Msemen, amlou and mint tea: our Moroccan breakfast

Msemen is a square, layered flatbread. The dough is stretched until it is almost transparent, brushed with oil and semolina, folded into a parcel and then flattened again before it goes on the pan.

That folding is the whole point. It is what gives msemen its layers, so it pulls apart in sheets rather than tearing like ordinary bread. It is also why it cannot be hurried, and why it tastes better here than it will at home.

Amlou is the thing most guests ask about. It is made from roasted almonds ground with argan oil and honey until it turns into something between a spread and a sauce — nutty, sweet and faintly smoky.

Argan trees grow across this part of Morocco and almost nowhere else, and the oil has been pressed by hand here for generations. Spread amlou on warm msemen and you have the single most Moroccan thing on the table.

Mint tea is green tea, fresh mint and sugar, and it is poured from a height. That is not showmanship: the fall aerates the tea and puts a light foam on the surface, which is how it is meant to arrive.

It is normal to drink several glasses, and normal for the tea to get sweeter and mintier as the pot is topped up. If you would rather have it less sweet, just say so when you sit down.

Nobody has ever finished one glass of mint tea and left the table.

Breakfast runs through the morning rather than at a fixed hour. Surfers tend to eat early and go, and come back for a second round afterwards. Everyone else drifts down later.

If you have an early lesson or a long drive, tell us the night before and we will have something ready for you, whatever time you need to leave.

Breakfast here is not a buffet to get through. It is the part of the day where people compare notes about the surf, work out what they are doing, and decide — more often than not — to sit for another twenty minutes.