Sfenj

Sfenj is a doughnut with no sugar in the dough - a wet, slack, well-fermented yeast dough that the seller pulls a handful of, punches a hole through with a thumb, spins into a ring and drops into hot oil, working fast enough to keep several going at once. It comes out chewy and stretchy inside and crisp outside, and it is eaten hot, dipped in sugar or honey or with nothing, with mint tea or coffee. The carrying method is the detail people remember: rather than a bag, the seller threads the rings onto a strip of doum palm fibre, ties it, and hands it over as a loop, which is how you see people walking home with breakfast. Stalls open early and close when the dough is gone, usually by mid-morning; a few also work in the evening. It costs a few dirhams and is best eaten within minutes of leaving the oil.

What you actually see

• No sugar in the dough - the sweetness added afterwards, if at all.
• Hand-formed rings - dough pulled, punched through and spun into shape at speed.
• Palm-fibre carrying - rings threaded onto a strip and tied into a loop.
• A morning-only trade - stalls closing when the dough runs out.

When to go

All year, early morning. Half an hour.

Honest expectations

It is best within minutes of frying and poor cold. Stalls close by mid-morning. It is oily by nature. Frying oil quality at cheap stalls varies.

Nearby

Every medina and neighbourhood has a sfenj stall in the morning.