Ramadan in Morocco... a rich song for the senses

“Our Master Ramadan”, this is the title used by the people of the Maghreb to refer to the holy month, a title that carries connotations about that special relationship between the people of Morocco and the month of Ramadan and the extent of its holiness to them.

In fact, walking in the Ramadan streets of Morocco becomes a pleasure and a chant for the senses. The famous Moroccan phrase of congratulations “Awashir Mabrouka” sneaks into your ears on every street, meaning the three tenths of the month of fasting;

A tenth of mercy, a tenth of forgiveness, and a tenth of emancipation from the fire.

In addition, the sounds of jubilation mix with the aromas of spices, the smell of harira soup caresses your nose from the windows of the houses, and the streets are adorned not only with decorations and lights, but also with its residents who are preparing to receive the month of Ramadan in traditional clothes, where contemporary clothes retreat and give way throughout the days of the month for the joy and delicateness of clothes The traditional one that everyone is keen to wear, both men and women.

Diverse origins, rich tributaries

Dr. Ali Fahmy Khoshaim, in his book "Speech at the Dining Table" published in 1988 in Benghazi, reviews a number of vocabulary related to food and cuisine in different languages, and reveals a number of strange links between them.

For example, he linked the Arabic word "hut" with the English word "cook", as kitchens were built in huts outside homes to prevent soot from burning fires.

In the kitchen there is the “oven”, which is in Italian “forno”, and there is also “water jar”, ​​which is in English “jar” and in Spanish “Jarra”, and Italian pasta also corresponds to the Arabic word “simple”, a metaphor for spreading and thinning the dough, and In English, "fork" is close to the Arabic root "faraq" because it has separated fingers.

There is no surprise in these similarities, and they are not limited to words, but also extend to foods, as the kitchen and its foods are one of the strongest and clearest manifestations of mutual cultural influence, where recipes inherited from generation to generation preserve the fluctuations of nations, and in the smells of dishes dwell History with its defeats and victories.

In her book "Moroccan cuisine", Paula Wolfert describes the secret of the greatness of Moroccan cuisine as it combines the abundance of ingredients, the diversity of cultural influences, and the greatness of civilization, as it was influenced by many civilizations, whether Berber or Andalusian Arab cuisine, as well as the recipes of the Moriscos returning from Spain, And the recipes of the Arabs who left Baghdad in the Abbasid era for Morocco, making Moroccan cuisine today one of the most ancient and rich in the world.

Many of the cooking methods in Morocco date back more than 20 centuries, when the first inhabitants of the Maghreb knew the use of cooking methods such as tagine, and they also used ingredients such as couscous, chickpeas and beans, which are still to this day among the main ingredients of many famous Moroccan dishes. .

The Arabs, after settling in Morocco, also carried spices that they brought from the conquests of China and India, and introduced nuts and dried fruits to meat dishes, an effect that was originally derived from the cooking methods in Persia.

With the Moriscos who left Spain for Morocco, Moroccan cuisine learned new ingredients such as olive oil and citrus fruits.

(1) It is no wonder that spices are one of the most important heroes of the holy month in Morocco, as Moroccans race to buy spices before the beginning of the holy month.

"When Vasco Da Gama made his famous trip and circled the head of whirlwinds, which he called the Cape of Good Hope, he returned with tons of pepper, cinnamon, ginger, red pepper, vanilla and jewels"... (Spice.. The Hot Meeting between Civilizations, Ali Al-Nowaishi, Doha Magazine No. 54)

The breakfast dishes on the Moroccan table vary between salty and sweet, and the whole family gathers around the table full of everything, waiting for the resounding sound of the “zawaka” to announce the breakfast.

Iftar begins, as is the custom of many Muslims around the world, with dates and milk, and some prefer to be satisfied with them as a light breakfast before heading to prayer and returning again to resume food after Tarawih prayers.

Al Ahsa and Pastries

Moroccan harira soup is a mainstay on Moroccan breakfast tables in Ramadan, as the streets in Morocco smell of the distinctive soup made of tomatoes, onions and legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, vermicelli and pieces of meat with herbs such as parsley and celery.

The harira dish is also the hero of the folk song that Moroccans celebrate on the eve of the holy month.

In addition to harira, haswa bulbula is also one of the famous soups, made of barley and milk, and it is one of the meals served on both the Iftar and Suhoor tables.

The tagine is often the main meal on the table, and it is cooked in the tagine pot, which is a hollow, circular pottery bowl, with a cone-shaped lid with a top opening to release steam. Chicken with olives and lemon or with prunes.

The Moroccan table in Ramadan is also famous for a large number of pastries, among the most famous of which is "briwat", which is one of the most famous Moroccan pies that are made of pastilla dough flakes and stuffed with different fillings, such as spinach, cheese or chicken fillings.

As for msemen or ragaf, it is made from a dough similar to bread, which is spread out and folded into a square shape before being fried.

On the other side, you meet the malawi, another type of loaf, the dough of which consists of a mixture of white flour and semolina flour, rolled out in circles and cooked until golden.

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For drinks and sweets,

Atay (Moroccan tea)

Tea with mint is very popular in Morocco, and many Moroccans consider it a basic drink after a long day of fasting. It is known as "Atay", and it is one of the basic drinks in the Moroccan house throughout the year, and in Ramadan in particular.

