Argan Oil and the Souss Cooperatives

The argan tree grows in a belt of southwest Morocco and nowhere else in any quantity, and the practices around it - the pastoral rights, the harvesting and the pressing - are on the UNESCO intangible heritage list. The fruit is dried, the pulp removed, and the hard nut cracked between two stones to release kernels, which is done by hand because no machine has matched it. For culinary oil the kernels are roasted before pressing, which gives a nutty, toasted taste used on bread and in amlou, a paste of argan oil, almonds and honey; unroasted kernels give the pale oil sold for cosmetics. Most of the work is organised through women's cooperatives along the main roads, where you can watch the cracking, smell the difference between the two oils and buy at fixed prices.

What you actually see

• The cracking - kernels released nut by nut between two stones, entirely by hand.
• The press - stone or mechanical pressing of roasted and unroasted kernels.
• Amlou - the paste of argan oil, almonds and honey, eaten with bread.
• The argan groves - the low spreading trees along the roads inland from the coast.

When to go

Year-round, since cooperatives work through the seasons on stored nuts; the fruit harvest itself falls in summer. Weekday mornings are when the cracking rooms are busiest. Cooperatives on the Essaouira to Agadir road are the easiest to reach without a detour.

Honest expectations

Roadside shops calling themselves cooperatives are often just retailers, and adulterated oil cut with cheaper oils is common, so buy where you can see the work and smell the product. Prices are high, and rightly so given the labour, but tour drivers take a commission that is built into what you pay. The goats standing in argan trees on the same road are usually put there and kept there for tips.

Nearby

Essaouira, Agadir and the Souss plain around Taroudant.