Is street food safe to eat in Morocco?

Street food is one of the great pleasures here and I'd hate for fear to keep you from it — but eat smart. My golden rule is heat and turnover: go where there's a queue of locals, where the grill is roaring and food is cooked to order in front of you. A skewer of lamb that's just come off the charcoal, or a bowl of bissara (split-pea soup) ladled steaming from the pot, is far safer than anything sitting lukewarm in a tray. High heat is your friend.

Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakech at night is the obvious arena — rows of stalls, smoke, snail soup, sizzling merguez, fresh-fried fish. Pick the stalls that are mobbed, not the empty one with the over-eager tout. Watch the cook handle money and food with the same hand? Move on. The busy ones sell through their stock fast, so nothing lingers. I eat there happily and so do my travellers.

Where I'd be careful: raw salads washed in tap water, mayonnaise-based sauces left in the heat, pre-cut fruit on a cart, and freshly squeezed orange juice if you can't see it pressed in front of you (the famous Jemaa el-Fna juice carts are usually fine — you watch them squeeze it). Stick to bottled or filtered water, skip ice if you're unsure of its source, and peel your own fruit. These small habits prevent most upsets.

Honestly, the most common cause of a dodgy stomach isn't grim street stalls — it's an unfamiliar diet, more spice, more oil, more bread, and the heat. Ease in, carry rehydration sachets just in case, and don't go from airport to a twelve-skewer feast on night one. Do that, and street food becomes the best, cheapest, most memorable eating of your whole trip.