What are Moroccan festival / celebration foods?

In Morocco, celebration is measured in food — and in generosity. Every major festival or family milestone has its own edible signature, and being invited to one is the single best way to understand the culture. I've sat at Eid tables and wedding feasts where the sheer abundance was overwhelming, in the most wonderful way.

Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice, is the great meat festival. After the lamb is sacrificed, the first thing eaten — often that very morning — is boulfaf: cubes of liver wrapped in caul fat and grilled on skewers, smoky and rich. Over the following days the household works through the whole animal: mrouzia (lamb slow-cooked with honey, raisins, almonds and ras el hanout), tagines, head and trotters, and grilled chops. Nothing is wasted, and neighbours share portions with those who have less.

Eid al-Fitr, ending Ramadan, is the sweet festival. Homes fill with trays of cookies and pastries — chebakia (sesame-and-honey flower shapes), kaab el ghzal (gazelle horns), ghriba (crumbly shortbread), fekkas and briouats — served with mint tea to a stream of visiting relatives. Weddings and the sebou (a baby's seventh-day naming ceremony) bring out the showstoppers: pastilla, méchoui, layered sweet seffa (cinnamon-dusted vermicelli or couscous), and bowls of energy-dense sellou.

What unites all of it is the spirit of plenty and sharing. A celebration plate is meant to look impossibly generous; refusing food is almost impossible. When our trips coincide with a festival or we can arrange a family celebration meal, I jump at it — there's no menu in any restaurant that captures Morocco's warmth the way a holiday table set for forty does.