Joanna James
Tunisia is known across the world for its rich history and culture. But very few people know about the huge selection of scrumptious food. Here are 7 Tunisian dishes you must try out.
Couscous is known across the world as a dish that can be eaten with little to no side dishes. The Tunisian take on this differs from your typical dish of couscous as it is served with vegetables like pumpkins, broad beans, cardoons and lamb meat. The flavour palette of this dish will differ according to where in the country you have it. While some people would use spices like cinnamon, elsewhere it'll be cooked used dried and crushed rosebuds.
Pronounced as "Breek", this is one Tunisia's most renown dishes which is cooked for special occasions similar to the festival of Ramadan. Brik is such an easy appetizer to prepare that it is highly unlikely where ever you try it that it'll be prepared wrong. Made using a pastry shell called malsouqa, the filling used is at the chef's discretion. Egg with tuna and parsley, cheese and capers are some of the most popular ingredients used for the filling of this dish.
This is a dish that is rarely cooked at home as it requires special cooking equipment to prepare. You'll have more luck finding this dish at a restaurant or at a hotel Tunis has to offer similar to The Residence Tunis by Cenizaro Hotels & Resorts. This dish is prepared by cooking a flatbread on an open fire which has contact to embers and hot sand. It is considered a dish that you should definitely check out before you die.
This is another dish that can't be prepared at home as it is cooked in a sizzling pot. Made using mostly lamb as implied in the name, this dish contains stewed lamb, paprika, tomatoes, and pepper. The ingredients are added to the pot and then buried to the brim in the sand which heated using coal. Once cooked the pot must be taken out of the ground using a bulky cleaver. The result of this slow cooking process makes sure that the end result is a divine dish that will melt in your mouth.
Made using coriander, bread, potatoes, eggs and cinnamon, this dish looks like a casserole and is very similar to an Italian frittata. The potatoes and bread are added to this dish to make it thicker. The ingredients are mixed in to a pan and cooked till it becomes nice and crisp. Once cooked the chef will cut up the dish in to equal squares and serve it as an appetizer.
If you're a meat lover then Kefta is a dish you should try out while visiting Tunisia. This dish is made using either minced meat or minced lamb mixed with chopped up onions and various spices squished together to create small meatballs. The balls of meat are cooked using oil and served alongside carrot salad or ketchup.
Similar to other salad dishes, Tunisian salad is prepared using raw vegetables. Onions, chopped up tomatoes and cucumber are the most popular ingredients used to prepare this dish. Tuna, eggs and beans may also be added to this dish to give it more flavour. The main goal when selecting ingredients for this dish is to keep it as fresh and clean as possible.
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
