Its location on the very northern tip of Africa, right on the Mediterranean and close to Italy, means Tunisian cuisine is a wonderfully unique fusion of flavours. Take harissa, for example, which is traditionally made with wood-smoked sun-dried chillies that are pounded with caraway and plenty of other spices, then steeped in oil to make a quite brilliant hot condiment. I love it stirred into Tunisian fricassee, which is a sandwich made with deep-fried bread stuffed with tuna, olives, boiled eggs and potato. Though harissa is perhaps the Tunisian ingredient I turn to the most, the country’s food encompasses so much more, and is a world of flavour I can’t get enough of exploring.
Houria with eggs and coriander salsa (pictured top)
This very popular Tunisian dish is essentially a mashed carrot salad, but that underplays what it delivers in flavour. The harissa is a constant, but the toppings vary: hard-boiled eggs work really well, as do chunks of tangy feta or good jarred tuna. Once made, houria will keep in the fridge for a day or two and, if anything, improve in flavour, which gives you a bit more time to experiment.
Prep 5 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4-6
Fine sea salt
1kg carrots, trimmed, peeled and cut into 2-3cm pieces
1 tbsp red harissa
75ml olive oil
4 tsp cider vinegar
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1½ tsp caraway seeds, roughly ground in a mortar
2 eggs
2 tbsp (5g) roughly chopped coriander leaves
10 pitted green olives
Bring a medium pan of salted water to a boil (add about a tablespoon of salt for every litre of water), drop in the carrots and boil for 30 minutes, until cooked through and easy to break apart. Drain, return to the pan and leave to steam dry for about 10 minutes. Using a potato masher or fork, break down the carrots to a rough paste, then stir in the harissa, three tablespoons of oil, a tablespoon of vinegar, half the garlic, half the caraway and a teaspoon and three-quarters of salt. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool to room temperature (or, if you’re making it ahead, cover and store in the fridge).
Meanwhile, bring a small pan of water to a boil. Gently put in the eggs, boil for eight minutes, then drain and rinse under cold running water until cool. Peel the eggs and cut each one into quarters.
Now for the salsa. In a small bowl, mix the chopped coriander with the remaining teaspoon of vinegar, two tablespoons of oil, crushed garlic clove and a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
To serve, transfer the carrot mixture to a lipped platter and use the back of a large spoon to make a well in the middle. Decorate with the egg quarters and olives, then drizzle the coriander salsa all over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining caraway and serve.
Spicy Tunisian savoury pastries
My original recipe for this included instructions on making the pastry from scratch, but these days I am far more inclined simply to reach for some filo. Should you wish to dispense with the pastry altogether, the filling is lovely just as it is with rice or bulgur wheat.
Prep 25 min
Cook 35 min
Makes 8
1 onion, peeled and quartered (180g)
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks (100g)
2 large celery sticks, cut into chunks (100g)
50g bunch fresh coriander, leaves and tender stems picked
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1½ tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp red harissa
1 medium plum tomato, coarsely grated (discard the skin)
Fine sea salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
100g good tinned tuna (optional)
30g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
4 sheets filo pastry, each cut into 2 15cm x 20cm rectangles (ie, 8 in total)
Put the onion, carrot, celery and coriander in a food processor and blitz to a rough paste.
Put half the olive oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat, scrape in the vegetable paste and fry, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and there is no liquid left in the pan. Add the ground cumin and coriander, tomato paste, harissa, grated tomato, a third of a teaspoon of salt and 90ml water, cook for five minutes more, until the soft red paste starts to caramelise, then take off the heat. Once the mix has cooled to room temperature, stir in the lemon juice, tuna (if using) and olives.
Lay one filo rectangle on an oiled work surface and spread 55g of the filling over the top half of the pastry rectangle, starting from one of the short edges and keeping a clear 1cm border all around the edge until half the pastry is evenly covered. Brush the border with oil, fold the uncovered pastry over the top of the filling to enclose, then gently press together the edges to seal (to make smaller parcels, put the filling on only a third of the pastry, then fold it in three, like a letter). Brush the pastry all over with more oil, then set aside and repeat with the remaining filo and filling.
Put two teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick frying pan on a medium heat. Once it’s hot, fry two or three pastries at a time for two minutes on each side, until golden brown all over, then put in a low oven to keep warm while you fry the remaining pastries, adding more oil as needed. Serve at once while the pastries are still hot.
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