In the 9th-century Idrisid Maghreb, meals were not served in 'starter-main course-dessert' order but around the maïda, the low round table and the large shared dish placed on carpets on the floor. One begins by invoking God, breaks the semolina bread with the right hand, then hot soup, simmered marqa (stew), and honey sweets are passed around together; dried provisions (preserved meat, dates) and drinks accompany or travel. Everything is communal, frugal on weekdays, generous on feast days and almsgiving.

Salted butter aged long in an earthenware jar until it becomes potent and almost cheesy: it is the fatty, fermented soul of Kairouan-Fes cuisine. A knob of smen melts into soup, marqa, or onto hot semolina and marks the dish with an ancient taste that Fatima brought from Kairouan to Fes.