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Trid 🇲🇦 Moroccan Cuisine

Trid

One of Morocco's oldest dishes: paper-thin msemen-like pastry rounds layered in a dome, drenched in a rich spiced chicken and onion broth, topped with whole braised chicken. Said to have been a favorite of the Prophet Muhammad.

⏱40 min prep 🔥90 min cook ⏰130 min total 🍽6 servings 📊hard

The Cultural Story

Trid is ancient. In the hadith — the collected sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Muhammad — trid is mentioned as one of the finest foods, described as having a superiority over other foods as Aisha had over other women. Whether this attribution shapes its prestige or whether its prestige preceded the attribution is a matter for scholars; what is certain is that trid has been eaten across North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula for over a thousand years, and that it remains a dish of deep ceremonial importance in Morocco, served at weddings, at Eid al-Adha, and to honored guests. The dish consists of two components: the trid pastry itself — thin crepes or flatbreads made from a stretchy dough, cooked briefly on a domed pan and then layered into a tower — and the mriq, the braised meat and onion sauce that is poured over the pastry until it absorbs the liquid and becomes soft, fragrant, and slightly gelatinous from the collagen in the meat. Traditionally made with pigeon or chicken, the broth is built with onions, saffron, ginger, pepper, and the whole spice vocabulary of Moroccan cooking. The pastry layers absorb the broth like a sponge until they become a single mass, each layer still distinguishable but all of them saturated with the flavor of the stew. In practice, trid is made for large gatherings and requires time — the pastry alone, stretched and cooked layer by layer, is the work of an experienced pair of hands. For home cooks, msemen rounds or even thin store-bought flatbreads approximate the right texture. The dish is served in a mounded presentation, the braised chicken placed on top of the pastry tower, the remaining broth passed separately. It is eaten with the hands, pulling pieces of soft pastry and meat together, the ritual of communal eating making it taste better than anything eaten alone.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1Braise the chicken: in a large heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic, ginger, pepper, turmeric, saffron water, cinnamon stick, and salt. Stir 1 minute.
  2. 2Add chicken: place chicken pieces in the pot. Turn to coat in the onion and spice mixture. Add water and the herb bundle. Bring to a boil, skim any foam, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook 50–60 minutes until the chicken is very tender and almost falling from the bone.
  3. 3Reduce the broth: remove chicken from pot and set aside. Remove and discard the herb bundle. The remaining liquid should be a fragrant, golden broth thick with cooked-down onions. If it is too thin, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes to reduce. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  4. 4Prepare the pastry layers: if using pre-made msemen or flatbreads, warm them briefly in a dry pan or microwave so they are pliable. If making from scratch, divide the dough into small balls, roll each thin, brush with oil, fold into layers, rest 10 min, then roll thin and cook on a greased domed pan 2 minutes per side.
  5. 5Assemble: in a wide, deep serving platter or traditional gsaa bowl, layer the msemen or flatbreads, tearing them to fit and cover the entire surface. Ladle several spoonfuls of the hot onion broth generously over each layer as you add it — soak them completely. Build up 3–4 layers, saturating each.
  6. 6Finish: place the braised chicken pieces on top of the pastry dome. Pour additional broth over everything until the pastry is completely saturated and glistening. Garnish with fried almonds and pomegranate seeds if using. Serve additional broth on the side in a separate bowl. Eat communally with your hands or with spoons.
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