According to [[Paula Wolfert]], the specialist of Moroccan cuisine and author of a renowned book on the subject ''(see recipe books section)'':
{{cquote|To my mind four things are necessary before a nation can develop a great cuisine. The first is an abundance of fine ingredients—aingredients, a rich land. The second is a variety of cultural influences: the history of the nation, including its domination by foreign powers, and the culinary secrets it has brought back from its own imperialist adventures. Third, a great civilization—ifcivilization, if a country has not had its day in the sun, its cuisine will probably not be great; great food and a great civilization go together. Last, the existence of a refined palace life—withoutlife, without royal kitchens, without a Versailles or a Forbidden City in Peking, without, in short, the demands of a cultivated court—thecourt, the imaginations of a nation's cooks will not be challenged. Morocco, fortunately, is blessed with all four.}}
