Given how fashionable Marrakech has become as a travel destination, it came as a bit of a shock on a recent visit to discover how few restaurants serve alcohol. (Rather like being in the dry counties of bourbon-producing Kentucky.)
Of course, Morocco is a predominantly Muslim country and alcohol is proscribed by the Koran, but the attitude towards alcohol varies, somewhat unpredictably, from place to place – even within the same city. Although you might not find restaurants serving alcohol in the medina (old quarter) in Marrakech due to the proximity of nearby mosques, typically you will in more fashionable, westernised neighbourhoods such as Gueliz and Hivernage.
And of course Morocco also has a thriving wine industry, the second largest in Africa: a legacy of the French protectorate. Although grape growing dates back to Phoenician times, it was the French who had the greatest influence, resulting in widespread plantings of varieties that are popular in southern France such as Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah. Red and rosé are still much more widely consumed than white wine.
Many a match
Moroccan food is easy to pair with wine, although that wasn’t a view shared by the late Robert Mondavi, who was quoted by Paula Wolfert in her seminal book The Food of Morocco (Bloomsbury, 2012) as saying – ‘unenthusiastically’ – that ‘the best type of wine to drink is a good Californian Pinot Noir or a Burgundy’. Personally, I think Morocco’s own varieties fare better. ‘With grilled meats or merguez, fruity reds like a Rioja or a southern French Syrah work beautifully,’ says Nargisse Benkabbou, author of Casablanca: My Moroccan Food (Mitchell Beazley, 2018).
Traditional Moroccan meals start off, as many North African and Middle Eastern meals do, with a selection of salads and small pastries, followed by a tagine or grilled meats. (Couscous, which is similar flavour-wise to tagine, is traditionally only served on Fridays.) The spicing – mostly coriander, cumin, ginger and turmeric – is generally gentle, subtle and not particularly hot, but this varies from dish to dish. A chicken tagine with preserved lemon is generally better with a dry white wine or rosé, while richer, meatier lamb tagines with figs or prunes pair better with a rich, oak-aged red or an orange wine, the latter currently not widely produced in Morocco but easily available from elsewhere.
As in other countries, there are also different levels of cuisine, from rustic dishes to high-end fare of the type you would find in luxury hotels or restaurants such as L’Mida in Marrakech, which weaves Moroccan flavours into international dishes such as ceviche and poke. With those you could happily pair fruity New World whites made from grapes such as Semillon.
Shades of flavour
There are also regional differences. The food in coastal towns such as Casablanca and Essaouira leans more heavily on fish – generally paired with Morocco’s ubiquitous gris de gris, which used to be a uniquely pale style of rosé before Provençal rosé (which would also work) gained in prominence to make that shade the norm.
‘In Essaouira, they are what pairs best with our fish dishes,’ says Mounia Ezzaher, whose family owns the luxurious Villa Maroc. ‘I love the Aït Souala Gris, which is based on Grenache and Cinsault, with our citrus fruit sea bream.’
Finally, it’s worth thinking of wine in the context of Morocco’s honey-drenched pastries and sweet couscous. Appropriately, Moscatel from just across the water in once Moorish Spain works perfectly.
Five Moroccan food star pairings
Pigeon pastilla. Credit: Simon Reddy / Alamy Stock Photo
Moroccan salads with vin gris
Such an important part of a Moroccan meal and this whisper- pale rosé works perfectly – it’s a popular style in Morocco itself.
Chicken & preserved lemon tagine with Aligoté
A recently discovered pairing – the Aligoté’s acidity works brilliantly with the fragrant, slightly musky flavour of the preserved lemon and the salinity of the olives.
Lamb & aubergine tagine with Syrah
A tried and tested combination from Bianca Ford of Yapp Bros, importer of Alain Graillot & Thalvin’s Tandem Syrah du Maroc (2022, £21 Yapp Bros). Classic, but sometimes classic is unbeatable.
Mrouzia with Primitivo
An exotically dark, sticky style of tagine that works well with southern Italian reds with a touch of sweetness.
Pigeon pastilla (or bastila) with Sauternes
Although savoury, the pastry is sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon. Chateau Musar would be rather good, but for an even greater wow factor serve a Sauternes that has a few years of bottle age.
