‘Pastries are a very important part of Moroccan cuisine and they use unique ingredients’
Moroccan cuisine has some wonderful desserts, such as those made at the Terra Mia Café in Marrakech by master pastry chef Daoud Essadiq, who spoke to Atalayar during his participation in the 2025 edition of Madrid Fusión.
What are you going to present at this edition of Madrid Fusión?
We arrived in Madrid a few days ago to present the Moroccan customs of our pastry shop, maintaining the flavours, working with the regional products of our country. So we are proposing fairly light, revised cakes, with very little sugar, with the DNA of our customs. Yesterday we made a Moroccan cake with orange blossom, hibiscus leaves and vanilla. Today we are going to make a pistachio-based dessert from our pastry shop in Marrakech and we are going to offer it at the show. We are going to introduce people in Spain, in Madrid, to the flavours of our country.
Moroccan confectionery is one of the best ways to present Morocco.
Exactly. Confectionery represents a lot in Moroccan gastronomy. We have a rather unique DNA, with ingredients such as gazelle leaf, everything based on almonds, honey, briar leaves, flowers... We have something unique that cannot be found anywhere else.
Morocco has an enormous variety of sweets such as sponge cakes and brioches...
There are many varieties of products that we can export. Our speciality in our establishment in Marrakech, Terra Mia Café, is to work with Moroccan products, to add a little French sugar and to try to minimise it as much as possible to give the brioche more flavour.
People think that pastries have too much sugar, but if they are made with top-class, quality products, they are actually very healthy.
Exactly. We have a lot of products that are grown in Morocco. Our food is of high quality and that is what is needed in the country to obtain quality products.
What does it mean to you to represent Moroccan pastries at Madrid Fusión?
It is a pleasure to represent my country, Morocco, here at Madrid Fusión, this international fair. I am very grateful to all those who have made it possible to organise and run this event during this week, so that we can demonstrate our confectionery knowledge and products here in Madrid.
Which of your confectionery products would you suggest that the people of Madrid try?
Today they are going to try our breakfast: Arabic cream. You should taste it too.
Are events such as the 2030 World Cup, organised by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, or the Africa Cup to be held in Morocco, a good opportunity to showcase Moroccan pastries and attract tourists through gastronomy?
I think it's the best opportunity of the century. We will never be able to experience a moment like this again. It's the only time in our lifetime that there will be a World Cup in our country, and shared between three wonderful countries like Portugal, Spain and Morocco. This will only happen once and I hope that the three countries can work together in an exceptional way. We will try to cook the best dishes, the best things to show all the tourists who come to our countries.
What do you suggest to Spanish tourists visiting Marrakech?
Of course, our restaurant, the Terra Mia Café, where all our visitors will be welcome and we will receive them with the greatest possible pleasure. In general, 2024 has been a very positive year for Morocco because it was the most visited country in Africa. I believe that our country, thank God, is booming. We have a good level of stability thanks to the King and the Government, who are doing a good job. The country is evolving. We preserve all our traditions, our values, and we maintain our historical monuments very well in the country. From Tangier to Dakhla, tourists can visit Chefchaouen, Marrakech, Tangier, Essaouira, Agadir, Rabat, a marvellous city, full of vegetation. I believe that today we can satisfy all types of tourists, such as those who come to play golf or those who want to come and try our gastronomy.
