Fish in Morocco
Doug Harif
This is the way the original is called white sharp fish in Morocco. The recipe, offered first, except for the actual water inhabitant, includes vegetables, spices, and seasonings. Take any species of fish – kilogram, if the carcass is cut steaks, or 800 grams if you Raccordo. Two lemons are squeezed into salted pieces, and are hiding every hour to marinate in the refrigerator. Prepare the vegetables: a dozen cloves of garlic halved, two rings of chilli, dried sweet six from Morocco (soaked and cut into two pieces), large slices of the red bell, a third of a pound of tomato pulp small quarters.
Half of all this is arranged in the pot, above the fish, on top of it – the remaining vegetables. In a small frying pan is heated a little vegetable oil with two tablespoons of harissa, add coriander, turmeric and dried ginger (collectively tablespoon-plane) and a tablespoon of sugar. Five minutes later, a tablespoon of tomato paste is placed, after which it is necessary to add a glass and a half of water. When the sauce comes to a boil, it is poured into a saucepan, which after boiling is covered with a lid and a quarter of an hour left on a small fire. Next is poured coarsely chopped cilantro and after 10 minutes of infusion in the Moroccan fish ready for use.
Whitefish in a jar
An unusual way to cook – and a very tasty fish in Morocco. A step-by-step culinary recipe will look like this:
Prepare a marinade, called “cherub”: With peeled lemon and squeezed juice; seedless chilli pepper, chopped with salt and two cloves of garlic; zedra, zira (two tablespoons), turmeric (one), black pepper and paprika (as you prefer) are poured. Once again the mixture is rubbed, lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of olive oil are poured.
One kilo of cod or Dorada is cut into large pieces, poured into the dark and left for an hour.
Two Bulgarian peppers are cooked in the oven, freed from the skin and cut into strips.
A dozen cherry trees will be half-grown.
Two half-litre cans are taken. In each vegetable and three tablespoons of couscous. Fish are arranged on top, the rest of vegetables and four olives without holes on it. The marinade is poured.
Lids are closed, jars are placed in a cold oven, which heats up to 170.
After 35 minutes, the fire goes out, but the jars remain in the oven.
The agricultural and fishing sector in Morocco
produces 14% of the national GDP and employs 40% of the workforce. Morocco, with 3,500 kilometres of coastline, 500 of which are on the Mediterranean side and the remainder on the Atlantic Ocean, is characterized by a maritime space of approximately 1.2 million square kilometres, considered among the most fishy in the world. According to data from the National Office of Fisheries. The country ranks first in Africa in the fishing sector and is seventeenth in the world ranking. Morocco’s main fishing specialty is sardine, of which the country is the world’s leading exporter. The National Fisheries Office has analyzed that Morocco’s exclusive economic zone is characterized by a great diversity of fish resources, with 500 species, of which only 60 are exploited.
The fishing sector plays an important role in the Moroccan economy
with a volume of over one million tons. Almost 700,000 direct and indirect employees and an incidence on GDP between 2 and 3 %. Moroccan exports of seafood products reach a figure of over 1.5 billion dollars, equal to 58% of total agri-food exports. The turnover of the fishing sector in Morocco has recorded an average annual growth of 5% since 2001 and represents more than 55% of the country’s food exports and 16% of total exports providing more than 600,000 direct and indirect employees.
As regards consumption of fishery products, within Morocco itself, it is currently around 10-12 kg per inhabitant per year, a low level compared to the average recommended by FAO. With this in mind, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has launched a campaign to promote the consumption of seafood. This operation, led by the National Fisheries Office. It is designed to inform and raise awareness of the benefits of seafood on human health. The objective is to create an increase in the regular consumption of seafood. The operation is consistent with the new institutional marketing policy for the national and international promotion of all Moroccan seafood products, announced in 2013 by the Sea Fisheries Department.
At the national level, a significant effort has been conducted to improve the quality of the seafood product
Due to the expansion of cephalopod and pelagic fisheries, the majority of the freezing units are situated in the southern region of the country. The final price is greatly influenced by the length of the supply chain (commercial middlemen between the fisherman and the consumer). The vast majority of seafood (about 70 %) is destined for export. Despite a global resource constraint. The potential for Moroccan seafood products to be exported is significant. It is given the rise in global consumption of fish and its derivatives.
Morocco’s processing industries process more than 70% of the fish captured by the local fleet, and the resulting products are shipped to more than 100 countries. Morocco is now a key platform for the export of seafood products to the most demanding markets. In addition, the Moroccan fish canning chain is the result of a long evolution and accumulation of know-how. It now has over 30 operational treatment facilities, with a total yearly processing capacity of 300,000 tons of raw material and 21,000 permanent and seasonal workers. The freezing supply chain occupies an important place in the seafood industry. The majority of the freezing units are located in the southern portion of the country due to the rise of pelagic fishing and cephalopod.
The fresh supply chain includes more than 50 packaging units, employing approximately more than 2,000 permanent and 1,000 seasonal employees. Then, the industry processes around 42,000 tons of white fish annually. Mainly destined for European markets, of which Spain accounts for almost 73%.
As for the Algae Processing Industry (the agar extraction industry)
it has more than 50 years of activity in Morocco. During the last decades, the supply chain has tried to develop a maximum valorization of this renewable natural raw material. Moreover, this supply chain in Morocco has managed to rise to second place in the world in agar exports.
It is worth noting that, on the Moroccan market. More than half of the catch is headed for by-product businesses, indicating that the catch is undervalued (oil and fishmeal). Also, a significant part of the catch is destined for export without any processing (90% of the catch of pelagic and whitefish). Furthermore, pelagic fish (sardines and mackerel) dominate Moroccan fishing, accounting for 70% of the total catch. If statistics show an overall increase in a catch. This is mainly due to better data management and the gradual emergence of “informal” fishing. The fish meal industry processes around 206,512 tons of fish each year, or 26% of the catch, devaluing it from a noble protein to a less noble one.
Recall that the new plan launched by the Kingdom, called “Green Generation 2020-2030”, developed in its initial phase over the last year, aims to create about 350,000 jobs in the agriculture and fisheries sector. The Plan will allow the implementation of new opportunities related to the world of fish for Italian companies and those throughout the Mediterranean.
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