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Just got back from a week in Marrakech and I already want to go back. But I realised I made a few mistakes at the table — especially when we were invited to eat at a local family’s home. Nothing dramatic but I could tell a couple of things felt a bit off. For anyone planning to go, what should you know before sitting down to eat in Morocco?
Oh I can speak to this one — I lived in Fez for almost two years so I ate in a lot of homes there. The thing that takes most people by surprise is the hand thing. You eat with your right hand, always. The left hand is considered unclean and using it at the table — even just to pass the bread — is noticed. It’s one of those things nobody will say anything about directly, they’re far too polite, but it matters.
The bread, called khobz, is used as a kind of utensil. You tear it and use it to scoop up the tagine or whatever’s in the shared dish. There are rarely individual plates in a traditional home — everyone eats from the same big dish in the center of the table, and you eat from the section directly in front of you, not from across the dish.
If you’re invited into someone’s home, expect the host to keep loading your side of the dish with the best pieces of meat or the choicest vegetables. The polite thing is to eat it, not resist. Refusing food that’s offered repeatedly is genuinely rude. Say “bismillah” before you start eating — even if you’re not Muslim, it’s appreciated as a sign of respect.
Oh and tea. The mint tea is a ritual, not just a drink. It’ll be poured from a height to create foam and you’ll be offered several glasses. Declining the first glass is considered acceptable but refusing all of it can feel like a snub. Just drink the tea, it’s amazing anyway.
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