Monday, May 19, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Rest'o
Last night some of us decided to treat ourselves to a fancy restaurant because we needed a break from regular Tunisian food. We went to Rest'o, which serves international modern cuisine. It used to be owned by Alain Ducaisse, but now it is run by the Tunisian chefs who worked under him, thought you can still buy his cookbook at the restaurant. Our guidebook rated it one of the top five places to eat in Tunisia.
The restaurant located is in Villa Didon, an expensive hotel in Carthage with great views (except when we were there).
To start off we were given the normal Tunisian harissa and olive oil with tuna. Our plate also had a creamy carrot spread very similar to the one at "Its Only Natural" near Wesleyan.
Next I shared a Daurade ceviche and carmelized onions, both in a raspberry vinaigrette. It was pretty delicious and slightly briny which ended up working to balance the sweetness of the raspberries. Maybe ceviche is always briny, but I had never had it before. It came with some kind of whipped mayonnaise which was also really good, thought I couldn't really see how it worked with the fish. I just put the breadsticks in it.
Next came a smoked steaklet of duck with salad. The duck had a great smoky flavor, but the lettuce which I guess was the salad part of the dish could have used a light dressing, or at least some salt.
My entree was Mentholated steamed sea bass with nori and vegetables three ways. The fish below is not sea bass. I am not sure if this is a translation problem or if sea bass means something else outside of the U.S. It was cooked perfectly, though I think mentholated meant steaming it with a few mint leaves, which really did not add much flavor. The fish was stuffed with overcooked chunks of salmon. The restaurant was out of nori, but did not inform us of this until I asked where it was, and the vegetables three ways were good, but I am not sure if they really were three ways. While I wouldn't order it again it was good to have a break from fish that tastes fishy and that you have to debone yourself.
For dessert we had "The Darkest Of Dark" which was a chocolate cake filled with a warm pudding, chocolate tort and chocolate sorbet. The sorbet was probably the best part, but it was slightly too cold when it was served to us so we had to wait to eat it. (well we should have waited)
We also had a fruit torte with orange sorbet. The torte was tasty but nothing special, but the orange sorbet was very refreshing and a great way to end the meal.
Altogether it was a good meal, and I would definitely go back but might stick with appetizers and dessert. Also I learned that its not that easy to take pictures of food, especially with low lighting.
The restaurant located is in Villa Didon, an expensive hotel in Carthage with great views (except when we were there).
To start off we were given the normal Tunisian harissa and olive oil with tuna. Our plate also had a creamy carrot spread very similar to the one at "Its Only Natural" near Wesleyan.
Next I shared a Daurade ceviche and carmelized onions, both in a raspberry vinaigrette. It was pretty delicious and slightly briny which ended up working to balance the sweetness of the raspberries. Maybe ceviche is always briny, but I had never had it before. It came with some kind of whipped mayonnaise which was also really good, thought I couldn't really see how it worked with the fish. I just put the breadsticks in it.
Next came a smoked steaklet of duck with salad. The duck had a great smoky flavor, but the lettuce which I guess was the salad part of the dish could have used a light dressing, or at least some salt.
My entree was Mentholated steamed sea bass with nori and vegetables three ways. The fish below is not sea bass. I am not sure if this is a translation problem or if sea bass means something else outside of the U.S. It was cooked perfectly, though I think mentholated meant steaming it with a few mint leaves, which really did not add much flavor. The fish was stuffed with overcooked chunks of salmon. The restaurant was out of nori, but did not inform us of this until I asked where it was, and the vegetables three ways were good, but I am not sure if they really were three ways. While I wouldn't order it again it was good to have a break from fish that tastes fishy and that you have to debone yourself.
For dessert we had "The Darkest Of Dark" which was a chocolate cake filled with a warm pudding, chocolate tort and chocolate sorbet. The sorbet was probably the best part, but it was slightly too cold when it was served to us so we had to wait to eat it. (well we should have waited)
We also had a fruit torte with orange sorbet. The torte was tasty but nothing special, but the orange sorbet was very refreshing and a great way to end the meal.
