November 3, 2008
What happens to foods that are in Moroccan souks and food stalls if they are not sold at the end of the day?
Kirin Patrick asked:
Hello again everyone, I watched this documentary on Morocco and was wondering about this? Moroccans so generous with their foods I tell ya. They always have so much to offer which I've noticed in many Middle Eastern cultures. You don't see a tiny display ever, everything is just so abundant. Not to mention I wanted to eat everything I saw.
Since there is lack of refrigation because Moroccans love their foods fresh, I was just was wondering what happens to all that great food at the end of the day? Do they sell it at a discounted price, save them for another day, throw it all away? Just curious.:-):-)
Hello again everyone, I watched this documentary on Morocco and was wondering about this? Moroccans so generous with their foods I tell ya. They always have so much to offer which I've noticed in many Middle Eastern cultures. You don't see a tiny display ever, everything is just so abundant. Not to mention I wanted to eat everything I saw.
Since there is lack of refrigation because Moroccans love their foods fresh, I was just was wondering what happens to all that great food at the end of the day? Do they sell it at a discounted price, save them for another day, throw it all away? Just curious.:-):-)Filed under Ethnic Cuisine by admin
Comments on What happens to foods that are in Moroccan souks and food stalls if they are not sold at the end of the day?
Thats a good question, one I would also wonder what the answer would be, but knowing about middle eastern culture, throwing away food is frowned upon. Islamically wasting food is a sin, I wouldnt be surprised if they just recycled it.
In India, any extra unsold food is distributed among the poor or given to orphanages and shelters. I am sure they must be doing the same in Morocco.
Only in the US is food wasted in such massive amounts.
There's really very little wasted at all. Because the vending (and buying) culture is still very much like what I knew as a small child some 50 years ago, produce is stored cool and dark overnight, regraded on re-display the next day and what is no longer thought to be A1 is then offered at a special price, just like market vendors here (UK) used to do and, more often than not, still do today.
Arab vendors of freshly prepared foods, first of all, tend to be very canny in judging how much to make ahead to match what the market is likely to bear, and from what I saw when I was there for a few months, overstocks and left overs are offered at give-away prices at the end of the day, and ultimately discreetly given away. Many a time, at dusk, have I had a parcel almost forced on me with a broad grin, filled with some delicacy the seller had noticed over time I had become rather (too?) partial to…
I fear the heedless discarding of good food is a supermarket-age effect, and a pretty horrid one at that.
It really depends on which items you are referring to.
Day old bread is given away to individuals or to men who collect it for donkeys. Even my old bread gets put in a bag and left outside for someone to pick up for their donkey.
I don't believe you will find the average Moroccan throwing out any food day old or not.
The more expensive patisseries sell their day old to little neighborhood cafes. The stuff is still good just not good enough to sell for 10 dirhams anymore (maybe 5 a day old).
For the most part any produce that is reaching the point where people won't eat it is fed to animals (donkeys, goats etc).
Sarah is right (actually, I like all the answers)…by the way…some displays are just made to look very abundant. For example, the olives are usually not really a full pile of olives. They have a 'tree' like structure inside and a couple layers are piled on that.