With its bright and juicy aromas and taste, Tunisian cuisine is due to the fact that it mixes the eastern and western culinary traditions, Arab and French, Asia and Europe.
Tunisia is a state on the northern coast of Africa, located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It once housed the great Carthage, who once could not stand the pressure of the Roman army, was captured and became part of the Roman Empire. Time passed, and Carthage moved from the Romans to the hands of the Ottoman Empire. It was then that Arab settlements began to appear on the territory of the country. And in the XIX century Tunisia became a colony of France.
The troubled history of the state is reflected not only in the traditions and culture of Tunisia, but also in its cuisine. And today there is hardly any one person who will remember that the Romans brought in favorite recipes, that the Arabs, and that the French. Tunisian cuisine was supplemented each time with innovations and changed thanks to the new owners.
Tunisian meal - plentiful and thorough
Local people like to eat delicious and good. For a meal they always have a certain amount of time, and their attitude towards food is striking with respect and awe. There are no fans of snacks "on the go" and fast food is not popular. Local residents will prefer to gather at one table, and enjoy fresh, freshly cooked food.
The attitude of the local population to food perfectly reflects the phrase "eat and do not spare your belly."Thanks to the nutritional value and the benefits of ingredients, any dish of Tunisian cuisine can saturate the body.
Ordering a national soup in a Tunisian restaurant, any tourist will marvel at the size of his serving. Both the first and second dishes here are quite large, and there is nothing surprising in that after a plate of tasty and hearty soup, few people can continue to eat and eat a lamb ragout or baked fish.
One of the gifts of French people to local residents was the introduction into the diet of another meal - casrut( casse-croûte, or a light breakfast in French).Typically, the Tunisian lunch consists of a sandwich: a French baguette with fresh salad, sausage, canned tuna, tomato, olives and harissa. The amount of spices and seasonings used in Tunisian cuisine can impress the imagination.
The best dishes of national Tunisian cuisine
The most popular soup in Tunisia is tomato. Traditional Tunisian soup is Shorba, which is cooked with vegetables, meat or fish.
Any housewife has her own recipe for cooking the main national dish - couscous. There are many recipes for its preparation. Numerous fish and vegetable salads also occupy the main places on any Tunisian table. For example, it can be Omak Huria - vegetable salad with canned tuna and olives. And as an appetizer, the Harissa is the best, a pasta made from hot red pepper mixed with olive oil. Although Brik is just as beloved, it is a Tunisian analogue of a cheburek in which fish mixes with potatoes, eggs and greens, then wrapped in dough and fried in oil.
Desserts and sweets of Tunisian cuisine are fruits, berries and nuts. Preparing sweets, the Tunisian confectioners knead the dough with nuts( walnuts, almonds or pistachios) and pour them with honey to make Mlyabes, Kaaber and Baklava. A great addition to any oriental delicacy is necessarily the fragrant green tea.