Tea was first introduced to Morocco at the court of Emperor Moulay Ismail (1672-1727), who held sixty-nine British prisoners of war and refused to release them. Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) is reported to have believed that “two large copper tea fountains and some good quality tea” would be what could soften the heart of the Emperor of Morocco.
Abdellah Ben Aicha, ministre et ambassadeur du souverain marocain auprès Louis XIV, en demanda avec insistance au négociant parisien Jourdan, qui entretenait des relations d’affaires avec le Maroc.
It is also reported that Moulay Ismail urged the Franciscan monks of his capital, Meknes, to bring him tea among the customary gifts.
Tea consumption habits in the Kingdom
Tea across the regions.
Today, tea is, after milk and dates, the second constant in Moroccan hospitality traditions. From the most model-making to the richest, there is no home where the visitor is not served one or even several glasses of tea. The tea ceremony varies according to region, but also according to means. The preparation of “ataï bi naanah” also differs depending on eating habits.
The great politeness being to offer tea to the person who is going to visit one of their friends, we have no regard for the time: tea is always brought; it is served on a table with very short legs. It is made in Morocco by mixing mint and tansy leaves. When this mixture is well infused, it is poured into superb Indian porcelain cups, of remarkable smallness. It is presented without milk or cream, with a few cakes of dry jam. The small quantity that is served at a time of this drink shows how much value the Moors place on it. A tea treat lasts at least two hours; “Only rich people can drink it, because of its rarity in Barbary,” G. Lemprière (1790). (English doctor who came to Morocco to treat the sultan’s son).
Souss and Sub-Saharan regions
As for the peoples of the desert, great lovers of green tea, it is all their spirituality which is expressed through the sharing of tea, a silent symbol of their generosity. It is omnipresent in the desert… Green tea, which is said to have arrived in the Sahara by the Ocean during the 18th century, today constitutes one of the main products of Saharan trade with the traditional sugar loaf that is broken in pieces. Monod explains it in Méharées (Actes Sud, Arles, 1989): “Small teapots, glasses Harsh decoction for the first glass, then horribly sweet, syrupy. The – tour – liturg- Like ajopoeu lowercase. that consists of three glasses, sometimes four. The mixture is occasionally flavored with mint, -gartoufa- (aromatic mixture), cloves, lavender, or even pepper. Obviously, the number of glasses varies depending on the wealth of the guests. The Tuaregs call this ritual of three consecrated glasses that we drink while chatting – timia. Tea is generally accompanied by a piece of cake cooked in ashes on the desert sand. The pancake is served as is or moistened with sweetened sheep’s milk, or with sour whey.
O humidity of the hammams, intense memories of hours of pleasure melting into the steam of these closed doors, humid, silent, crossed by modesty and hidden temptations, of indescribable and muffled brushing, of secret chatter and of bodies delivered to the hands experts who knead soft flesh or tense muscles. The mist of the hammams envelops the men among themselves, the women among themselves, freeing them from their shame, from their inhibition, as from their inability to show themselves as they are, naked or half-naked, as if faced with forgiveness. of God, or as before the forbidden judgment of humans. Tea, the highlight of these hours stolen in the hammam! We leave this antechamber of all desires to better meet around a mint tea, and a few various pastries placed on large copper trays, slumped as we are then in the depths of the cushions, in a living room where everyone observes themselves in complete freedom, each giving themselves over to the other, their bodies softened and their minds fertile. »
Gilles Brochard. Little Treatise on Tea (Editions de la Table Ronde, Paris, 1997).
« Mint tea stirs romantic imaginations in us. We dream of departures, of caravans, of Bedouin tents, of tea stalls on the border of the desert, of blue scarves and of shrill cries uttered by veiled women. We recompose senseless love stories, harems, caliphs, mischievous glances and plots hatched in luxurious seraglios or in pitiful caravanserais, aphrodisiac cuisines and suspicious teapots filled with mahjoun, this paste made of hashish. We abandon ourselves to rediscovering, in a memory that is not ours, colorful festivals organized around endless meals of makroutes and dates, cooked with love by hostesses who would not serve you tea if you refuse to honor these infinite sweetnesses. O depth of ecstasies at twilight! »
Gilles Brochard. Little Treatise on Tea (Editions de la Table Ronde, Paris, 1997).
The water
The process of tea is the journey of water. Tea does not oppose water like wine, nor does it cover it with its color or its character – like coffee, it ventures completely and makes it appear to its measure. During its manufacture, the Chinese leaf loses the water which sustains it during preparation, it regains it as a vehicle; during the tasting, they lean against each other for a bottomless test. We too often forget that tea is. all in all, a subtly scented water, and as such its qualities must be taken into account. It is said that Chinese tea masters were able to recognize in the infusion the specific taste of certain waters, whether they were drawn from the edge of a river, from the course of a torrent, or the depths of a well.
Sugar
Sugar From the start of its consumption in Morocco, tea was accompanied by sugar, perfectly matching the taste of Moroccans, who were not inclined to consume unsweetened drinks, and recalling in particular the influence of tea consumption on the English one.
Moroccans drink sweet, even very sweet, tea. The ingredient has undergone a striking evolution, and has ended up taking on an importance disproportionate to its initial function. In certain situations, tea has been prized as a sugar transporter, in other words an excuse to consume high-calorie sugar. “Drink a glass of sugar” is an expression used in certain rural regions of the country to refer to tea.
