Characteristic products
Tunisia's mild, sunny climate makes it possible to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables throughout much of the year. The most sought-after dates, grown on palm trees in the Tozeur region, are called deglet an nour, or light fingers. Around the palm groves, people feast on the sap of the palm tree. Legmi is a palm brandy that must be consumed within 24 hours.
Fish, fried or grilled, abounds along the Tunisian coast: La Goulette, the fishing port of Tunis, is renowned throughout the north of the country, as is Sfax on the east coast. Mediterranean fish such as tuna, sea bream, sea bass, red mullet and grouper are caught here, as well as mullet, which is very common. Boutargue, commonly known as Mediterranean caviar, is made from dried, salted mullet roe pockets. Its intense flavor means it's best grated sparingly over pasta or rice, like truffles. It is rich in vitamins and minerals. Mutton and lamb are the most popular meats cooked in Tunisia, not forgetting chicken. Pork is absent for religious reasons - apart from tourist resorts for Westerners - and beef remains a rather expensive and therefore rarer meat.
Tunisians like to eat spicy food, very spicy even, and it's a good idea to avoid the huge green chillies that often decorate couscous. In fact, it's impossible to talk about chillies when evoking Tunisian cuisine without mentioning harissa. This generously garlicky pepper puree also contains other spices, such as cumin, coriander and caraway, although recipes and consumption vary from region to region. The inhabitants of Cap Bon - where there are numerous harissa factories - as well as the Sahel and Djerba regions are the biggest consumers. The country even celebrates the harissa and chili festival in the Cap Bon town of Nabeul in October. Tunisians season their dishes with a host of other spices, which are also combined in a mixture called tabil karouia, containing caraway, coriander, chilli, pepper, laurel, rosebuds, ginger, mint and sometimes even saffron, rather like ras el-hanout. The latter also includes cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and green aniseed.
Mezzé, brick and chorba
The term " kemia " or " mezze " refers to an assortment of starters from the Eastern Mediterranean (Lebanon, Turkey, Greece). Among this succession of small plates, each more tasty than the last, you'll enjoy hummus, eggplant caviar, various carrot, potato and fennel-based salads, olives, vegetables in brine, small fried fish, octopus, snails with chilli, dried fruit and a myriad of other products that change with the seasons.
Salads are particularly popular. One example isomek houria, made with crushed cooked carrots, seasoned with garlic, chilli, lemon, coriander and olive oil. Alternatively, méchouia (understand grilled) is made with tomatoes, peppers and onion confit, garnished with tuna and hard-boiled eggs. Doulma are simply vegetables - zucchinis, peppers or eggplants - stuffed with minced meat and onion. Soups are equally popular. The most famous is chorba, a vermicelli and vegetable soup with pieces of lamb. Traditionally served during Ramadan. Lablabi is a chickpea-based soup seasoned with garlic and harissa, topped with a soft-boiled egg.
Brick pastry is omnipresent in the country. This light, ultra-thin dough is used to make the "chaussons" of the same name, which are usually stuffed with egg and tuna and then fried. Common on the markets, fricassé is a small sandwich consisting of a doughnut the size of a loaf of milk bread, cut in half and filled with harissa, potato, tuna crumbs and green olives. Indeed, bread is an important delicacy in the country, where we eat both khobz talian or " Italian bread " (a white bread rich in crumb) and tabouna (a soft flat bread with nigella seeds).
The classics of Tunisian cuisine
As in the rest of the Maghreb, couscous is the national dish. A good couscous is the result of a skilful marriage of excellent semolina, rolled and steamed for a long time, vegetables well preserved in a highly aromatic juice and melting meat. Tunisian couscous is quite similar to that of its neighbors, with the difference that it is more often seasoned with a good dose of harissa. M'hamsa is a coarse-grained couscous topped with raisins, sun-dried tomatoes and lamb, while mesfouf is a sweet-and-salty couscous with almonds, pistachios and dates, reserved for special occasions. Italian influences are more marked than in Morocco or Algeria, and pasta recipes are common. One example is makrouna salsa, macaroni served with a spicy beef or lamb sauce. M'raika sfaxia or couscous à la sfaxienne is richly garnished with fish. Or try kabkabou, a fish stew with tomato, harissa, olives and capers. The very common " complet poisson " consists of grilled fish, French fries, fried egg, crudités and tatsira, a tomato compote with green chili and cumin.
