Batbout and msemen: the two breads behind our sandwiches.

In Morocco, bread isn't a side. It's the plate, the fork, and half the meal. Street-food stalls hand over grilled meat tucked into warm bread, and the bread you choose changes everything about the bite.

Batbout: the soft one.

Batbout is a round bread cooked on a hot griddle instead of in an oven. As it cooks it puffs up, leaving a pocket inside — a little like pita, but softer and a bit chewier. Our kefta and chicken sandwiches come on an 8-inch batbout, split open and filled with charcoal-grilled meat, tomatoes, onions, and mayo.

Msemen: the flaky one.

Msemen is a square flatbread folded over and over with butter and semolina before it hits the griddle, so it cooks up in thin, crisp, buttery layers. In Morocco you'll find it at breakfast with honey, but it also makes a wrap with real character. Ours is rolled around charcoal-grilled beef.

Batbout holds the filling. Msemen becomes part of it.

Which should you order?

New to Moroccan food? Start with the kefta sandwich on batbout — soft bread, smoky meat, nothing in the way. Already a fan? The msemen wrap is the one people come back for.