Oriental

The steppe, the mountains and the flavors of a living border

The story

The Oriental is a land of passages. Oujda, the millennial crossroads of caravan routes between the Maghreb and the Middle East, absorbed Algerian, Berber, and Arab influences to blend them into a generous cuisine. Here, rfissa is made differently, more robust, less perfumed. Berkoukes, rustic pasta cooked with seasonal vegetables, is a hymn to terroir cooking, far from the capitals and their refinements.

Best season

Autumn and winter, soups warm the steppe

Specialties

Signature dishes

Berkoukes

Hand-rolled artisan pasta, slowly simmered with lamb, root vegetables and local spices. A dish of patience and generosity.

Oranaise Rfissa

Oriental variant of classic rfissa, spicier, with generous fenugreek and a deep meat broth that warms to the bone.

Madfouna

Spiced meat-stuffed bread, baked in a wood-fired oven or buried under embers. A buried treasure, madfouna literally means 'buried'.

Berber Chorba

Barley and dried vegetable soup, seasoned with cumin and dried coriander. Simple, nutritious, the shepherd's meal in the steppes of the Oriental.

Key Ingredients

Steppe barleyPasture lambFenugreekOujda sweet pepper

Ambassador Chef

Coming soon

Lalakook

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Every month, a woman's portrait, a region, a dish. Nothing more. Everything essential.