Moroccan magic

Restaurants serving cuisines from this North African country tend to be small and intimate in China, but they are big on taste, Mike Peters reports.

Roaming through a spice market in Tangier or Fez is simultaneously a trip to the familiar and the exotic. You know the aromas, but the signs may be a puzzle without translation. But before long, you have a whole new vocabulary: qarfa (cinnamon), kamoun (cumin), skinjbir (ginger), felfla soudania (cayenne pepper) ... and so on.

It's spices that turn ordinary grains and meats and fruits into something amazing in Morocco. Influenced by the country's interactions with many other peoples for centuries, the cuisine is a mix of Mediterranean, Arabic, Andalusian and Berber cooking. Fans delight in the fresh ingredients and health nature of popular dishes: The blog My Fitness Pal, for example, trumpets the fact that its savory Silk Road Moroccan Chicken Stew packs a mere 280 calories.