Is Moroccan food all spicy?

There's a useful distinction hiding inside this question: 'spiced' is not the same as 'spicy', and Moroccan cuisine is the former, not the latter. The food is deeply, gorgeously spiced — think the warm sweetness of cinnamon, the earthiness of cumin, the perfume of saffron and ginger, the famous ras el hanout blend with its dozens of components — but almost none of that translates to chilli heat. If your worry is a burning mouth, you can relax completely; Moroccan flavour is about aroma and depth, not fire.

Walk through the staples and you'll see it. A lamb-and-prune tagine is sweet and savoury; chicken with preserved lemon and olives is tangy and bright; couscous is comforting and mild; pastilla is downright sweet, dusted with cinnamon and sugar over savoury filling. Harira soup is hearty and herby. Breakfast is bread, olives, jams, and eggs. None of these are built around heat, and children and spice-sensitive travellers across my client base eat the national dishes happily without a second thought.

Where heat does appear, it's optional and on the side. Harissa — the fiery red chilli paste — is the one genuinely hot element, and the Moroccan way is to serve it separately so you stir in as little or as much as you like. Some street-food spots and certain regional dishes lean spicier, and a bowl of bessara or a merguez sausage can carry a kick, but you're in control. Ask 'is this spicy?' and you'll get a straight answer; tell them you don't want heat and they'll happily oblige.

The flip side, which I mention so spice-lovers aren't disappointed, is that you may find the food milder than you hoped if you crave proper chilli burn — Moroccan cuisine simply isn't aiming for that, and you'll want to befriend the harissa pot and seek out the spicier street stalls. But for the great majority who fear an inedibly hot trip, the reassurance is firm: Moroccan food is one of the world's great aromatic cuisines, generous with spice and shy with heat, and almost everyone finds it approachable and delicious.