As you would expect given its location and history Tunisian food is a blend of the best of Mediterranean and the spice of the Middle East. Tunisia had been the breadbasket of the Roman empire and Tunisian cooking makes great use of the excellent produce of both land and sea.
Food is a very important part of the fabric of Tunisian society and people as a rule take the time out for a proper meal preferably with family and or friends. During my time in Tunisia I always seem to put on weight (my excuse being too polite) however Tunisian cooking is generally healthy and you seldom see really fat people in Tunisia and on the other side of the coin not uncommon for your hosts to comment that you look thinner in a ploy to get you to eat more.
Cooking food is a source of pride to many Tunisians and please be careful to be diplomatic when passing comment on the food of someone’s wife, mother aunt etc you may well be asked who’s is better. When I was first asked to visit Tunisia I was amazed at the amount of home cooked food ferried in an out on a daily basis (20+ year old students) and when I said this was unusual the response was that maybe my mother didn’t love me! From my experience it seems that in Tunisia, mother looks after you until you get a wife to cook for you (though Tunisian men do make an effort). Sometimes it’s not uncommon to think your husbands having an affair but to then find out he has been going home to mother for dinner.
For a more detailed list of Tunisian dishes please visit our recipe database (coming soon) but now I will summarise some of the most common and “must eat” Tunisian foods.
Out and about & Snack Food
One of the best things about Tunisia is that it’s not like almost every other place I have been, I for one have not seen a McDonald’s or a Starbucks yet (maybe not for long). The nearest alternative as far as I could see was a popular chain called Baguette ET Baguette which unsurprisingly serves baguettes with a variety of fillings. However thankfully small vendors are the order of the day so please be adventurous and try some of the following.
1) Brik: You may have heard of this one already a pastry parcel filled with a variety of fillings however most commonly, minced lamb, beef, or vegetables. Once this has been decided then an egg is cracked over the contents the pastry folded and deep fried in oil. Please be careful as these are so hot and if the oily pastry doesn’t burn you the hot egg inside will however once mastered a firm favourite.
2) Tunisian Sweets and Tea/Coffee: After a couple of days in Tunisia you will wonder how anyone has teeth and this comes from an Englishman. If you like it you have it when it comes to sugar, for example a coffee comes with maybe four sugar cubes/sachets! Even in the supermarket sugar is sold in nuclear fallout sized boxes I feel like reaching for insulin just thinking of it. Coffee is a more serious affair in Tunisia and usually a very sugary espresso or “Turkish” style which is black with sediment in the bottom often enjoyed with shisha aka smoking pipes sometimes it’s lovely and sometimes vile. As for tea you can ask for an “English Tea” but go for the local mint tea served in a glass instead. However what I love and what the staff love at the UK tunisia.com office are Tunisian sweets! Now I could be here all day but to summarize they are a divine selection of pastry and nutty treats with pistachio, honey but a couple of the flavors. Now apparently this is the rule regarding cafe’, Hajer told me and as everything a she says is right it must be true! You will find that luxury places seldom serve the best coffee whilst a complete dive on the corner packed with bored husbands will serve you the best you have ever had, so be brave and get in there (unless you’re a woman presumably).
3) Tunisian Sandwich: Now I come from the land of the £2+ sandwich ($4 circa) now in Tunisia if you are lucky you can find a vendor selling “fricassee” for 200 millimes (Bizerte Port is one maybe more now with inflation) which made me laugh out loud as it’s about 10p. Now for this you get a fried bread sandwich not unlike a sugarless doughnut in texture this can contain what you request but I was served one with tuna, eggs, potato and olives?lovely.
4) Ble Ble/lablabi: Another one of my favourites but can vary wildly in quality from place to place. The man gets a large ceramic bowl into which he puts hot peas (stew) he then lets you choose from a selection of toppings like cheese, tuna, chilli powder and even whole boiled eggs! Usually I ask for the works and show true bulldog spirit and eat even the hottest offerings which always gets a smile. Please be careful though with this dish as the store holder will tell you, It will make you fart till the cows come home, which is good as Tunisians on the whole find farting funny.
5) Yo-yo/Doughnuts: A form of Doughnut Tunisian style sometimes made with orange juice and syrup. You can also get plain ones which are also popular they are big and thin and usually you will be bought two of them. If you’re in Sidi Bou Said there is a stall just behind the café in the centre.
6) Harrissa/Salade mechwia: More of a side order than a take away food.
However if you’re in a rush an easily done snack. Someone will run out to get the fresh baguette and maybe some cream cheese. Your then add some Harrissa (hot chilli paste) to tuna and stir in some olive oil on a large plate and or some Salade Mechouria (peppers and chillies). You then scoop up with the bread and enjoy however both of these are quite hot.
Main Dishes
Couscous is the national dish of Tunisia and most likely the dish you will be offered when enjoying a Tunisian meal as a guest. Once prepared the, the grain is piled in the middle of a large bowl for sharing, and then topped off with the meat and vegetables.
Other popular Tunisian dishes include:
- Chorba: soup with lots of pepper.
- Bouza: rich and sticky sorghum and hazelnut cake.
- Chakchouka: ratatouille with chick peas, tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onions served with a poached egg.
- Felfel mahchi: sweet peppers stuffed with meat, usually lamb, and served with harissa sauce.
- Guenaoia: lamb or beef stew with chillies, okra, sweet peppers and coriander.
- Koucha: whole baby lamb baked in a clay case with rosemary. (I had this in resturant overlooking the medina in old Hammamet).
- Makroud: semolina cake stuffed with dates, cinnamon and grated orange peel.
- Mechouia: an hors d’ of grilled sweet peppers, tomatoes and onions mixed with oil lemon, tuna fish and hard-boiled eggs.
- Mhalbya: cake made with rice, nuts and geranium water.
- Salata batata: hot potato salad flavoured with caraway seeds.
- Samsa: layers of thin pastry alternated with layers of ground roast almonds, and sesame seeds, baked in lemon and rosewater syrup.
- Merguez: small spicy sausages.
- Tagine: a stew.
- Torshi: turnips marinated with lime juice.
- Mloukhia: A beef or lamb stew with bay leaves, the name is from the green herb used. This is my favourite dish it is like thick gravy and served with French bread.
