Today we’re off to sunny Tunisia—a country where Mediterranean traditions collide with Berber and Arab cuisine. We’re making two iconic dishes you can’t imagine a Tunisian table without.
🥟 Brik
A crispy triangular pastry of paper-thin dough stuffed with egg, tuna, and herbs. When you break it open, the yolk spills out like liquid gold—the calling card of Tunisian street food.
Ingredients:
• Sheets of filo dough (brick/malsouka) — 6
• Eggs — 6
• Canned tuna in oil — 200 g
• Capers — 2 tbsp
• Fresh parsley — 1 bunch
• Yellow onion — 1
• Grated hard cheese (optional) — 100 g
• Salt — to taste
• Black pepper — to taste
• Vegetable oil for frying — 200 ml
Instructions:
Prep the filling: Dice the onion into 3×3 mm cubes, finely chop the parsley, drain the oil from the tuna and flake it with a fork. Mix the tuna, onion, capers, parsley, and grated cheese (if using). Season with salt and pepper. The filling should be moist but not runny.
Set up your workspace: Lay one sheet of filo dough on a clean surface. The dough is fragile—handle with care. Keep the other sheets under a damp towel to prevent drying. If a sheet tears, just layer another on top.
Assemble the brik: Spoon 2–3 tablespoons of filling onto the lower half of the sheet, leaving a 5 cm border. Press a small well into the filling and crack an egg into it, keeping the yolk intact. The yolk should peek through the filling but stay visible.
Fold the brik: Fold the sheet in half over the filling, then tuck the sides inward 2–3 cm (like an envelope). Shape it into a triangle by folding away from you. The edges must seal tight—no leaks during frying.
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 180°C (a small piece of dough should sizzle and float immediately). Use enough oil to submerge half the brik.
Fry the brik: Gently lower the brik into the oil seam-side down, holding it with a spatula for the first 10 seconds to "set" the seal. Fry for 2–3 minutes until golden, then flip and fry another 1–2 minutes. The dough should turn crisp and honey-golden, but the yolk inside must stay runny.
Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. Serve immediately—hot and crackling—with lemon wedges and spicy harissa sauce. When you cut into it, the yolk should ooze out like a sauce.
💡 Fact: Brik is Tunisia’s answer to Turkish börek, but unlike its cousin, brik always contains a whole raw egg that cooks during frying. The art of brik? Keeping the yolk liquid and the dough crisp.
🍲 Tunisian Couscous (Couscous Tunisien)
A hearty celebratory dish of fluffy couscous with tender braised meat, vegetables, and fragrant broth. Traditionally cooked in a special two-tiered pot—a couscoussier—where the couscous steams in the aromas of the stew below.
Ingredients:
• Couscous — 500 g
• Lamb or beef (shoulder) — 800 g
• Yellow onions — 2
• Carrots — 3
• Zucchini — 2
• Cooked chickpeas — 200 g
• Tomatoes — 3
• Tomato paste — 2 tbsp
• Garlic — 4 cloves
• Ground cumin — 1 tsp
• Ground coriander — 1 tsp
• Turmeric — 1 tsp
• Sweet paprika — 1 tsp
• Cayenne pepper — ½ tsp
• Salt — to taste
• Olive oil — 4 tbsp
• Water or broth — 1.5 L
• Butter — 50 g
• Fresh parsley and cilantro — 1 bunch each
Instructions:
Prep the meat and veggies: Cut the lamb into 4×4 cm chunks (bone-in if possible). Slice the onions into 5 mm half-rings, carrots into 1×6 cm batons, zucchini into 2 cm half-moons, and tomatoes into large wedges. Crush the garlic with the flat side of a knife. Keep all veggies chunky so they don’t turn to mush during the long braise.
Sear the meat: Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Brown the meat in batches for 4–5 minutes per side until deeply golden. The meat should "seal" to lock in juices. Transfer to a plate.
Build the sauce base: In the same oil, sauté the onions over medium heat for 5–7 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the crushed garlic, tomato paste, and all spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, cayenne). Stir constantly for 2 minutes—the spices should bloom but not burn. The mix will turn vibrant and aromatic.
Braise the meat and veggies: Return the meat to the pot, add tomatoes, carrots, and chickpeas. Pour in water or broth until the ingredients are ⅔ submerged. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1.5 hours. The meat should be fork-tender. Add the zucchini 15 minutes before done—they should soften but hold their shape.
Cook the couscous: 20 minutes before serving, pour 600 ml of boiling salted water (or broth from the pot) over the couscous. Add the butter, fluff with a fork, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. The couscous will absorb all the liquid and plump up. Fluff again to break up any clumps—the grains should be light and separate.
Perfect the dish: Taste the broth and adjust seasoning. It should be rich, spiced, with a hint of heat. Stir in the chopped parsley and cilantro. The veggies should be tender but intact, the broth thick and fragrant.
Serve the couscous mounded on a large platter, topped with meat and vegetables, and generously ladled with broth. Offer harissa and extra broth on the side. Traditionally, it’s eaten with your hands—roll the couscous into balls soaked in sauce.
💡 Fact: Couscous isn’t a grain—it’s rolled and dried semolina. In Tunisia, it’s a Friday family meal, and the fluffier the couscous, the more skilled the cook. In 2020, couscous was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.