Page 320 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Morocco

318  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

What to Drink in Morocco

Green mint tea is the national drink in Morocco. It is
served several times a day, be it at home, in the office, in
shops or on café terraces. Moroccans are also very fond of
drinking coffee, which is usually served with milk but
may sometimes be flavoured with cinnamon, orange-flower
water or a few grains of pepper. Freshly squeezed orange
juice is delicious, as are all fruit juices – cherry, grape and
pomegranate being the most widely available choices.
Although the Koran forbids the consumption of alcohol,
fairly good-quality wines are produced in Morocco, and The tea ceremony, performed in front
these can be bought in certain shops. of guests

Tea Coffee
Known for 3,000 years in China, green tea, Although it is less widely drunk than tea,
with long fine leaves, reached Morocco in 1854. Moroccans are also fond of coffee, which they
It was introduced by the British, and immediately like to drink very strong. It is accceptable to ask
became popular in every Moroccan home. All for a little boiling water with which to dilute it.
over Morocco, from the sophisticated town Unless you request otherwise, your coffee will
house to the simple nomad’s tent, green mint automatically be served with milk. A black coffee
tea has become the national drink. This thirst- is a qahwa kahla; a noss noss is made up of half
quenching drink, which is made with varying coffee and half milk; and café cassé consists of
amounts of sugar and mint, more coffee than milk.
is a symbol of hospitality,
and it is considered very ill-
mannered to refuse it.
The tea ceremony is
almost always performed in
front of guests and according
to immutable rules. Mint tea is
always served in small, slender
glasses decorated with a gold
Glass of mint tea or coloured filigree pattern.
The tea leaves are rinsed in
the scalded teapot so as to remove their Coffee with milk (noss noss) Black coffee (qahwa kahla)
excessive bitterness. Whole mint leaves, complete
with stems, are then added, together with large
lumps of sugar, which prevent the leaves from
rising to the surface. After being left for a few
minutes to infuse, a little tea is poured into a Cold Drinks
glass and returned to the pot. This is repeated Although lemonade and cola are
several times. The host finally tastes the tea, sold on every street corner, freshly
which will not be served to guests until it is squeezed orange juice is the real
deemed to be perfect. Moroccan speciality. It is absolutely
delicious, so long as it is served
undiluted. The sweet, juicy and
famously flavoursome Moroccan
oranges can be seen laid out
for sale everywhere, piled up in Orange juice
glossy pyramids
on barrows and on
market stalls. On Place
Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakech
(see p238), they are almost
a sideshow in themselves.
Almond milk, banana
milk, apple juice and
pomegranate juice are
also popular drinks.
Traditionally served mint tea Almond milk

318-319_EW_Morocco.indd 318 09/08/16 11:20 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
What to Drink template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.2)
Date 7th January 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm