Tunisian

Tunisia is famous for her fish dishes and her fish couscous. Here is one of the prestigious dishes which can be served with couscous. Prepare couscous as in the recipe on page 375 so that it is ready at the same time.

Small skate, tender enough to fry quickly, should be used for this Tunisian dish. The wings are bought already dressed from the fishmonger.

In Tunisia, where egg dishes are ubiquitous, they call this a tajin because it is cooked in a clay dish of that name. It can be eaten hot or cold.

This Tunisian specialty is easy to make and quite delicious.

A hot and peppery Tunisian omelet.

A dish of Tunisian origin that is eaten in most Middle Eastern countries, it makes an ideal snack meal. There are many versions. I like this one, called “nablia,” which is a specialty of Nabeul.

For this spicy and aromatic Tunisian soup, use any firm white fish, like cod or haddock, and serve it as a main course.

This very popular Tunisian soup is eaten for breakfast. In poor families it serves as a meal during the day. Little cafés in popular areas serve it in the morning to people going off to work.

This rich Tunisian pie makes an interesting main dish.

These Tunisian fried parcels in a crisp casing of ouarka (see page 125) are ubiquitous appetizers in North African restaurants. You can use fillo to make them, although it is not quite the same. They should be served immediately, as soon as they come out of the frying oil.

Make this fiery Tunisian salad with old carrots, which taste better, and add the flavorings gradually, to taste. The color is beautiful. Serve as a dip with bread or bits of raw vegetables.

For this Tunisian salad, use old carrots and mealy potatoes.

Use mealy potatoes for this Tunisian salad, which is served as an appetizer and also as an accompaniment to grilled fish.

In this Tunisian salad the blandness of zucchini is lifted by the very rich flavoring.

Serve half of this fresh bread with the Tunisian Vegetable Salsa as a starter and the rest with the lamb .

This Tunisian mixture elevates everything from flatbreads to <epi:recipelink id="365691">grilled lambepi:recipelink. Make extra so you'll have some on hand all summer long.</epi:recipelink></epi:recipelink>

Let the yogurt work its marinade magic overnight in this stunning main course. Look for a small butterflied boneless leg of lamb at your supermarket, or ask your butcher to butterfly one for you.

I call this herb and spice rub North African because, besides the classic oregano and rosemary, it contains Tunisian and Moroccan spices such as caraway, cumin, and turmeric. In addition, it is spiked with harissa, the ubiquitous hot pepper paste that is to Arab North Africa what chile oil is to Asia. Use the same spice mixture to rub poultry, beef, or pork two to three hours before grilling and leave at room temperature. Or you can mix 3 tablespoons of this rub with 3 tablespoons yogurt and baste chicken breasts or legs or skewered lamb and pork before grilling. Better yet, leave in the spicy yogurt marinade in the refrigerator overnight.

Brik The old joke is that brik turns into a brick if the pastry (in Tunisia, malsuqa) is not thin enough. We found spring-roll wrappers had just what the dish required — they are delicate but sturdy enough for the eggy stuffing.

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr This recipe, which accompanied our 1954 article on Tunisia, called for what were then two very exotic ingredients. One, the granular pasta called couscous, is now commonplace in supermarkets across America. The other, dried rose petals, is available by mail order.