What ceramics and pottery should I buy?

Moroccan ceramics are gorgeous and very buyable, but the best pieces are tied to specific towns, so it helps to know what's what. Fes is famous for its blue-and-white (and the deep 'Fes blue' cobalt) — fine bowls, plates and the intricate zellige tilework. Safi on the Atlantic coast is the other big pottery town, known for bolder, more colourful glazes. And out near the desert, the village of Tamegroute makes a wonderful, slightly rustic green-glazed pottery that's unlike anything else and a great find if you're heading south.

The first thing to check is hand-painted versus transfer-printed. On a genuinely hand-painted piece you'll see real brushstrokes, tiny variations between identical-looking plates, and the odd charming imperfection where the line wobbles. Mass-produced tourist ware has a flat, photographic, perfectly repeating pattern — fine if that's all you want, but don't pay artisan prices for it. Turn a plate over: hand-thrown pieces often have an unglazed foot ring and slight asymmetry.

If you're buying a tagine, ask the crucial question: is it decorative or for cooking? The beautiful, heavily painted ones are usually glazed for display and can crack or leach on a flame. A real cooking tagine is plainer, often unglazed terracotta or simply glazed, and needs seasoning (soak and oil it) before first use. I tell guests to buy one of each if they love the look — a pretty one for the shelf and an honest clay one for the kitchen.

Rough prices, negotiable: a small decorative tagine 80–200 MAD, a good hand-painted serving bowl 60–150 MAD, a set of tea glasses with a painted tray 150–350 MAD, and Tamegroute green bowls often very reasonable at source. The real challenge is getting it home in one piece — ceramics are heavy and fragile. Have the shop bubble-wrap each piece generously, then carry the breakables in your hand luggage rather than trusting checked baggage; a cracked tagine is a sad end to a lovely buy.