Moroccan salads, pickles and appetizers

Zaalouk

(Also: zalouk, zaaluk)

A salad made of baked or fried eggplants, tomatoes and seasonings. Reminds more a dip than a salad. Can be served either warm or cold. Recipe.

Taktouka

Baked green bell pepper salad with tomatoes. Like zaalouk may be served warm or cold.

Traditional tomato salad with grounded cumin

The main ingredients are diced tomatoes, onion and grounded cumin. Sometimes cucumbers and lettuce can be added. Recipe.

Salads with chermoula dressing

There’s a big variety of salads and appetizers that are prepared with chermoula in Morocco. Many appetizers contain one kind of vegetable while some can contain 2 or more. F.e. Moroccans use carrot, zucchini, baked eggplants or boiled potatoes for these dishes.

Olives

Moroccans adore olives and they know how to cook them right. First of all olives are served everywhere and almost to every meal. Most of the restaurants serve them as a compliment (sometimes even several kinds). One of traditional appetizers are olives in harissa paste.

Secondly olives can be added as an ingredient of a dish (f.e. tajine mqalli with chicken). The third option – Moroccans make the oil from olives. Olive oil is widely used in Morocco.

In olive market of Quartier Habbous I’ve tried very tasty boneless black olives with herbs. They didn’t look pretty – wrinkled pieces of black flesh, but up to my taste these are the tastiest olives ever.

Preserved lemons

Salty lemons can be eaten as an appetizer or serve as a garnish. Lemons can be added to a dish while cooking. You will definitely find them cut in rings over some fish or chicken tajines. Recipe.