Khlii

What it is

Khlii is preserved meat: beef or mutton, sometimes also dromedary, is cut into strips, salted and seasoned, dried in the sun, cooked in fat and oil and stored for the winter.¹ The Encyclopédie berbère describes the xliʿ of southern Morocco as a “meat butter” produced when dried meat is cooked for a long time with plenty of fat.² Harrell’s dictionary lists xliʕ as a kind of preserved meat.³

Where it comes from

In the medina of Fez, on the way from the Rcif to Bab Sensla, small shops sell khlii alongside traditional pastries, incense and flower waters; the tradition there is centuries old.⁴ According to one trader, the craft is passed down from father to son.⁵

In Tetouan too, khlii and the dried meat qadid are among the important provisions; Hassan Akdi and Noureddine Achboun count the khlii there among the dishes of Andalusian origin. Citing the historian Mohammed Daoud, they relate that the caid of Tetouan, Ash'ash, once sent Sultan Moulay Abderrahmane thirty vessels full of khlii together with pastries.⁶

How it is made

In Fez, families used to prepare their khlii once a year, usually in summer, from a cow, a sheep or, in wealthy households, a dromedary.⁷ The meat, cut into strips, lies overnight in a marinade of crushed garlic, vinegar, ground coriander and salt and dries in the sun the next day; for how long depends on the season.⁸

In the south, the strips of meat for the dried meat gedid are seasoned with cumin, coriander, red pepper and garlic before they dry.⁹ Long cooking of this dried meat with plenty of fat produces xliʿ.¹⁰

In Tetouan the women prepare khlii in groups or on their own: garlic, cumin, coriander seeds and salt are dried in the sun, pounded in a mortar and mixed with a little vinegar and oil into the marinade (chermoula); the boned meat, usually beef, lies in it overnight, is turned, marinated once more and then dries in the air, but not in the full sun.¹¹ Once the meat is completely dry, water with salted, dried fat is boiled in a large cauldron over charcoal or wood; when it has melted, the meat, olive oil and ordinary oil are added, and everything cooks until the water has evaporated. The finale is the “douqa”, the tasting of the cooled khlii with bread baked specially for the purpose.¹²

When

The salted and seasoned meat lguedid, which later becomes khlii, belongs to the Feast of the Sacrifice, Aid al-Adha; it prolongs the pleasure of the feast and flavours couscous and other dishes.¹³ According to the Encyclopédie berbère, xliʿ is food for the road, usually eaten with hot bread and tea.¹⁴ In Tetouan, khlii is the breakfast on feast days.¹⁵

During Ramadan, msemen with khlii is eaten in Fez, and in Meknes rghaif stuffed with khlii and meat; khlii is also popular for breaking the fast in Oujda.¹⁶