What does a full Moroccan feast (diffa) include?

A diffa is Morocco at its most lavish — the ceremonial banquet thrown for weddings, religious celebrations and honoured guests, and being invited to one is a real privilege. It unfolds over hours in a sequence designed to overwhelm in the best way. You wash your hands at the table from a brass ewer, bread and olives are already waiting, and then the procession of courses begins, each shared from large communal platters as music and conversation swell around you.

The classic opener is pastilla (bastilla) — that astonishing pie of flaky warqa pastry layered with shredded pigeon or chicken, almonds and eggs, dusted on top with icing sugar and cinnamon. Sweet and savoury at once, it stops first-timers in their tracks; I have watched guests fall silent at the first forkful. It signals that this is no ordinary meal.

Then come the tagines — often more than one, perhaps lamb with prunes and toasted almonds, and chicken with preserved lemon and olives — followed by the grand centrepiece. This is usually a towering couscous crowned with seven vegetables and meat, or a whole méchoui lamb so tender it is pulled apart by hand. By now you think you are finished, but tradition keeps going: a course of fresh fruit to refresh the palate, then trays of pastries — kaab el ghazal, briouats, ghriba — to nibble.

And the close, inevitably, is mint tea, poured ceremonially to aid digestion and mark the meal’s end. My honest advice: pace yourself ruthlessly from the start, because the volume is staggering and refusing dishes can disappoint your hosts — take a little of everything rather than filling up early. Eat with your right hand from the section of the platter nearest you. On our most special itineraries we arrange a true diffa in a restored riad, complete with the pastilla, the méchoui and live Andalusian music.