Aadess

A dish of lentils cooked until soft with onion, tomatoes, garlic and spices, served as a side dish or as a meal in its own right. In the winter months it is popular all over Morocco.

What it is

According to Morocco World News, Moroccan lentils are eaten as a side dish or as a meal on their own; some add small pieces of meat, many cook them without.

According to the study for WIPO and the Moroccan office OMPIC, lentils are the Moroccans’ favourite pulses, above all the local beldi lentils with their strong taste and smell; they are grown mainly in dry areas. Prepared with carrots, lentils appear in the study among the small cold and warm dishes of the kemia, which come to the table in little bowls before or with family meals and feasts.

How it is cooked

RecipeAadessAfter Layla Dahamou in Morocco World News RecipeAadess with dried meat and carrotsAfter the Moroccan TV cook Choumicha · serves 6

When

Lentils are popular across the country above all in the winter months; they are eaten hot, with warm bread.

Where it comes from

At home throughout the country, with no place of origin named by a source.

When you come across it

Cold days

Goes with it

Food and drinkLoubiaWhite beans stewed in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, olive oil and spices. They are eaten on their own or with fish or meat, and in Morocco usually scooped up with bread.Food and drinkBissaraA thick soup of dried peas or broad beans with cumin, paprika and olive oil. It is a speciality of Tangier, very popular throughout the north and a dish for winter.Food and drinkHariraA thick soup of tomatoes, meat and pulses, thickened at the end with flour stirred in, which turns out slightly differently in every family. In Fez, Meknes, Tangier, Marrakesh, Rabat and Casablanca it is part of breaking the fast during Ramadan.

Pass it on

As a link, by WhatsApp or email.

WhatsApp Email Facebook X

Last checked on 30 Oct 2026. 3 sources, 1 of them primary (authority, UNESCO, operator).