What are iftar and suhoor, the Ramadan meals in Morocco?

These are the two meals that frame a Ramadan day. Throughout the holy month, observant Muslims take no food or drink between dawn and sunset; iftar is the joyful breaking of that fast at the very moment the sun sets, and suhoor is the quieter meal taken before first light to sustain the coming day of fasting. Knowing both words instantly makes Ramadan in Morocco legible.

A Moroccan iftar is a sensory event I love sharing with guests. It traditionally opens with dates and a glass of milk, then harira — the rich tomato-and-lentil soup that is the soul of the season — alongside chebakia, hard-boiled eggs and pastries. The streets empty in the final minutes before sunset, then a cannon or the maghrib call sounds, and the whole country exhales and eats together.

Suhoor is the gentler bookend, eaten in the hush before dawn — something filling and slow-releasing to carry a person through the fasting day. Travellers rarely join suhoor, but in Ramadan you may hear the streets stir oddly early and now you'll know why. Some riads will happily arrange a suhoor for curious guests who want the full rhythm of the month.

If you visit during Ramadan, I always encourage joining an iftar, whether at a restaurant laying on a special spread or, even better, as a guest in a Moroccan home. Being invited to break the fast is a real mark of hospitality here. As a non-fasting visitor you simply eat and drink discreetly during the day — out of sight of those fasting — and the welcome you receive at sunset is unforgettable.