Among the most famous Ramadan drinks in Morocco is almond milk, which is a mixture of ground almonds, sugar cooked with water with a little orange blossom water, and after the mixture boils together, it is filtered and cooled and a sprinkle of cinnamon is placed on it before serving.

In addition to the Moroccan version of the famous Middle Eastern Qamar al-Din juice, which is a mixture of orange juice and dried apricots, some add yogurt to it as well.

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And in Ramadan, sweet dishes are sweet, and among the most famous traditional Moroccan sweets is “Chbakia” or “Al-Makhraqa,” which is made from flour, honey, sesame and rose water.

As well as the “Al-Sofuf” dessert, known as “slo” or “aslo” in Tamazight, which consists of roasted flour, almonds, sesame and fennel, which is the dish that the famous geographer Sharif Al-Idrisi referred to in his book “Nuzha Al-Mashtaq fi Takhrouq Al-Afaq” and wrote about it, saying: “Food The so-called barbarian eat, which is that they take the wheat and fry it in a moderate form, then beat it until it becomes a grit, then they mix honey with the same amount of butter and knead that wheat with it on the fire, and they put it in their staves, and it comes as a delicious food, and that is because a person is one of them if he takes from this food the fullness of his palm and eats it He drank milk on it, then walked for the rest of his day, not wanting food until night.

Children and sewing day

Among the most famous traditional Moroccan customs in Ramadan is a custom called “day sewing”, a custom that is used to encourage children to fast the month of Ramadan, where the child fasts half the day and breaks his fast, then fasts half the next day, and by sewing or “stitching” the two halves of the two days, according to the Moroccan dialect. The child is considered to have fasted an entire day, in order to relieve him of the hardship of fasting.

Moroccan families celebrate a great celebration of children’s fasting. Children are presented with gifts of traditional clothing, the jilbab for the boy and the caftan for the girl. The right hand of the children is dyed with henna, and the girls’ heads are decorated with the traditional crown, and they wear traditional clothes such as takchita, embroidered caftan, sabra and shaqa.

Boys also wear a red fez on their heads, with a traditional garb called the sousdi, and the Fassi language on their feet.

Girls are carried on the so-called "Amariah", a howd is similar to that of a bride, while boys ride on a saddled horse.

This brings us to Ramadan fashion.

Among the most famous Moroccan traditions in Ramadan, everyone, men and women, are keen to wear traditional costumes, as modern clothes are hidden, and replaced by jabadors, chamhir, draiyas, and kandooras.

Women also acquire traditional robes, simple ones for daytime, and studded with invitations for breakfast and visits. Sales of traditional clothes flourish greatly in Ramadan with traditional tailors, although they face fierce competition in front of sales of traditional ready-made clothes, but many still maintain the habit of buying clothes from tailors.

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spitting

"Al-Nafar" is one of the most important Ramadan figures in Morocco, and he is known in Egypt as "Al-Masharati" and in other Arab countries as "Abu Tabila".

In Morocco, it is known as the Navigator due to its use of a long copper wind instrument next to the drum. The Navigator roams the streets and alleys in the dark of night and before dawn to wake the sleepers for Suhoor. He has no partner, He is the only One, Glory be to Him.” Then he blows his instrument four times.

Although the name “al-nafar” is the most common, it has other names according to the instrument it uses. The nafar is the one who blows the trumpet, which is a long flute exceeding a meter in length, narrow on the side of the blowing and gradually expanding downwards.

It is reported that the horn instrument goes back to Andalusia, and it moved from there to Morocco in about 725 AH, during the reign of Sultan Abu Inan bin Abi Al-Hassan, who built three towers in Fez for the trumpet owners, who were using this device to alert.

(5) Another name for it is “Al-Ghayat”, and he blows the “Al-Ghaita” instrument, which is a wind instrument smaller than the horn, similar to a flute, with several holes on its side and ends with a trumpet resembling the shape of a bell, and one of the most famous cities of its manufacture is Wazan.

There is also the name "the drummer", which is the name by which professionals are known in other countries as well, and he uses a drum to which a leather parchment is tightened and hung on his shoulder with a belt.

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The zawaka from colonialism to Ramadan

"Dada Dada my meme.. Cob my two freedom.. the zawaqat the zawakat.. the Arab passed the sukkat."

The resounding sound of the zawaka at breakfast time is one of the most important inherited Moroccan traditions, whose sound resonates daily as one of the most important features of the month of Ramadan in Morocco. Colonial times, Moroccans used to check their clocks in the middle of a Thursday.

The wars ended and colonialism departed, and the zawaqa remained an integral part of the month of Ramadan in Morocco. Through its launch, it announced the advent of the holy month, and the timing of eating and breaking the fast. The zawaga consisted of eight loudspeakers stacked in a circular manner in all directions, with an electric motor and a backup generator.

After Ramadan, comes Eid al-Fitr, or "Feast of Ramadan" as it is called in Morocco, where family members gather around the table after returning from Eid prayers to eat traditional dishes such as maqrout, one of the most popular desserts in Morocco during the Eid period, which is a Dough made of semolina flour sweetened with orange blossom, stuffed with date paste, fried and dipped in honey.

As for the mohancha, it is made of almonds dipped in honey, and its name comes from its round, twisted shape, like "Hanash", which means snake in Moroccan dialect.

All men, women and children wear their traditional clothes, specially prepared for the feast, so that every day of Ramadan and Eid becomes an opportunity to restore the distinctive traditional Moroccan atmosphere.

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