🇲🇦 Morocco
Rfissa
رفيسة · rfissa
Shredded msemen or day-old bread soaked in a fragrant chicken, lentil and fenugreek broth scented with ras el hanout — the classic dish for a new mother.
Serves ~6
Photo to come
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, in pieces · 3 onions, sliced · ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp ginger · 1 tbsp ras el hanout · 1½ tsp turmeric · salt · pepper
- ½ cup lentils · 4 tbsp fenugreek seeds, soaked overnight · saffron · 1 tsp smen
- Parsley + cilantro · water
- To serve: shredded msemen, trid or day-old bread
Method
- Marinate the chicken with the onions, oil, ginger, ras el hanout, turmeric and saffron.
- Cook it down into a rich sauce, then add the soaked fenugreek, herbs and water and simmer.
- Add the lentils and cook until both they and the chicken are very tender; swirl in the smen.
- Steam the shredded msemen or bread until hot.
- Mound the bread, lay the chicken on top, and ladle the lentils, onions and broth over it.
The family table
Rfissa is the dish traditionally served to a new mother on the third day after birth — the fenugreek is believed to help her milk come in and her body recover. It descends from tharid, the ancient stew-over-bread. Fenugreek is the defining, non-negotiable spice here; soak it to tame the bitterness. Free-range beldi chicken stands up best to the long simmer.
Yumma
Middle Eastern home cooking, organized by country. Your family’s version is the one that counts.