Dishes in sauce are abundant. One example is gnaouia, a spicy stew of lamb and okra, a green vegetable resembling a chili pepper, but with a taste similar to eggplant, whose viscous juice is appreciated for thickening sauces. A speciality of Douz, at the gateway to the Sahara, lamb à la gargoulette or allouch fél kolla consists of cooking lamb and vegetables in an amphora (gargoulette) sealed for several hours in the embers. The meat comes out incredibly melting and fragrant. Simpler, but very tasty, koucha is lamb shoulder served with vegetables in a spicy sauce. For connoisseurs only, kamounia is a stew of beef, mutton or poultry offal, generously flavored with cumin.
Vegetables are also divinely cooked. Chakchouka is a thick tomato, onion and bell pepper sauce topped with poached eggs. Very similar, ojja sometimes contains meatballs or pieces of merguez, but without onions. Loubia is a white bean stew with tomato, sometimes containing mutton, while mloukia is a dark green sauce made from crushed corte leaves and simmered for hours. Finally, kefteji is a mixture of potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggs and zucchini pan-fried with parsley and spices.
Those accustomed to Moroccan tajines may be a little surprised, as in Tunisia a tajine is more like a sort of egg-based quiche without batter, containing chicken, mutton or tuna, baked with Gruyère cheese. In the same style, malsouka resembles a Moroccan pastilla, i.e. a brick pastry wrapped in a filling of egg, meat, tuna, cheese or vegetables, before being deep-fried.
The Jewish presence in Tunisia goes back over 2000 years, and if we had to name just one recipe it would be the bkaïla - known as dafina in Morocco - served for Shabbat. It's made with beef, potatoes, chickpeas, eggs and wheat.
Pastries and drinks
In the Maghreb, pastries are not usually served at the end of the meal, but rather indiscriminately throughout the day. These include the famous makroud, a soft cookie filled with date paste, or baklava, made with layers of filo pastry and dried fruit, generously brushed with syrup. The corne de gazelle is a delicate shortbread croissant with almond and orange blossom, while the simple bjawia is a kind of pistachio nougat. The very sweet zelabia is a crunchy orange doughnut in the shape of a spider's web, flavored with cardamom and soaked in syrup. The pretty kâak warka are almond rings topped with a pure white glaze. Very crumbly, ghribiya are dome-shaped cookies decorated with a pinch of cinnamon.Assidat zgougou is a cream flavored with pine nuts and orange blossom, topped with dried fruit.
Tunisians are great coffee drinkers. As in most Mediterranean countries, cafés are the center of life. Most serve coffee, tea or soft drinks, although many now serve alcohol. Otherwise, tea is just as popular. Tei ahmar is a full-bodied, sweet black tea with a hint of geranium water, while tei akhdar is a green tea infused with a few mint leaves and poured over pine nuts.
Although alcohol and Islam - the religion of 99% of Tunisians - may not seem compatible, the country has a fairly flexible policy on the subject. The region's wines have been celebrated since antiquity, and Tunisia produces excellent reds, as well as remarkable whites and rosés. Tunisia's vineyards cover almost 30,000 hectares (mainly table wines) between the Cap Bon, Tunis and Bizerte regions. There are no fewer than seven AOCs: Kelibia, Sidi Salem, Thibar, Coteaux de Tebourba, Coteaux d'Utique, Mornag and Grand cru Mornag. The national beer brand, Celtia, which has been on the scene for decades, is still going strong. If you like strong drinks, be sure to try fig alcohol, boukha, or date liqueur, thibarine. Extended with sparkling water, it makes an excellent long drink.
