Moroccan Orange Olive Salad

Colorful and refreshing, this orange olive salad is a simple yet magical composition. This Moroccan salad is a perfect addition to a mezze platter.

Moroccan culture

This salad is one of my favorite dishes.

I have many friends from Jewish-Moroccan ancestry. And so, I’ve always perceived Morocco through the cuisine and customs. I’ve been fortunate to enjoy their extraordinary hospitality, being invited to many celebrations.

Usually, they serve plenty of mezzes and salads at the table. They aim to keep you snacking constantly. But be warned, you’ll get full before the main dishes are served.

Only when I arrived in Morocco for the first time, did I come to truly realize the immense diversity and beauty of this land, its cultural richness, and long history.

Morocco, a part of “Al Maghreb” (the West of the Arab world), is known of as an Arabic-speaking, Muslim country.

However, the population of Morocco is a lot more diverse than I ever realized before. It is home to Berber and Amazigh tribes, Jews, Arabs, and many other ethnicities.

Jewish-Moroccan cuisine

What surprised me, even more, is that I couldn’t find many of the Jewish-Moroccan dishes cherished by so many Israelis, not even in big cities like Casablanca or Fes.

On my second day in Marrakech, I visited the Culinary Museum of Morocco. It had plenty of detailed and fun information on the different culinary traditions of Morocco. (I highly recommend it for all ‘foodies’!)

A fascinating hour had passed before finding myself in a narrow room, full of photos depicting different dishes of the “Jewish-Moroccan” cuisine, as explained there.

Finally, I found a picture of my beloved orange salad, among many other well-known dishes in Israel. The immense immigration waves of Jews from Morocco brought these many dishes with them.

The history of Moroccan orange olive salad

The orange salad turns out to be a Jewish specialty, served as an appetizer on the Shabbat table.

Fruits have a symbolic meaning in Jewish folklore and are common in many traditional Jewish dishes. Green olives are a staple in Morocco (and are incredibly delicious), as is harissa – a North African spicy paprika paste.

No wonder I couldn’t find this dish widely available in Morocco anymore, where the vast majority of the Jewish population migrated to the Holy Land many years ago. (But as one of our readers commented, one can still find it made in Jewish-Moroccan homes today.)

The history of Jews in Morocco

Jews are first known to have arrived in Morocco during Roman times, after the Great Jewish Revolt in Jerusalem in 70 AD.

They partnered with local Amazigh tribes and the Romanised population. And they became an integral part of the Moroccan human landscape and society.

During the Islamic rule golden age, Jews in Morocco and the surrounding areas played a major role in the fields of science, math, philosophy, and arts.

After the Reconquista of Spain in 1492, many Jews and Muslims were forcefully expelled from the Iberian peninsula and found asylum in Morocco. There they joined and strengthened the Jewish presence in Morocco, especially in Casablanca, Marrakech, and Fes.

After the constitution of the State of Israel in 1948, Moroccan Jews gradually migrated to Israel. Nowadays, approximately 2250 Jews still live in Morocco. However, more than 900,000 Jews of Moroccan descent live in Israel.

It was humbling for me to fathom that even though Israel is so small and geographically isolated, some of the most ancient communities in the world still preserve their traditions, making Israel a melting pot of culture and gastronomy.

How to make Moroccan orange olive salad

This really is an incredibly simple salad to make. Oranges and Moroccan green olives combine with a few spices and harissa paste (if you like it spicy). And the whole salad gets a garnish of cilantro.

This orange olive salad is traditionally served with other dishes as a part of a mezze (appetizer). It would also work well as a first course served before a chicken tagine.

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Yield: 6-8 servings

Moroccan Orange Salad

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Colorful and refreshing, this orange olive salad is a simple yet magical composition. This Moroccan salad is a perfect addition to a mezze platter.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 Oranges, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup of green olives, halved
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of paprika powder
• 2 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp of harissa paste (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Handful of chopped cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

1. Mix oranges and olives in a salad bowl.
2. Pour the olive oil into a smaller bowl. Add paprika, cumin, and harissa (if desired). Mix well.
3. Pour the olive oil dressing into the salad bowl and mix well.
4. Adjust salt to taste.
5. Garnish with some chopped cilantro.
6. Serve as a side dish or as a part of a mezze plate.

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• 
  Cumin Seed - Ground 
• 
  Marrakesh Spiced Olives
• 
  Harissa Sauce

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1/8 of recipe
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125

Oz

Oz is originally from central Israel, and is currently based in Amsterdam. Alongside being a jazz musician, he is a dedicated foodie and a professional chef. He has traveled the world since 2021, exploring some of his favourite cuisines such as Thai, Greek, Moroccan and much more! His favourite way to travel is going to food markets and venues, interacting with the local people and hearing their stories through food. He is inspired by the unbreakable bond between a culture and culinary traditions. By travelling and eating, he enjoys witnessing how food can influence and be influenced by history and cultural exchange.