Is the argan oil real?

The argan tree (Argania spinosa) grows almost nowhere on earth except a UNESCO-protected biosphere reserve between Essaouira and Agadir. Producing one litre of culinary argan oil takes roughly 30 kilos of fruit and 12 to 15 hours of hand cracking — the seeds are too irregular for industrial machines. Real culinary argan oil retails at 250 to 400 MAD per half-litre. Real cosmetic argan oil (cold-pressed, unroasted) is closer to 400 to 600.

The cheap stuff in the souk is cut with sunflower or peanut oil, sometimes more than half. The bottle says argan, the smell says supermarket. Test it: real culinary argan smells deeply nutty and toasted, real cosmetic argan smells faintly grassy, neither smells of nothing.

Buy from a women's cooperative — the Targanine or Tighanimine federations run dozens between Essaouira, Agadir, and the Tiznit road. You can watch the women crack the nuts, the price is fixed, the cooperative pays the producer directly. UCFA-certified cooperatives display the certificate at the till.