Altogether it was a good meal, and I would definitely go back but might stick with appetizers and dessert. Also I learned that its not that easy to take pictures of food, especially with low lighting.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Excursion Day
So two weeks ago we had all of our programming canceled for the week, and squeezed into one day.
As part of this, we went to the "Kosher" restaurant, which Mounir, our director, had tried to make me excited about since the day we arrived in Tunisia.
When we got there I checked out the menu and noticed was that the restaurant served shrimp and octopus. When I informed Mounir that these are not kosher, he told me that the restaurant was kosher, and that he would have the owner explain. A few minutes later, he informed me that the meat was kosher, and that the restaurant specialized in Jewish specialties. I was surprised to find out that shrimp kebabs are a Jewish Tunisian specialty. The owner then came over to say hi, and informed me that the restaurant was not kosher, only the meat. I asked him why he bought kosher meat, since most people would not consider it kosher after being cooked in a non kosher kitchen. He informed me that they had a separate grill for the kosher meat.
While this theoretically seems somewhat reasonable, I know that there are probably no Tunisian Jews, let alone many Jews in the rest of the world, who do not eat non kosher meat but would eat at this restaurant. And of this small population, my guess is that almost none of them have visited Tunisia.
Its always good to know that some Tunisians had me in mind when creating their restaurants.
Mounir had pre ordered for us as he does for many meals: Fish and Couscous!
Also, we went to a book fair, and I got this cool brochure from the Saudi Arabian booth about how the trinity doesn't make sense.
As part of this, we went to the "Kosher" restaurant, which Mounir, our director, had tried to make me excited about since the day we arrived in Tunisia.
When we got there I checked out the menu and noticed was that the restaurant served shrimp and octopus. When I informed Mounir that these are not kosher, he told me that the restaurant was kosher, and that he would have the owner explain. A few minutes later, he informed me that the meat was kosher, and that the restaurant specialized in Jewish specialties. I was surprised to find out that shrimp kebabs are a Jewish Tunisian specialty. The owner then came over to say hi, and informed me that the restaurant was not kosher, only the meat. I asked him why he bought kosher meat, since most people would not consider it kosher after being cooked in a non kosher kitchen. He informed me that they had a separate grill for the kosher meat.
While this theoretically seems somewhat reasonable, I know that there are probably no Tunisian Jews, let alone many Jews in the rest of the world, who do not eat non kosher meat but would eat at this restaurant. And of this small population, my guess is that almost none of them have visited Tunisia.
Its always good to know that some Tunisians had me in mind when creating their restaurants.
Mounir had pre ordered for us as he does for many meals: Fish and Couscous!
Also, we went to a book fair, and I got this cool brochure from the Saudi Arabian booth about how the trinity doesn't make sense.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Strawberries and Bouillon
So not much has been going on. We have started our research project period, and I am in the stage where I have contacted everyone and now I'm just waiting to meet them. In the meantime there isn't much to do except make strawberry sorbet and chocolate strawberry brownies. (you can get 4lbs of strawberries for $2.50. I think i've mentioned before how cheap they are, but I'm still impressed)
On Friday I went with a few people to a Cameroonian cultural show. It was really cool, lots of different dances, and also a fashion show. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. They also had a few skits which were in French so I didn't understand them, but supposedly someone did a really good impression of the Cameroonian president.
Afterwards we went back to someone's house to get ready for the afterparty. It was kinda interesting to see how little connection the Cameroonian students seem to have to Tunisians. One of them almost kicked me out of the apartment because he thought I was Tunisian. I got to try Bouillon, which is beefskin stew that people from Cameroon supposedly eat when they are going to go drinking. Some searching on the internet lead me to believe that actually Bouillon refers to any kind of soup. It was kind of strange, and very spicy, and I ended up vomiting most of it up later. My friend had been warned that it would make her sick, but did not pass on this information.
I also got to try some Cameroonian whiskey which someone had brought to Tunisia.
You bite the pouch open and then pour it into your beer. And yes, it is called "Gold Bond" Whiskey.
