Street Vendors, Marrakesh

When in Marrakech, eating at the food stalls on Djemaa El Fna square is an absolute must!

Hundreds of stalls set up in the square each evening, offering a selection of tasty meals at ridiculously cheap prices. Competition is fierce and each stall will try to entice you to eat there with promises of the best food in town! The touts have clearly been working on their sales pitch - I was met with shouts of "Marks and Spencers quality food", "our food is sound as a pound/lovely jubbly" and "cheaper than Asda prices".

In truth, I was a little apprehensive about eating food from street vendors. Each stall displays its raw meat out in the open, with flies buzzing around. So, the first time I ventured down to Djemaa El Fna I decided I'd just eat my meal....and then see if I was ill the next morning! I'm happy to report that I ate at the food stalls at Djemaa El Fna on several occasions and never suffered any illness at all.

One of the stalls that I visited during my trip in February 2007 was #42: Rachida (each stall has its own number and name).

On this occasion I was beckoned in by the waiter who insisted on showing me the range of food available at Rachida. He took me by the hand and led me along a line of raw meat (sausages, whole chickens, lamb and beef kebabs), fish, shrimps, calamari, couscous, eggplant and plates of salad. I told him that I'd have a look around and come back later, but he offered me a complimentary glass of mint tea (or "Moroccan Whisky" as he referred to it!) while I studied the menu - and I relented and agreed to eat there.

I took a seat on one of the empty benches (quite a rarity at Djemaa El Fna where you usually have to battle for elbow room with neighbouring diners!) and received my glass of mint tea along with a paper place mat, a piece of round bread and a tomato dip.

I ordered a plate of fried shrimps and a bottle of Fanta orange. After a few minutes, I received a plate half filled with fried shrimps...and half filled with calamari. I picked at the calmari, but ate very little of it. The shrimps, on the other hand, were very tasty and I soon emptied that half of my plate. The waiter saw that I wasn't eating the calamari and apologised for assuming that I wanted it. He then ordered one of the cooks to serve me another handful of shrimps, which arrived a few minutes later.

After polishing off my additional shrimps, Rachid brought me another glass of mint tea. I sat back and watched the spectacle around me - hundreds of food stalls selling cheap, tasty food, thousands of people (locals and tourists alike) mingling, the sound of drums being played and the smell of meat being cooked. Eating at the food stalls of Djemaa El Fna really is one of the things that you must do to *experience* Marrakech!

The total cost of my meal (shrimps, calamari, bread, tomato dip, bottle of Fanta orange and 2 glasses of refreshing mint tea) was just 40 Dhs (approx. 2.50 GBP)!!

Eating at the food stalls of Djemaa El Fna is one of the best ways to really experience Marrakech and to meet its people! Many of the food stalls offer similar food, but each has its own character - be sure to drop by #42 Rachida to try the delicious fried shrimps! Highly recommended!!

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Street Vendors, Marrakesh

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