Joanna James
Having been ruled by several countries over the years, Tunisia's cuisine is a mix of Italian, North African and French traditional methods of preparing food.
Fricassé is a Tunisian street food that is loved by both locals and visitors. The dish is made using fried savoury dough filled with olives, boiled potato, tuna, harissa and boiled eggs. The open area next to the main mosque in La Marsa is a great place to try them. La Marsa is a coastal city in Tunisia which has a very chilled and Mediterranean vibe and is mostly occupied by ex-pats and Tunisia's middle-class making it a great place to explore.
The preparation of this dish is very entertaining because you get to be part of the cooking process. You're handed a big clay bowl that you have to fill with cut up 2-day old bread using your hands and the pass the bowl over to the cook. The cook will add in cumin flavoured chickpeas, a soft egg, harissa, olive oil, tuna, lemon juice, garlic, capers and more cumin to create a stew/soup type dish that he'll hand back to you. Once you mix the ingredients with the help of 2 spoons it's ready to eat.
If you're someone who eats healthy then you would have probably heard of or tried couscous already. There are many ways that this dish can be prepared and the taste and the ingredients used to prepare this dish will vary depending on where in Tunisia you try it. Couscous is usually served in a deep plate with a meat option like fish, lamb or chicken and vegetables like potatoes, carrots or pumpkin. While the locals believe this dish originated in Morocco no one knows for sure as it is consumed North African countries like Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia.
Brik is one of Tunisia's most popular dishes that can be found at even a small Tunis restaurant, street food vendors or at some of the most luxurious hotel properties in Tunisia similar to The Residence Tunis by Cenizaro Hotels & Resorts. The dish is prepared using Malsouka (a Tunisian pastry dough that is also used to make samosas) stuffed with parsley leaves, egg and tuna. The dish is accompanied by a piece of lemon. The proper way to eat this dish is to take a few bites till you reach the egg. Once you reach the egg you take one big bite to ensure you don't spill any of the melting egg. You can drizzle a dash of lemon juice over the dish as often as you like.
Harissa is a traditional Tunisian hot sauce that can be found anywhere in Tunisia; gift shops, supermarkets and even at the airport! It's the ideal thing to buy as a gift or a souvenir and has become so popular that you can order it using Amazon now. Made using garlic and chilli peppers it's normally served as a condiment for salad, fish or meat or as a dipping sauce. Harissa looks spicy because of its texture but in reality, it's not as hot as you expected and goes with pretty much anything but is offered alongside olive oil and breadsticks in Tunisia.
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