What food will kids eat in Morocco, especially fussy eaters?

This is the worry that keeps parents up at night, and I can put it to rest: even committed fussy eaters do fine in Morocco. The cuisine has a deep bench of plain, child-friendly staples. Fresh bread (khobz) comes with every meal and most kids happily live on it. Plain couscous, French fries (everywhere), omelettes and scrambled eggs, grilled chicken or beef brochettes, plain rice, and pasta or pizza in any city restaurant give you a reliable fallback for the pickiest child. No one goes hungry here.

For the more adventurous, Morocco is a soft, mild, kid-friendly cuisine rather than a fiery one — the heat lives in a side dish of harissa you control, not in the food itself. A chicken-and-lemon tagine, kefta meatballs, vegetable couscous, lentil soup (harira) and chicken pastilla are all gentle enough for curious children. Breakfast is a particular winner: msemen and baghrir pancakes with honey and butter, fresh orange juice, soft white cheese, jams and mounds of clementines. Many kids who refuse dinner devour breakfast.

A few practical tactics make mealtimes painless. Riads and good restaurants are used to children and will almost always rustle up a plain plate — plain pasta, a chicken brochette, eggs — if you simply ask, even when it is not on the menu, so do ask rather than assume. The fresh fruit is superb and a safe, healthy filler: peel oranges and bananas yourself, and load up at breakfast. I tell parents to relax about a slightly beige few days; bread, fries and fruit will keep a child perfectly nourished for a week.

On drinks and safety, stick to bottled or filtered water for children, which is cheap and everywhere. The famous fresh juices are wonderful but I sometimes hold kids off them on day one while their stomachs settle, then let them enjoy away. Pack a few familiar snacks from home for the fussiest moments and long drives. Tell me about your child's particular likes and dislikes when we plan, and I will brief the riads ahead so there is always something they will eat waiting.