What Is Seffa? (Moroccan Sweet Couscous)

Seffa is made from steamed couscous grains (or thin vermicelli noodles, in the version called seffa medfouna), repeatedly steamed and fluffed with butter, then sweetened and aromatic: dusted generously with ground cinnamon and icing sugar and studded with fried or toasted almonds, sometimes raisins, and orange-blossom water.

The result is light, sweet, nutty and fragrant — sometimes served as a dessert, sometimes as a sweet-savoury main course.

As a dessert, seffa is simply the sweetened couscous/vermicelli with cinnamon, sugar and almonds. As a main, seffa medfouna (“buried” seffa) hides tender, spiced chicken (or other meat) under the mound of sweet couscous — the classic Moroccan sweet-and-savoury combination, like a cousin of pastilla.

It is a dish of hospitality and celebration, often served at weddings, family gatherings and during Ramadan.

Seffa is more of a home-cooked and special-occasion dish than an everyday restaurant staple, but traditional restaurants serving Moroccan home cooking, riads and set-menu feasts may offer it. It sometimes appears as a dessert course or a celebratory main.

If you see it, try it — it is a comforting, distinctive taste, and a cooking class focused on traditional dishes is a good way to encounter it. Pair the dessert version with mint tea.