The choice of sugar, between pieces, bars and bread, is also important in the preparation of tea. Some purists still refuse today to prepare tea other than with loaf sugar, which is sometimes unobtainable and increasingly expensive. Certainly, loaf sugar gives a characteristic taste to Moroccan tea, but above all it has acquired great symbolic importance through this consumption. When all other dishes are cooked out of sight, tea wants to be seen. Preparing it in the kitchen would be breaking the traditional rules of hospitality.
Mint and aromatic herbs
Mint constitutes the component which makes the Moroccan thệ recipe original, so much so that the expression “mint tea” has become emblematic and systematically refers to exotic images linked to Morocco such as “couscous, tagine, ” caftan”, “Souk”, etc. But contrary to the image spread abroad, mint is not systematically used in the preparation of Moroccan tea, which can be made, depending on the regions considered, with green tea alone, or with tea. accompanied by mint or even other aromatic herbs.
Indeed, different aromatic plants are used in addition to or instead of mint, depending on the regions, the time of year and the consequent availability of said plants. During the preparation, the officiant generally begins by crushing the mint and aromatic herbs by hand, so that they exude their scents better, and then places the sugar cubes on top in order to prevent the leaves from rising, when he add water, or burn out of water, which would alter the taste. He then plunges the recalcitrant leaves back into the boiling water using a sprig of mint, which he then leaves in the rinsing glass. He will finally let the preparation rest.
THE MOROCCAN TEA CEREMONIAL
The method of preparation
The tea ceremonial now belongs to the cultural heritage of Morocco, and allows access to the Marccan interior to the forms of hospitality and welcome typical of the country. It is part of an attentive look at the specific traits of a Morocco which, for some, was still little known, and was just beginning to open up. In fact, the first descriptions of the progress, more or less detailed, of the Moroccan ceremonial preparation of tea are provided by testimonies of Europeans, diplomats or explorers of the 19th century, later relayed by different authors of the protectorate. The majority of these descriptions relate typical scenes of Moroccan notables receiving passing visitors, organizing a reception or welcoming guests in large numbers. The notion of ritual and prestige is omnipresent. But beyond the precise descriptions and their degree of fidelity, the Moroccan tea preparation ceremonial is a precise ordering of gestures, functions and etiquettes in a specific space. First of all, who is responsible for preparing the drink? Generally the master of the house or a man specifically designated for this delicate mission A person of authority – which does not mean – authoritarian – leader, father, dean, who, through his commitment and his responsibilities, makes available to his host the fruits of his action.
The teapot
In Morocco the teapot is called “berrad” literally “cooler”
The classic shape of the Moroccan teapot is characteristic to the point of becoming emblematic of a certain Moroccan savoir-vivre. This form has, however, undergone various evolutions inspired by foreign models and passing fashions. In addition, various materials are used today, but the use of silverware and metal remains predominant. This, contrary to the basic concepts of tea preparation, is intended to combat the bitterness of mint tea, the metal transmitting an acidic taste.
Another explanation for the use of metal teapots appears in a study of the Moorish teapot, published in the early 1950s.
Théodore Monod reported the invention of the teapot “of the globular type, in polychrome enameled iron, in a bright plain color or decorated with stylized floral motifs. More robust and able to be handled with less caution than the pear-shaped pewter teapot, which readily becomes an item for tents and camps, the enameled teapot tends on the contrary to become that of bivouac, travel and the brutalities of the road.
Models largely inspired by English teapots and named in Morocco “Ettir” in reference to the bird placed on the lids.
The tea set.
« Observing how the ritual plates enter the scene” is already a sign; depending on whether they are in gilded metal or in tinplate, chiseled or bare, covered with an embroidered towel or not, and if they are placed on the seniya, a low metal piece of furniture, the tefor, in crafted and painted wood, or on the floor of a nouala,” Xavier Girard, Symboles du Maroc
(Editions Assouline, Paris, 2001).
Trays.
Basic elements of “dara” and traditionally called sinya”, literally in Arabic “the Chinese” in reference to the origin of tea, can be circular or oval in shape and are traditionally covered with precious and embroidered veils. refined to protect items – boxes, glasses, accessories, etc. – that they contain. Embroideries from Rabat or Fez adorn these delicate curtains, once the centerpieces of young girls’ trousseaus…
It is true that Pasha El Glaoui, a great aesthete and lover of art objects and rare and authentic pieces – as proof, the Pasha watch from Cartier would have been made and named for him – held within his palace of Marrakech a unique collection of tea-related objects, most of which were made of solid silver. After his death, several elements of this collection were bought by large families, the rest still sits in his “stînya” palace, transformed today into a guest residence reserved for presidents and heads of state passing through Marrakech. According to another version, the process is reversed and Richard Wright originally only copied the teapots that rich Moroccan families re-silvered in Manchester.
The tea cup
Moroccan tea glasses, often decorated with golden plant friezes, are a reflection of the silver wine glasses once used by the Romans during banquets, such as in the famous Boscoreale treasure. The use of tea cups is uncommon, if not non-existent, in Moroccan circles. In Morocco, tea is drunk hot in a medium-sized glass, often decorated, held between the thumb and forefinger, placed between the bottom of the glass and the top, generally marked by a golden border. The tea glass can be cut and stamped rock crystal, in wealthy circles, industrial crystal or gold or silver colored glass, decorated with arabesques and often oriental motifs pleasing to the eye, or simply ordinary – glasses called “hayati” are the most common,
Big thanks to Noufissa Kessar Raji
The Art of Tea in Morocco.
Traditions.
Rituals.
Symbols.
photographs by Michel Lebrun
