Msemen

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 100 gfine semolina
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspsugar
• 300 mlwarm water

Layering

• 150 mlvegetable oil
• 100 gsoft butter
• 100 gfine semolina

To serve, sweet

• honey
• melted butter
• mint tea

To serve, savoury

• a filling of onion, tomato and khlii or minced meat

Directions

1. Mix the flour, semolina, salt and sugar, then work in the warm water to a soft dough. Knead it hard for 10 minutes until it is very smooth and elastic and stops sticking. Knead it properly.
2. Divide into 10 balls, coat them in oil, cover, and rest 30 minutes. A springy dough cannot be pulled thin. Mix the oil and soft butter together in a bowl, which is what you will spread with. Oil a large smooth work surface generously and keep the oil bowl beside you. Never flour the surface.
3. Flour makes the dough grip and tear, while oil lets it slide out thin. Flatten a ball and push it outward with oiled palms until it is a large, almost transparent sheet. Work from the centre outward with flat hands, and patch any holes by pinching them shut before they run.
4. Brush the whole sheet with the oil and butter mixture, right into the corners. Fold the left third over the centre, then the right third over that, giving a long narrow strip. Brush and sprinkle the strip again with oil and semolina. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up, giving a square.
5. Set the squares on an oiled tray and rest them 15 minutes. Rest them before flattening. Flatten each square gently with oiled palms until it is roughly doubled in size and about 5 mm thick.
6. Press outward from the centre and never use a rolling pin, which crushes the layers you have just built. Cook in a dry heavy pan over a medium heat, 3 to 4 minutes a side. No oil in the pan, because there is a great deal inside the dough already.
7. Press the msemen down with a spatula as it cooks and turn it several times. It is ready when it is golden with dark spots and the layers have visibly puffed apart. Serve hot, torn rather than cut, with honey and melted butter for breakfast.

Technique

• They freeze well cooked and are reheated in a dry pan.
• Baghrir, the thousand-hole semolina pancake, is the other Moroccan breakfast bread and is completely different.
• The dough can be made the night before and rested in the fridge.

Substitutions

• All plain flour, though the semolina in the dough helps the texture.
• Oil alone in place of the oil and butter mix, which is what many stalls use.

Variations

• Stuffed with onion and tomato, as msemen maammar.
• Rolled into a spiral rather than folded square, giving rghaif.
• With khlii or minced meat inside.

History

A laminated flatbread folded repeatedly with oil and semolina, called rghaif in much of Morocco; it is sold at breakfast stalls and distributed at religious feasts.

Frequently asked questions

What is Msemen?

Msemen is a bread & pastry from Morocco: flaky square pan-fried flatbread, eaten with honey or stuffed savoury. A laminated flatbread folded repeatedly with oil and semolina, called rghaif in much of Morocco; it is sold at breakfast stalls and distributed at religious feasts.

How long does Msemen take to make?

Msemen takes 40 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 10 squares. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Msemen?

Yes, within limits. All plain flour, though the semolina in the dough helps the texture. Oil alone in place of the oil and butter mix, which is what many stalls use.

What is the most important thing to get right in Msemen?

Divide into 10 balls, coat them in oil, cover, and rest 30 minutes. A springy dough cannot be pulled thin. Mix the oil and soft butter together in a bowl, which is what you will spread with. Oil a large smooth work surface generously and keep the oil bowl beside you. Never flour the surface.