Belleville Market’s Mechouia
Little Tunis and the multicultural and bustling Belleville market in Paris are populated with French farmers and merchants from North Africa. In the restaurants and stores bordering the market, you feel as if you are in North Africa, as Tunisians and others congregate at kosher and halal restaurants, bars, and bakeries. You also feel the influence of the Italian tenure in Tunisia: Italian bread, beignets shaped like the Italian manicotti, and canned tuna in olive oil. An everyday snack that Jews and Muslims make from the ingredients found in this market is a large brik filled with parsley, tuna, and a raw egg, then quickly deep-fried and served with a salad called mechouia. The word mechouia, which means “grilled” in Arabic, can be applied to grilling an entire lamb or just the vegetables that go with it. Some sprinkle salt on the grill to keep away the evil eye. The trick to making a good mechouia is grilling more tomatoes than peppers. To retain the flavor of both vegetables, sprinkle them with salt after they are grilled and peeled, and let them drain overnight, to help the water seep out. In the market, Tunisians use corne-de-boeuf peppers, the ones they grew up with in Tunisia, but you can substitute Anaheim peppers, which are very similar, or others.
*I prefer the Cento brand, which is kosher.
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Using a heated grill, a frying pan without oil, or the broiler, grill the tomatoes, peppers, and garlic until the skin is charred and blistered. Remove them, and once the vegetables are cool, peel, making sure to remove all charred parts as well as the seeds of the tomatoes. Cut the vegetables into long strands, place in a sieve, sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon salt, and let the water drain out for an hour or overnight.
Step 2
Toss the vegetables into a large glass bowl. Using two knives, cut them into little pieces, drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with pepper, and adjust seasonings.
Step 3
Put the tuna in the center of the vegetables, and decorate with the hard-boiled egg and the black olives.
