Msemen

What it is

Msemen, also called rghaif, is a flatbread that comes from the Maghreb and is widespread there.¹ In his lexicon of Maghrebi dish names, Mohamed Oubahli lists r'ghayf and m'samman as Moroccan equivalents, for comparison with a pastry from the eastern Maghreb: a square of flaky pastry, fried and soaked in honey.²

Harrell’s dictionary of Moroccan Arabic records rġifa, plural rġayef, as a kind of pancake, and alongside it rġayef del-ferran, a flat tart of bread dough with a filling of spiced meat that is baked in the oven.³

History

An anonymous 13th-century collection of recipes from al-Andalus, Muslim Spain, contains a recipe for musammana (“buttered”), which is also called muwarraqa (“leafy”).⁴ In it, a firm dough without yeast made from semolina or wheat flour is kneaded for a long time, rolled out thinly, brushed with butter, rolled up, patted flat again with the palm of the hand and baked in a pan greased with clarified butter.⁵ Finally butter and hot honey were poured over it, and once it had cooled, sugar.⁶

For Tetouan, Hassan Akdi and Noureddine Achboun cite a letter from the time of Sultan Hassan I dated 15 Muharram 1307 (1889): four servants of the sultan’s palace were sent to Tetouan to learn baking from Andalusian families of the city; the list of pastries taught there includes, besides baghrir and sfenj, the msemmna and rghaif with cheese.⁷

How it is made

The dough is folded into a square flatbread so that there are several layers inside, and cooked on a hot griddle.⁸ A variant, called mlewi in the Maghreb, is made from dough that is pulled into strands and coiled into a round disc.⁹

When

In Tetouan, rghaif are part of breakfast: those who do not start with bissara or harira eat wheat bread or rghaif with butter, cheese and smen, with milky coffee.¹⁰

Msemen is usually eaten with honey, and in the morning also with mint tea or coffee.¹¹ It can be filled, with meat such as khlii or with onions and tomatoes.¹²

Msemen is part of breaking the fast during Ramadan in many areas of Morocco: in Tangier alongside harira and chebakia, in Taliouine alongside baghrir and meloui with butter and honey, in Khenifra alongside harira, dates and chebakia.¹³ In Fez it then comes to the table with khlii, and in Meknes rghaif are filled with khlii and meat.¹⁴