Makouda & Briwat: Morocco’s Finest Fried Street Snacks

At its core, makouda is a mashed potato fritter. The potato is boiled, mashed and seasoned with garlic, cumin, salt, flat-leaf parsley and often a pinch of coriander. The mixture is shaped into balls or thick patties, coated in an egg-and-flour batter and then deep-fried in vegetable oil until the outside is crisp and golden. Some vendors add a little harissa to the mash for heat, others keep it mild so customers can dip to taste. It is genuinely one of the cheapest hot snacks in Morocco — a few dirhams buys a paper bag-full.

Briwat can be either savoury or sweet, and the filling depends on the occasion and the city. The most common savoury filling is spiced ground lamb or beef with onion, coriander and cumin — essentially a kefta blend. In Fes you also find chicken versions with preserved lemon. Sweet briwat typically contain toasted almond paste flavoured with cinnamon and orange blossom water, then finished in warm honey and sesame seeds. During Ramadan, the almond-honey version is almost mandatory at iftar tables across the country.

Makouda is almost always savoury — seasoned potato and spices, served with a tomato-harissa dipping sauce. Briwat, however, comes in both versions. On the street you are most likely to encounter savoury meat-filled briwat during the day, while sweet almond-and-honey briwat are more prominent at celebrations, pastry shops and during Ramadan. The easiest way to tell them apart at a stall is that the sweet ones are usually glistening with honey and dusted in sesame seeds.

The edges of Jemaa el-Fna square are the obvious starting point — portable fried snacks cluster around the outer stalls where fixed-cart vendors set up from late morning. For a less theatrical experience, walk into the Mellah market or along Rue Bab Agnaou; those stalls tend to serve a local clientele, which usually means fresher turnover and lower prices. The Derb Debbachi lane near the Bahia Palace is another strong area for grab-and-go fried snacks, especially in the early evening when foot traffic peaks.

Fresh fried food served piping hot is generally lower risk than raw produce or pre-cooked items sitting out. Both makouda and briwat spend time in very hot oil, which kills most pathogens. The practical rule is to choose stalls with high turnover — a bubbling fryer constantly replenished with fresh batches is safer than oil that has been sitting at lower temperatures for hours. Look for queues of local shoppers, not tourist-facing displays. Eating early in the evening rush, when the oil is hottest and the batches freshest, is the sensible approach.

Yes, though sourcing authentic warqa pastry outside Morocco takes effort — brick pastry or spring roll wrappers are the most practical substitutes, though they fry up slightly differently. The almond filling is straightforward: blanched almonds toasted and ground with cinnamon, sugar and orange blossom water. Once you have the filling and pastry, the triangular fold (a flag-style pleat done corner to corner) takes a few practice runs but is satisfying once it clicks. Finish in very hot oil for 90 seconds per side, then dip immediately in warm honey and scatter with toasted sesame seeds.

These are among the most affordable street foods in the country. Makouda typically sell for 1–3 MAD per ball at city-centre stalls — a generous paper-bag portion costs around 10 MAD. Individual briwat at street stalls run 2–5 MAD each, or a plate of four to six for 15–25 MAD (all prices indicative and subject to location; tourist-facing areas may charge more). In pastry shops and cafés, a plated version with tea will cost proportionally more, but even then you are unlikely to spend over 40–50 MAD for a snack.