Celiac travelers who book my tours always ask me the same question: “Will I easily find gluten-free food in Morocco?”
I completely understand the doubts of anyone with celiac disease, especially when traveling somewhere new where you don’t know the language or the food habits. But reassuring my clients isn’t hard, because gluten-free foods exist everywhere in the world: you just need to know which ones they are, find the traditional ones in the country you’re visiting, and leave without any stress.
Information is always the answer, even for those who need to cut gluten out of their diet without giving up the pleasure of a vacation or of tasting local dishes.
Gluten-free options in restaurants have caught on all over the world and are easy to spot on menus, because awareness of celiac disease has grown enormously over the years. In any case, I always recommend telling waiters and restaurant owners that you’re gluten intolerant.
Another tip is to learn in Arabic the names of the ingredients you can’t eat, also by checking the websites of the Association of European Coeliac Societies and CYE – The Coeliac Youth of Europe, where you’ll find lots of useful phrases about celiac disease translated into several languages.
If you’re unsure about the ingredients used or whether cross-contamination can be ruled out, simply skip those foods rather than ruin a few hours of your vacation.
That said, I can confirm that Morocco is a country where you can easily find plenty of gluten-free food, because many traditional Moroccan dishes are gluten-free when made according to the original recipe. After giving you tips on what to eat in Morocco if you’re vegetarian, now it’s time for tips on what to eat if you follow a gluten-free diet.
Gluten-free diet in Morocco: tips on what to eat
Many traditional Moroccan dishes are gluten-free. Of course, you’ll miss out on one of the tastiest, couscous, since it’s made from durum wheat semolina. But don’t despair: there are plenty of alternatives to couscous.
Moroccans also eat a lot of rice and legumes, and these two simple ingredients are the base for countless tasty dishes. One example is Moroccan bissara soup, made with dried fava beans and spices (sweet paprika, cumin, black pepper or chili), a much-loved dish especially in winter.
And how could I not mention the delicious salads made in Morocco, full of fresh vegetables and naturally gluten-free legumes, along with the huge variety of fruit and vegetables you’ll find on display in every souk you visit.
Or omelets, like the Berber omelet, a traditional dish not only in Morocco but also in Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, made of course with eggs, plus tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, olives, turmeric, sweet paprika and cilantro.
Beef and lamb, poultry and fish are also widely eaten, all gluten-free and found in many Moroccan dishes. If your meat is grilled, remind the cook not to grill bread on the same grill, to avoid cross-contamination.
Now let’s move on to the great classics of Moroccan cuisine, dishes anyone can try, including vegans and vegetarians, because they’re also made without animal products. I’m talking about tagine, harissa and harira.
Tagine can be made in many ways: with chicken, beef or fish, or vegetarian. The various recipes share vegetables (mainly onions, carrots and potatoes), lemon, prunes, olives and, of course, a rich spice mix including cinnamon, saffron, ginger, coriander and turmeric, essential to almost every traditional Moroccan recipe and the source of that typically aromatic, flavorful taste.
Moroccan harissa is a sauce made throughout North Africa. It’s very spicy because it’s made almost entirely of chili peppers, which is why it’s eaten as an accompaniment to other main dishes.
As for harira, which people with celiac disease can eat too, you should check beforehand that it contains no flour. It’s not an essential ingredient in this soup, but some cooks add it at the end to thicken the broth. It’s a traditional soup made with boiled lentils and mutton, plus small onions, tomatoes, dates, honey and the ever-present spices.
There are many variations of these dishes, but just reading the ingredients will tell you whether you can eat them.
Let’s wrap up our journey through gluten-free foods to eat in Morocco with the star of Moroccan cuisine: batbout. I love it, everyone loves it, and you’ll love it too. It’s Moroccan bread, very common across the Maghreb and called matlou in Algeria. It’s always served with soups or tagines, stuffed with meat, or eaten as a sweet with honey and butter.
What makes it special is that it’s cooked in a pan instead of an oven and puffs up like a balloon, so it stays very soft and, being hollow, can also be stuffed. The original Berber recipe uses durum wheat semolina, water and yeast, but of course it’s also made with gluten-free flours (oat, brown or white rice, corn, millet, quinoa, chickpea, lentil).
The hardest meal for someone with celiac disease is breakfast, which is based on bread and crêpes: you can ask for fruit and yogurt instead, or bring bread substitutes from home to have with jam. In any case, in the main cities you’ll find Carrefour supermarkets and highway rest stops with gluten-free products.
All in all, in Morocco, as anywhere else, including back home, the criteria for choosing gluten-free food and places to eat are always the same. You’re not on another planet: enjoy your trip.
Lisa
