In America’s rush to adapt and adopt all manner of Mediterranean cooking, one country, Tunisia, has been overlooked. For example, even though Tunisia is the world’s fourth-largest producer of olive oil, almost all its oil is shipped to Spain, Italy and France for rebottling as their own.
Tunisia also deserves credit for its couscous, which is more varied than it is anywhere else. And chefs worldwide can thank the country for harissa, the increasingly popular peppery condiment of chilies and garlic that is the ketchup of Tunisia.
Morocco has received the lion’s share of culinary attention when it comes to North African cooking, though it is mostly on the Atlantic Ocean. But Tunisia is truly a Mediterranean country, tucked between Algeria and Libya and jutting out into the sea less than 100 miles from Italy.
Thanks to this geography, it became a colony for successive waves of Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Spaniards, Turks and the French, all of whom had a hand in shaping Tunisia’s diverse and savory cuisine.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are still dished up from this melting pot. Consider the hot pepper seasonings brought by the Spaniards, the olive trees first planted by Phoenicians, flaky Turkish-style pastries called brik that are filled with potato and egg, excellent French baguettes and croissants, and a red wine, Magon, named for an ancient Carthaginian.
On a clear day you can see Sicily from Tunisia’s Cape Bon peninsula, so it is no wonder that spaghetti and squares of fresh pasta called nwassar are on menus, and not just for tourists.
But above all, with the Mediterranean lapping its shores for 800 miles, Tunisia is for seafood lovers. Among the splendid Roman mosaics here in the Bardo, the national archaeological museum, is one that shows spiny lobsters, shrimp, rays, grouper, monkfish, eels, tuna, octopus, sea urchins, crabs and cuttlefish. Once in the dining room floor of a second-century villa near Tunis, the mosaic might have doubled as an ancient menu. It is also a modern one.
In the Central Market, there are dazzlingly fresh silver and red rougets (red mullets), heaps of pale octopus and fist-size cuttlefish black with ink. In restaurants, the fish of the day is usually grilled over hot coals. A drizzle of olive oil, chopped parsley or coriander and perhaps a dab of harissa are all the embellishments fish like these need.
A couscous factory is not high on many tourists’ lists of places to go, but the one in Sfax, an industrial city that was the setting for the market scenes in the film “The English Patient,” is the world’s largest.
Couscous, which is not a grain but a minute pellet made like pasta from hard wheat semolina, can be as coarsely textured as peppercorns or as fine as table salt. It is as much a staple in Tunisia as rice is in India; recipes for it number in the hundreds.
In Tunisia it is often made with seafood, including octopus. It is also combined with every type of meat and vegetable. Couscous royale, with meatballs and stuffed vegetables, is a specialty of the handful of Jewish restaurants in the Tunis region and on Jerba Island, where Jews are thought to have settled as early as 586 B.C.
Couscous may have reached North Africa from Italy. The Romans, after all, depended on Tunisia as their bread basket, planting wheat in the fertile, rolling fields that cover the northern half of the country.
Olive oil is another feature of the country’s diet that dates to ancient times. In the sparse ruins of Carthage on the coast just outside Tunis, the remains of a stone olive press can be seen. And the town of El Jem is said to have built its marvelous amphitheater during Roman times from revenues from the sale of olive oil.
Camels still turn primitive olive presses in Berber villages like Chenini, at the edge of the Sahara. During the winter harvest, vendors sell freshly pressed olive oil by the side of the road.
A dish of olive oil instead of butter on the table is a longstanding Tunisian custom. Tunisians also pour some oil on harissa and spread it on a baguette to whet the appetite.
Sweet pimentos, saffron, cinnamon, cumin, caraway, mint and bay leaves add complexity to the cuisine.
A strong Turkish influence also lingers, not only in some of the tile work and architecture, but also in the savories wrapped in paper-thin sheets of malsouka and syrup-drenched pastries made with phyllo. Cafes serve thick Turkish coffee as well as mint tea afloat with pine nuts.
Brik–a triangle of malsouka made with many fillings but often with mashed potato, canned tuna and a raw egg, then fried so that the pastry browns but the egg stays soft. Visitors learn there is a knack to eating it so as not to lose any of the runny egg. With such a treat, every morsel counts.
CHORBA SOUP WITH LAMB
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 servings
Adapted from “Cuisine et Patisserie Tunisienne,” by Mohamed Kouki.
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed of fat, diced fine
Salt, ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups canned tomato puree
6 1/2 cups water
3 to 4 tablespoons harissa, see note
1/4 cup each, finely chopped: onion, celery
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
3/4 cup fine pearl barley, millet or orzo
1 lemon, in 6 wedges
1. Heat oil in large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add lamb to pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Mix 1/2 cup of the tomato puree with 1/2 cup water; add to pan along with 3 tablespoons harissa. Cook 2 minutes; add onion, celery, parsley and remaining tomato puree. Stir in 3 cups water. Heat to simmer; cook over low heat, covered, until lamb is very tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Increase heat, add 3 more cups water; heat to boil. Add barley, millet or orzo in thin stream, stirring. Cook until grain or pasta is tender. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and harissa if desired. Serve with lemon wedges.
Note: Harissa is a chili paste sold in specialty stores and Middle Eastern shops. You can substitute crushed red pepper to taste.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 350 Fat ………… 16 g Cholesterol .. 65 mg
Sodium ….. 650 mg Carbohydrates .. 30 g Protein ……. 23 g
TUNISIAN BRIK
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Instead of potato, use canned tuna in olive oil, drained and mashed. Ricotta cheese, small cooked shrimp, lump crab meat or cooked, seasoned finely chopped beef or chicken are other possible fillings. For those who would prefer their eggs cooked through (to eliminate any possible salmonella present), add about 5 minutes to the cooking time.
1 large baking potato, peeled, diced
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups canola or grapeseed oil for frying
6 spring-roll wrappers
1 1/2 teaspoons harissa, see note, optional
2 teaspoons drained capers
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
6 medium eggs
1 lemon, cut in 6 wedges
1. Place potato in salted water to cover. Heat to boil; cook until potato is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain; mash with olive oil.
2. Heat grapeseed or canola oil in deep 10-inch skillet to 350 degrees. Place spring-roll wrapper on saucer. Place 3 tablespoons of mashed potatoes in middle, flattening center to make a well. Dab it with 1/4 teaspoon harissa if desired. Sprinkle evenly with capers and parsley.
3. Break an egg into center. Taking care so that none of the egg seeps out, fold over one point of spring-roll wrapper to meet the opposite point, to make triangle. Lightly wet edges of wrappers; press edges together to seal.
4. Gently slip filled brik off saucer and into hot oil. Cook until golden on underside, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn over; cook until golden, about 1 minute. Remove from oil with slotted spoon; drain on paper towel. Repeat with remaining briks; serve hot, with lemon wedges.
Note: Harissa, a chili paste, is sold in specialty food or Middle Eastern shops.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 175 Fat ………… 11 g Cholesterol .. 190 mg
Sodium ….. 165 mg Carbohydrates .. 11 g Protein ……… 7 g
