In North Africa salads of all kinds are a favorite dish, served as part of a meze table, called qimiyya in Algeria, or as an accompaniment to grilled meats. This recipe from Algeria is simply called salāṭat bisbas, fennel salad. Although I love raw fennel which makes both a great dipping implement and sliced thin for […]
Breakfast in Tunisia
June 6, 2018 by 5 Comments
The great undiscovered culinary Shangri-La of the Mediterranean in my mind is Algeria and Tunisia. Algeria has been off limits for some 25 years because of the civil war which erupted in the early 1990s, and Tunisia was the initiator of the Arab Spring some years ago and has always been more popular with Europeans […]
Fava In A Moroccan Way
May 1, 2018 by 6 Comments
For fava devotees we are about to see those inviting fava bean pods appearing at our farmers markets. A delightful way to prepare the fresh fava beans is a way found in Morocco. In Morocco, this purée is served as a meze and called rafissa al-fūl or rafissa “de fèves fraîches” and can be served […]
Hasu – A Spicy Soup of the Algerian Jews
March 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Bread bakers set aside a portion of yeasted dough to act as a starter for the next batch of bread. This starter is called a sponge, poolish, levain de boulanger in French, and biga in Italian. But in this medieval soup of the Jews of North Africa it is the foundation to a soup. The […]
Make Your Own Spicy Harisa For A Taste Of North Africa
January 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Given how easy it is to make harīsa, the ubiquitous chile paste of North Africa, I’ve never had much use for those inferior tubes of the stuff. Harīsa is the most important condiment used in Algerian and Tunisian cooking, and you need to make this recipe and keep it in the refrigerator before attempting any […]
Luscious Winter Bean Stew from Algeria
February 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Winter stews in North Africa, called tagines or maraqat, are typically named after the major vegetable in the dish and not after the major protein, which actually plays a small role in the stew acting more like a condiment than a meat as we use it in North American stews. This stew from Algeria is […]
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