🇲🇦 Morocco
Harcha
حرشة · ḥarsha
A semolina griddle bread with a crisp, sandy crust and soft crumb — like a Moroccan cornbread, pan-cooked and split for cheese, honey and butter.
Serves makes ~6
Ingredients
- 1½–2 cups fine semolina
- 1 tbsp sugar · ¼ tsp salt · ¾–1 tsp baking powder
- 5–7 tbsp butter, melted
- ½–¾ cup warm milk
- (1 tbsp olive oil)
Method
- Mix the fine semolina with the sugar, salt and baking powder.
- Rub in the melted butter until the mixture is like damp sand.
- Add the warm milk gradually to a soft, crumbly dough — not a batter — and rest it a few minutes so the semolina drinks the milk.
- Shape into thick discs, one large or several small.
- Cook on a low skillet about 5 minutes a side until golden and the surface looks dry; split and serve warm.
The family table
Harcha is breakfast and tea-time bread, named for the ‘rough,’ grainy semolina crust. Fine semolina is essential — nothing else gives the texture — and low heat is the trick, so the inside cooks through before the crust burns. Split it while warm and fill with soft cheese and honey, the classic pairing.
Yumma
Middle Eastern home cooking, organized by country. Your family’s version is the one that counts.