What is madfouna, the "Berber pizza" of Merzouga?
The nickname "Berber pizza" is widely used among travellers, but it is misleading.
Madfouna is a stuffed flatbread, sealed like a pasty, filled with minced meat, onions, parsley and a spice mix unique to each family.
Traditionally, it was cooked buried under hot sand, hence its name which literally means "buried" in Arabic.
Today, most restaurants cook it on a griddle or in a conventional bread oven, which remains more practical while keeping the same filling.
The result looks more like a golden, crispy stuffed bread than a pizza in the European sense.
Is the tagine served at camp different from the one in Marrakech restaurants?
At camp, dinner almost always revolves around a slow-cooked tagine, served in the traditional earthenware dish and shared by the whole table.
Chicken with preserved lemons, lamb with prunes or vegetable tagine depending on the group and the season.
To discover how a typical evening at camp unfolds around this meal, our guide to the Moroccan desert details the atmosphere of tent nights, from the meal to the music around the fire.
For full details of what you eat on a night at the camp — soup, Moroccan bread and the mint tea ritual served in several rounds — our Merzouga cuisine guide covers the subject further.
Where can you taste an authentic madfouna near Merzouga?
Rissani, about twenty minutes from Merzouga, is considered the birthplace of the madfouna.
It is where the recipe was born, in the souk stalls that made a nourishing bread for passing caravan traders on the road to the southern Sahara.
Several local eateries still offer a traditional version, cooked over embers.
The souk itself is worth a stop on the return from a tour, especially on market days when the date, spice and fresh bread stalls give a fuller picture of the region than the dune scenery alone.
Most organised tours in fact include a stop in Rissani on the return journey to Marrakech.
What do you drink with these dishes, and is the water safe?
Mint tea accompanies almost every meal, served well sweetened and poured from a height to froth the liquid in the glass.
It is a social ritual as much as a drink: at camp, it opens and closes dinner, often prepared in front of the guests on a small stove set on the rug.
Sealed bottled water remains the norm for general hydration, particularly recommended between meals given the daytime temperatures can climb sharply.
For general information on customs and local culture in Morocco, the Moroccan National Tourist Office offers useful resources before you go.
Practical tip
- • Try the madfouna in Rissani: the result there is often closer to the original recipe than in Merzouga itself.
- • Specify your dietary restrictions: camps can easily adapt the tagine (vegetarian, no pork, allergies) if you mention it in advance.
- • Taste the mint tea: served before and after every meal, it is an integral part of the local culinary ritual.
- • Do not drink tap water: always opt for sealed bottled water, including for brushing your teeth.
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