Photo: Paul Goyette

To celebrate the many different types of cuisines around the world, we’ve created a mini-series, “How to Build an Ethnic Pantry,” that offers some advice on the kinds of ingredients every cook should have when they make a particular cultural dish. We also asked grocery store owners and chefs for suggestions and what they think makes their food unique. Check out our first entry below.

Moroccan cuisine may possibly be the most diverse in North Africa. It draws mainly from Berber, Moorish and Arab influences and makes heavy use of Mediterranean spices. Luckily for New Yorkers, there are tons of Moroccan restaurants in the city that locals can visit. One of them is Barbes Restaurant, located at East 36th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. According to its site, the eatery is named after a popular Paris neighborhood close to the end of Sacre-Coeur, otherwise known as the “little piece of North Africa.” It should come as no surprise to first-time patrons, then, that Barbes’ menu is a combination of Parisian and North African foods.  Read More