Night markets at Jemaa el Fna

One of the most astonishing sights and places that needs to be experienced by the tourist is the night market that sits in Place Jamaa El Fna. During the day, snake charmers, musicians and vendors hawk their wares. At dusk, the assembly line of tables, chairs and stalls being raised makes way for a food festive market.

In one area, the juice bars that serve freshly squeezed orange juice for MAD4 (50p) still stand, but they’re accompanied by a new row of tea vendors selling a spicy red tea made with, what tastes to me, like ginger and cardamom. It’s just as sweet as all other things you’ll find in Morocco and accompanied by a heavily spiced cake mix, something that reminds me of a crumbly Christmas pudding.

Another row of vendors serve the local soup with escargot, perhaps due the influence of the french. It’s something that I didn’t actually try.

I ate here almost every night though only got to a try a number of the stalls. I was told by someone I met that stall number 31 did the best beef sausages in town.

Looking at the people seating, it seemed like a combination of locals and tourists, though with the large number of locals, seemed like a good place to go. Like almost all the places, you’re served immediately with a tomato puree (spiced of course) and a piece of bread. Having practiced in India, eating it with only my right hand was no problem.

I tried the sausages, and whilst they were good, I’m not sure they were the best I’ve ever had. It looks like a number of locals also asked for the juices of the sausages to dip along with, which the vendors were more than happy to provide.

With so much smoke rising from this stall, I decided to try the chicken kebab (shish style of course). For I think about MAD20 (£2.5) you get five skewers of juicy spiced meat. Mmm.

Other ones worth checking out that I enjoyed eating at included stall number 32 (which competes for the name of best sausages) though their beef kebab was very moist and juicy. Perhaps it was the hunk of fat that sat right in the middle that I didn’t quite eat. I also tried eating at stall number 1, a huge display on offer.

Although I probably should have tried more of the regional delicacies, I didn’t such as the sheep’s head or other such thing. Perhaps you’ll be braver than I was.

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