Mida

What it is

In Moroccan Arabic, mida denotes the table as a piece of furniture and in particular a low, round serving table with a raised rim.¹ The same word is also used for the board on which unbaked bread is carried to the public oven.²

Many Moroccan families eat at a low, round table, sitting on cushions or low sofas.³ Often the whole family eats from one large dish in the middle, each from their own side; bread (khobz) serves as cutlery.⁴

In more traditional households the seating follows age and standing: older people and guests of honour sit closest to the food, and guests wait until they are shown a seat.⁵ Reaching across the table is considered impolite; you take from the side nearest to you.⁶

Hosts or older people often pick out the best pieces of meat or vegetables and hand them to guests or younger people.⁷ The host pours the tea from a height; guests do not serve themselves.⁸

When

In 1914 Westermarck described the role of small tables at weddings in Fez: at the engagement, the bride sent the groom small tables with sugar, fresh butter, milk, mint, kaab ghzal and ghriba, which were sent back to her.⁹ On the evening before she moved in, the negagef, the bride’s attendants, lifted the dressed bride onto a low table, took it on their shoulders and danced with it through the house; the next day she was carried around in the same way in the groom’s house.¹⁰

This still exists today: in a study of wedding outfitters, a photo shows a bride, accompanied by her negafa (the woman who guides the bride through the celebration and provides the outfits), just stepping onto the mida.¹¹