The riad breakfast msemen
By Charlotte Schoeters · · 4 min read
Fatima has been making msemen at the riad every morning since before we arrived. After three years of asking, she finally showed me how. The secret is in the fold — and in using your hands, not a rolling pin.
Msemen are flaky, layered Moroccan flatbreads somewhere between a crêpe and a laminated pastry. They are served warm at the riad every morning alongside argan oil, honey, and amlou — a thick paste of roasted almonds, argan oil and honey that is one of the best things I have eaten anywhere. The recipe looks simple. The technique is not.
Fatima has been making them since before I started renting the riad. She is faster than I will ever be — pressing, folding, slapping the pan, turning — a practised rhythm built over decades. What follows is my best attempt to transcribe what I watched.
Ingredients (makes 8)
- 250 g fine semolina (fark — the finest grade you can find)
- 250 g plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 7 g instant yeast
- 300 ml warm water, approximately
- Vegetable oil and softened butter, for folding
Method
Mix the semolina, flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Add warm water gradually and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth without sticking to your hands. If it tears, it needs more water. If it sticks, add flour a tablespoon at a time.
Divide into 8 equal balls. Cover with a damp cloth and rest for 15 minutes. This is not optional.
Oil your work surface generously. Take one ball and press it flat into a thin circle using only your palm — spread from the centre outward in firm circular motions. The dough should become almost translucent. Dot a teaspoon of softened butter across the surface and fold the edges inward like an envelope: left in, right in, top down, bottom up. You now have a rough square. Fold it in half, then in half again. Rest for another 10 minutes.
Press each rested square gently flat — use your palms, not a rolling pin. A rolling pin compresses the layers. Your hands preserve them.
Cook in a dry, heavy skillet over medium heat, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden with darker blisters. Serve immediately.
A note on ingredients
Moroccan semolina (fark) is finer than anything sold in European supermarkets. If you can find it at a North African grocer, use it. Otherwise, the finest durum wheat semolina you have will work — the texture will be slightly chewier, the flavour the same.
Msemen do not keep. They are meant to be eaten hot off the pan, torn and dipped, standing in the kitchen if necessary.
At the riad we serve these with Siwa Valley argan oil — cold-pressed, golden, with a nuttiness that bears no resemblance to the cosmetic kind. If you can find culinary argan oil, this is the moment to use it.