What Moroccan condiment is made by curing lemons in salt and their own juice?

The Moroccan condiment made by curing lemons in salt and their own juice is preserved lemon.

Whole, halved, quartered, or sliced lemons are packed with salt; their juice gradually forms a brine, and the fruit cures for weeks or months. The process softens the lemon and changes its flavor from sharply sour to intensely lemony, salty, and mildly fermented.

In Moroccan cooking, the peel is usually the prized part, including both the zest and pith. Cooks often rinse or blanch pieces before using them to reduce surface salt, then chop them into tagines, salads, sauces, and dishes featuring chicken, olives, seafood, or artichokes.

A common mix-up is treating preserved lemon as ordinary lemon pickle or fresh lemon zest. Related pickles exist in Indian and other cuisines, but Moroccan preserved lemon is especially associated with tagines. The curing method is also a preservation technique: salt limits unwanted microbes while the acidic juice lowers pH.