Can coeliacs and gluten-free travellers eat day-to-day in Morocco?

I won’t sugar-coat it: strict coeliac travel in Morocco needs planning, because awareness of gluten as a medical issue is still low and the staple grain — couscous — is pure wheat semolina. But the good news is that a huge amount of traditional Moroccan cooking is naturally gluten-free, so once you know the landmines, you can eat beautifully and safely. This is a conversation I have in detail with every coeliac client before they travel.

Start with what’s safe. Tagines are the hero dish — slow-cooked meat or vegetables with spices, naturally gluten-free as long as no flour or bread is added (occasionally a tagine is thickened or served with bread to dip, so confirm). Grilled meats and brochettes, mechoui (roast lamb), eggs, salads like zaalouk and taktouka, olives, rice dishes, and all that wonderful fruit are fine. Mint tea and coffee are safe. You will not go hungry on the naturally-GF core of the cuisine.

Now the hazards, and they’re significant. Couscous is wheat — non-negotiable, avoid it entirely. Bread (khobz) and the breakfast pancakes (msemen, baghrir, harcha) are all wheat-based and central to most meals. Harira soup is typically thickened with flour. Pastries, briouats and pastilla use wheat pastry. Cross-contamination is the bigger worry — shared fryers, couscous steam, bread crumbs everywhere — and most kitchens won’t understand the severity, so trace amounts are a real risk for true coeliacs.

My practical toolkit for coeliac clients: carry a detailed gluten-free restaurant card written in Moroccan Arabic and French explaining coeliac disease and cross-contamination, not just "no wheat." Eat at riads and better restaurants where I’ve briefed the kitchen in advance, rather than improvising at busy street stalls. Lean on naturally-GF dishes, fruit, eggs and grilled food. And accept that the deep south and rural areas are harder than Marrakech or Casablanca, where understanding is growing. With that preparation, coeliacs do travel here successfully and eat very well.