Harira

Name: Harira
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 1 lb/455 g stewing beef, cut into 1/2-in/12-mm cubes; 1 cup/170 g finely chopped celery stalks, tender green parts and leaves only; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 1/3 cup/15 g loosely packed, finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 1/3 cup/15 g loosely packed, finely chopped fresh cilantro; 1 Tbsp butter, smen, or olive oil; 1 tsp ground ginger; 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; Two 14-oz/410-g cans peeled whole tomatoes, seeded and puréed with all the juices; 3 Tbsp tomato paste; 1 cup/170 g canned chickpeas, rinsed; 1/4 cup/30 g all-purpose flour; Juice of 1 lemon; 1 oz/30 g vermicelli or angel hair pasta, broken into 3/4-in/2-cm lengths; 1 lemon, cut into wedges; 12 dates, preferably mejhoul; 12 dried figs

By Jeff Koehler

June 3, 2013

Harira is Morocco's best-known, and best-loved, soup. Families eat this herb-rich, tomato-based soup year-round. During Ramadan, however, it's obligatory, and pots of the soup simmer away in kitchens across the country. Accompanied by dates and honeyed, flower-shaped cookies sprinkled with sesame seeds called chebakia, a bowl of harira is the traditional way to break the fast. The velvety-smooth soup—whisking in flour, or sometimes egg, at the end gives that distinct texture—is nourishing and easy on an empty stomach.

I have enjoyed harira around numerous family tables and at street stalls—each version has been different. As a woman in Fes once said to me, "There are as many recipes for harira in Morocco as there are cooks."

Recipe notes

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