Maakouda

Maakouda is boiled potato mashed with garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander and often a little egg, shaped into flat rounds, dipped in a thin batter and deep fried, and it is the cheapest hot food on a Moroccan street. It is eaten on its own with a scatter of salt, or, more usually, pushed into half a baguette or a round of khobz with harissa, olives, salad and sometimes a fried egg, which makes a sandwich that costs a very small amount and fills you up entirely. Stalls sell it alongside other fried things - aubergine slices, chips, fish - from a tray by the fryer, and it is student and worker food rather than anything anyone makes a fuss about. That is the reason to mention it: a great deal of what a visitor to Morocco eats is expensive by local standards, and this is what the country actually eats between meals.

What you actually see

• Potato and spice - mashed with garlic, cumin and coriander, battered and fried.
• A sandwich for coins - pushed into bread with harissa, olives and salad.
• A tray by the fryer - sold alongside aubergine, chips and fried fish.
• Ordinary food - what people actually eat, rather than a dish with a reputation.

When to go

All year; lunchtime and evening. Half an hour.

Honest expectations

Frying oil quality varies widely - choose a stall with turnover. It is heavy and greasy by construction. Harissa levels vary; ask. It is not a dish anyone will recommend to a visitor, which is the point.

Nearby

Every medina and city street; the Jemaa el-Fna stalls sell it in the evening.