Chef Zohra
Batbout Farci (بطبوط)
Small semolina breads cooked in a pan until they puff, then split and filled generously. Batbout farci is the sandwich you make for picnics, school bags, and one more guest.
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Tihane (الطحال المعمر)
Created by
A medina sandwich of beef or camel spleen stuffed with kefta, fat, garlic, herbs, and warm spices, baked until firm, then sliced into khobz with cumin and salt.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Moroccan
Budget Friendly
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield6 sandwiches
The first thing is the spleen itself: dark, smooth, and delicate, a cut many cooks pass by because no one showed them where the door is. Tihane opens that door. You slit it carefully, fill it with spiced kefta and fat, bake it until the outside firms and the stuffing sets, then slice it hot into khobz. Nothing here is pretending to be grand. It feeds well, costs little, and wastes nothing.
Ask the butcher for a fresh beef spleen, or camel if you live where camel meat is part of the market. Tell him you need it whole, not torn, because the pocket must hold. That is the one gesture that decides the dish: make a long, shallow opening and keep the outer membrane intact, so the stuffing cooks inside the spleen instead of spilling into the pan.
In the medina, this is eaten standing, wrapped in bread, with salt, cumin, and sometimes a little heat. At home, cut the slices thick and let everyone build their own sandwich at the table. La cuisine du lien, the cooking of connection, can be a feast dish, yes, but it can also be one hot loaf passed from hand to hand.
Stuffed spleen, often called tehal m'aammer or tihane in Moroccan Arabic, belongs to the nose-to-tail cooking of Morocco's old urban markets, especially Fez and Marrakech, where cooked offal fed workers, travelers, and late shoppers cheaply and well. In Fez, vendors around Talaa Kbira and the surrounding medina made these sandwiches part of everyday street food, while Marrakech has its own offal stalls tied to the evening market culture of Jemaa el-Fnaa. The exact dating is not fixed in writing, but the practice fits the medieval North African habit of using every part of the animal, shaped by urban butcher guilds and caravan-market trade.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh beef spleen, or camel spleen if available
Quantity
1 large, about 800g to 1 kg
kept whole
ground beef or camel meat
Quantity
350g
beef suet or lamb fat
Quantity
100g
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
minced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 small bunch
finely chopped
fresh coriander
Quantity
1 small bunch
finely chopped
preserved lemon peel
Quantity
1
pulp discarded, finely chopped
green olives
Quantity
2 tbsp
pitted and chopped
ground cumin
Quantity
2 tsp, plus more for serving
sweet paprika
Quantity
2 tsp
ras el hanout
Quantity
1 tsp
ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 tsp
cayenne or harissa (optional)
Quantity
1/4 tsp
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 tsp, plus more for serving
olive oil
Quantity
2 tbsp
small round khobz
Quantity
6
split
harissa (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh beef spleen, or camel spleen if availablekept whole | 1 large, about 800g to 1 kg |
| ground beef or camel meat | 350g |
| beef suet or lamb fatfinely chopped | 100g |
| garlic clovesminced | 3 |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 1 small bunch |
| fresh corianderfinely chopped | 1 small bunch |
| preserved lemon peelpulp discarded, finely chopped | 1 |
| green olivespitted and chopped | 2 tbsp |
| ground cumin | 2 tsp, plus more for serving |
| sweet paprika | 2 tsp |
| ras el hanout | 1 tsp |
| ground black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
| cayenne or harissa (optional) | 1/4 tsp |
| sea salt | 1 1/2 tsp, plus more for serving |
| olive oil | 2 tbsp |
| small round khobzsplit | 6 |
| harissa (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Small sharp boning knife
- •Kitchen twine or small metal skewers
- •Small roasting dish
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Clean the spleen
Rinse the spleen under cold water and pat it very dry. Lay it flat with the smooth side down. With a small sharp knife, make one long slit down the thicker side, cutting into the flesh to form a pocket but not through the outer wall. Work slowly. The pocket must hold the stuffing, and a torn spleen will leak before it feeds anyone.
If your butcher will open it for you, say clearly: whole spleen, pocket cut, membrane not torn. - 2
Mix the kefta
In a bowl, mix the ground meat, chopped fat, garlic, parsley, coriander, preserved lemon peel, olives, cumin, paprika, ras el hanout, black pepper, cayenne if using, and salt. Use your hand and mix until the fat and herbs are evenly scattered. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes, but don't be timid with cumin here; it belongs to offal the way a key belongs to a door.
- 3
Stuff it firmly
Open the spleen pocket with one hand and press the kefta inside with the other, pushing it toward both ends without forcing so hard that the wall tears. The spleen should look full and rounded, not tight like it will burst. Close the slit with kitchen twine or skewers, then rub the outside with olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- 4
Bake until set
Heat the oven to 180C. Set the stuffed spleen in a small roasting dish, slit side up, and bake for 60 to 75 minutes, turning once if the bottom browns too quickly. It is ready when the outside is firm, the stuffing is cooked through, and the juices run clear. If you use a thermometer, the center should reach 71C.
- 5
Rest and slice
Let the spleen rest for 10 minutes before cutting. This matters: the hot filling settles, and the slices hold instead of crumbling into the bread. Cut thick slices across the spleen, showing the dark outer meat around the spiced kefta center.
- 6
Build sandwiches
Warm the khobz, tuck in two or three slices of tihane, and finish with a pinch of cumin and salt. Add harissa only if your table wants it. Serve at once, with olives or mint tea nearby, and let people reach. This is street food, but the welcome is still the whole point.
Chef Tips
- •Buy the spleen the day you cook it from a butcher with a fast counter. Fresh offal should smell clean and mineral, never sour.
- •Use real preserved lemon, not fresh lemon. Fresh lemon gives sharpness; preserved lemon gives salt, perfume, and depth.
- •With ras el hanout, on ne triche pas, you don't cheat. Use a small amount from a merchant who tells you what is in it, not a tired tin that smells mostly of dust.
- •If the spleen tears, don't throw it away. Pack the filling in, tie it well, and bake it in a close dish. It won't slice as neatly, but it will still make good bread.
Advance Preparation
- •The kefta stuffing can be mixed up to 12 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •The spleen is better stuffed and baked the same day. Leftover slices keep 2 days chilled and can be warmed in a covered pan with a spoon of water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
640 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
470 mg
Sodium
1470 mg
Total Carbohydrates
49 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
47 g
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