What are briouats, the Moroccan stuffed pastry triangles?

Briouats are Morocco’s little parcels of delight, and they come in both savoury and sweet forms, which often confuses first-time visitors. The wrapper is warqa, a paper-thin pastry similar to filo, folded around a filling into a neat triangle or rolled into a cigar shape, then deep-fried (or sometimes baked) until shatteringly crisp and golden. They are bite-sized, made for sharing, and rarely last long on a table.

The savoury versions are my favourite to start a meal: spiced minced lamb or beef, shredded chicken with onion and lemon, or seafood bound with vermicelli and herbs, all warmly seasoned with cumin, cinnamon, and fresh coriander. You crunch through the crisp shell into a hot, fragrant centre. The sweet versions are filled with cinnamon-spiced almond paste, fried, then dipped in honey and rolled in sesame — dessert in two bites.

You will meet briouats most often as part of a celebration spread, at weddings, family feasts, and during Ramadan, where both sweet and savoury appear together. They are also classic café and restaurant starters. Because the wrapping and folding is fiddly, making them is often a communal job, with several pairs of hands working through a big pile of warqa squares while gossip flows.

Good briouats turn up everywhere from upscale restaurants to wedding caterers, but the freshest are eaten moments after frying. On cooking classes I have guests fold their own, which always produces laughter and a few comically lopsided triangles. If you order a Moroccan tasting menu, briouats are usually the crisp little teaser that opens it — do not fill up before the tagine arrives.