Olives - oh man did we have a lot of tagine!! It was the main dish on every table and we tried chicken, beef, lamb, goat, seafood and even an egg tagine. So I upped the ante on everything we had in Morocco and made an incredible at home version! You can make this with or without an actual tagine (a type of cooking vessel) as I know it's not something everyone has on hand.
- Herbed Couscous - I'm not going to lie to you, by the end of the trip my body was 85% couscous.
- Assorted fruit platter - just whip up an assorted fruit platter and throw some dates and turkish delight on it! Whatever is in season is perfect.
Drinks: Mint tea should for sure be served before / during and after the meal. The basic recipe is listed above. And if you want to add a cocktail, might I suggest an assortment of beer! If you can get your hands on a case of Casablanca, that's the route!
Here's a suggested timeline for preparing your Moroccan feast:
- Make the harissa for the marinated olives. Once it's ready, go ahead and combine it with the olives and cover and refrigerate until dinner time.
- Prep the entire Roasted Eggplant Dip from start to finish. Transfer to a container and cover until dinner time.
- Make the chicken tagine marinade mixture and slather the chicken with it.
- Prep the Moroccan Tomato Salad start to finish, cover and put in the fridge until dinner. It's great to serve this semi-chilled since it's a nice compliment to the piping hot tagine!
- Chop all the herbs for the herbed couscous and transfer to a damp paper towel lined bowl.
- Arrange your season dessert platter and cover with a damp paper towel to keep it moist. I prefer fruit to be served at room temp, so leave it on your counter (covered) until you're ready to transfer to the table.
- Remove the Harissa Marinated Olives and the Roasted Eggplant Dip from the fridge and let come to room temp before serving.
- Prep the crudite and/or pita bread to serve alongside the Roasted Eggplant Dip. Arrange on a platter and add a bowl of the dip.
- The Herbed Couscous only takes about 10 minutes to cook so go ahead and cook the plain couscous now.
- Roughly 1 hour before you want to sit down for dinner, remove the chicken from the fridge and finish making the tagine. You'll want to aim to have the chicken seared off and starting to simmer by the time your guests arrive. That way your house smells amazing and then the chicken can do it's thing for 30 minutes unattended. If you need a few more minutes to hang before sitting down to dinner, just remove the chicken from the heat once cooked and let rest. It will stay warm with all the liquid.
- Remove the Moroccan Tomato Salad from the fridge and transfer to a serving bowl. Transfer everything else to the table and serve.
Moroccan-Inspired Recipes
Here are a few recipes to bring that Moroccan flair to your holiday table:
Roast Turkey With a Moroccan Taste
Ingredients:
