Tunisian Feast!

Over the weekend I decided to host a Tunisian Dinner with some of our closest friends. It has been a while since I cooked this type of meal and it was a real success (if I do say so myself). As some of you know, my dad is Tunisian and Tunisian food and culture have always played a big role in my life.  One of the cultural traits is that when you have people over,  you make sure you have more food than you need! So following our gathering Saturday night, here are some of my favorite Tunisian dishes that I want to share with you. Don’t be intimidated by some of the spices. Finding some of them may require a trip to your nearest Middle Eastern supermarket/store, but the trip there will be worth your while.

First, I made Michouia Salad, homemade Humus, Brick à l’oeuf, coucous and I bought some baklava for dessert. We had 11 adults and one three-year-old. Really the trick to feeding this size group is to have (mostly) everything ready ahead of time. I started preparing my vegetables and made sure that my appetizers were ready to serve. Doing this will save you some time because let’s face it, the bulk of the labour when cooking, is the prep-work. Once that is taken care of, everything goes smoothly!

Michouia Salad
I started with the Michouia Salad. For this you need:

4 Cubanel peppers
4 Hongarian peppers (very hot)
5 Roma tomatoes
One large clove of garlic, finely cut

1 tsp of tabel
1 tsp of karwiya (caraway)
You can add more or less of the spices, it's not an exact science!


Place the tomatoes and all the peppers on a baking sheet, add some olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in a 375F oven. Let the vegetables roast for about 30 minutes. Once the skin is brown/black, remove from the oven. Transfer the vegetables into a bowl with a lid and let rest for 15 min.

Remove the skin of the peppers and tomatoes, then cut everything very finely on a cutting board. It will look very mushy but this is what we want! Add the garlic and spices and let your seasoned veggies cool in the fridge. For presentation, add some cut up hard-boiled eggs.

Homemade Humus
Next came the tasty homemade humus:
1 can of chick peas (796ml), rinsed and drained
2 cloves of garlic
1½ tbsp of tahini
Juice of one lemon
¼ tsp of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup of good olive oil
½ cup of water
Salt & pepper to taste

First, boil the water and garlic together. This will soften the garlic and give some flavour to the water.
Put the chick peas, lemon juice, tahini and cayenne pepper in a blender. Add the softened garlic, ¼ cup of the boiled water and the oil. You can add more water depending on the consistency you want. Serve with pitas or vegetables.

Brik à l’oeuf
Brik is one of my favorite Tunisian dishes. Very simple, it is an egg cracked in the middle of a pastry. The original Tunisian recipe calls for tuna (canned) and capers as well, but I prefer it with just the egg! Fold the pastry in half over the egg and cook in olive oil until the pastry is golden and crispy. Once the bottom starts browning (about one minute), flip once. Oh so good!

Picture of the package

Tunisian Couscous
This is a traditional meal that reminds me of my Grandmother in Tunisia. The house gets filled with these wonderful aromas and it’s just delightful! It is traditionally made with lamb, but I used beef blade.

This is what you need:
1 box of Medium size couscous
1 kg beef blade
5 carrots, cut in quarters (length-wise)
5 potatoes, cut in quarters
Half of a green cabbage, cut in quarters
2 big cans of crushed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 big Spanish onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Spices: about 1½ tbsp each, tabel and karwiya (Caraway)
Water
Salt & pepper

Cut the meat in chunks and discard the bone. Sauté the onion and garlic with the beef for 5 to 7 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the carrots and cabbage. Thin the sauce with a little bit of water. Let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the carrots start to get soft. Add the potatoes and continue to cook until they are soft.

Ask any Tunisian and they will tell you that the only way to cook couscous is to steam it. Boiling it is sacrilege. When making a couscous, we use a couscoussier. Basically, the sauce cooks in the lower pot and the steam from the sauce cooks the couscous. But don't worry, there is no need to run out and buy a couscoussier. Any steamer will work!

Place the couscous in the steamer. Run water through the couscous until you can form a ball that breaks easily (to humidify it). Put the steamer on top of the water/sauce and let it steam for 10 min. Remove the steamer and repeat the first step. Let it cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. Once the couscous is ready, it will be softened but still firm. It will have doubled in size.

Once it’s done, add about 2 cups of the sauce to the couscous and stir. This will turn the couscous red. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Add all the vegetables and remaining sauce on top of the couscous, then serve.

I can guarantee that if you make any (or all) of these recipes, your friends will be very impressed with your cooking skills! So let’s get cooking! And try something new, something different!