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Like in the rest of North Africa, couscous is served on all
occasions. It is traditionally eaten with lamb, the semolina must be
very fine, and the vegetables (carrots, little white cabbages,
turnips, chick peas) only lightly cooked. Depending on the season,
the vegetables change: there may also be cardoons, cold broad beans,
or pumpkin.
Unlike Moroccan tajines, a tagine in Tunisia usually refers to a
kind of "quiche"
made from beaten eggs and grated cheese consisting of meat and/or
various vegetable fillings, prepared like a large cake and cooked in
the oven. Mloukhia,
a beef or lamb stew with bay leaves and served with French bread. Its
name is derived from the green herb used, which produces a thick
gravy that has a mucilaginous
(somewhat "slimy") texture, similar to cooked okra.
The most sought-after seafood speciality is poisson complet: the
fish is prepared, fried, grilled or sautéed, accompanied by
potato chips and either normal or spicy tastira, depending on the
kind of peppers used in the dish. The peppers are grilled with a
little tomato, a lot of onion and a little garlic, all of which is
finely chopped and served with a poached egg.
Other popular Tunisian foods and recipes
-
Aknef :lamb steamed on a bed of rosemary, accompanied by chorba.
Traditionally served during Eid-ul-Fitr,
called Aid el Kebir in Tunisia.
- Borghol
bil allouche :simmered burghul cooked with lamb, peas and
chickpeas.
- Brik :tiny parcels of minced lamb, beef, or vegetables and an egg
wrapped in thin pastry and deep fried.
- Chakchouka :a vegetarian ragout similar to ratatouille with chickpeas,
tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onions served with a poached egg.
- Chorba : spicy soup often containing a type of short pasta shaped like rice
grains, called langues d'oiseaux or "birds' tongues".
- Felfel mahchi :sweet peppers
stuffed with meat, usually lamb, and served with harissa sauce.
- Guenaoia : lamb or beef stew with
chillies, okra, sweet peppers and coriander.
- Houria : cooked carrot salad.
- Lablabi :rich garlicky soup made with chickpeas.
- Kabkabou :Light and subtly
seasoned fish simmered in a tomato-based sauce.
- Koucha : whole baby lamb baked in
a clay case with rosemary.
- Makroud : semolina cake stuffed
with dates, cinnamon and grated orange peel.
- Masfouf : sweetened couscous, the Tunisian version of the Moroccan seffa.
- Mechouia
Salad : an hors d'oeuvre of grilled sweet peppers, tomatoes and
onions mixed with oil lemon, tuna fish and hard-boiled eggs.
- Merguez :small spicy sausages.
- Mhalbya : cake made with rice,
nuts and geranium water.
- Noicer pasta :very thin,
small squares of pasta made with semolina and all-purpose flour,
flavoured with cinnamon and rosebuds.
- Ojja :scrambled egg dish made of
tomatoes and mild green chilies supplemented with various meats and
harissa.
- Salata batata : hot potato salad
flavoured with caraway seeds.
- Samsa : layers of thin pastry
alternated with layers of ground roast almonds, and sesame seeds,
baked in lemon and rosewater syrup.
- Tlithou pasta :small pasta made
with semolina, yeast, olive oil, salt and water, mainly prepared for
Aid el Kebir.
- Zitounia : veal ragout simmered in
a tomato sauce and onions, flavoured with olives.
- Torshi : turnips marinated with
lime juice.
- Yo-yo : donuts made with orange juice, deep fried then
dipped in honey syrup.
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About Tunisia 