On Friday I went with a few people to a Cameroonian cultural show. It was really cool, lots of different dances, and also a fashion show. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. They also had a few skits which were in French so I didn't understand them, but supposedly someone did a really good impression of the Cameroonian president.
Afterwards we went back to someone's house to get ready for the afterparty. It was kinda interesting to see how little connection the Cameroonian students seem to have to Tunisians. One of them almost kicked me out of the apartment because he thought I was Tunisian. I got to try Bouillon, which is beefskin stew that people from Cameroon supposedly eat when they are going to go drinking. Some searching on the internet lead me to believe that actually Bouillon refers to any kind of soup. It was kind of strange, and very spicy, and I ended up vomiting most of it up later. My friend had been warned that it would make her sick, but did not pass on this information.
I also got to try some Cameroonian whiskey which someone had brought to Tunisia.
You bite the pouch open and then pour it into your beer. And yes, it is called "Gold Bond" Whiskey.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Happy Passover (Tunisian kosher for passover recipe at the end)
So I just got back from Djerba, where I had gone for the seders. Djerdba has had a Jewish community for around 2500 years. Today, there are around 900 Jews remaining, and they all live in one community. There are 11 synagogues still in use on the island. They have their own school system, some people use only this, while others study religious subjects there and go to the government public schools for secular education.
The family I spent my time with switched between going to two shuls, one for morning services and one for evening. I think this is the first time I went to morning and evening services for both days of chag and shabbat.
The two synagogues I went to had similar layouts.
The seating is interesting, because since it extends to all four sides, in order to get a torah out of the ark you need to take off your shoes and stand on the cushions.
There were no women at the service. The first night my friend who came with me was offered to come to services, so I assumed that there would be a women's section. It ends up this meant sitting in the courtyard while we went inside.
On average there were around 15 people for morning services, and 30 in the evening. The service was pretty regular, not so much singing except for parts of hallel. Before the torah service, a man gets up and auctions off the aliyot, which I thought was kind of strange. They went for around a dinar a piece, and people usually do not outbid eachother. If there are any that are not bidded for they they are given out, so I got to have an aliyah on two of the days. After your aliyah, you have to go around and shake everyone's hand.
While I was there I saw a student's Hebrew workbook. Besides learning print and script letters, they also learn another kind which I had never seen before, which I guess is what they used in the times when they weren't allowed to write in Hebrew and so that non Jews wouldn't understand. Today I think there are few if any problems of anti Judaism on the island, and people feel comfortable walking around with kipot on.
Since there is no kosher alcohol available in Tunisia, many families make their own. The family I stayed with made two kinds, sweet and not sweet. It did not really taste like wine, and my friend who came with me informed me that it tasted like a very strong port. For the seders they mix it with a little bit of water for the four cups, and even still it is quite intense. My family also made their own Boukha, which tastes like Arak. For each of the four cups, the wine had to completely fill the glass, and you had to drink the entire thing at once.
Djerba has its own matza factories, and also imports matza from France. The Djerban matza is similar to shmura matza, except harder and thicker. My jaw hurt the next day from eating it. It tastes similar to Ak-Mak crackers. Most other kosher for passover food is imported from Israel, which was nice, since it meant I got to have Bisli and Doritos.
Being in Tunisia, where people already have dinner late, we started the first seder at 9:30 and the second at 10. For both seders they had the whole family over, which consisted of the parents, two sons, their wives and children, one daughter and her husband and child, and three more daughters who were not yet married.
The seder plate was a huge basket, which was necessary since the shank bone itself would have taken up our entire seder plate. Instead of using horseradish, Tunisians use romaine lettuce and endive. They dip their parsley in lemon juice instead of salt water. Then, they take balls of what looked like different fruits and nuts and dissolved them in the lemon juice to make haroset, which tasted more like salad dressing. There was no egg on the seder plate.
Before the seder began, one of the sons brought out a scale which I soon found out was to make sure you eat the right amounts of everything. It ends up in order to fulfill the mitzvah, you need to each quite a lot of matza, and a large salad's worth of maror. I was basically full before the meal began.
For Magid we went around the table reading the different sections, except for a few which are reserved for the head of the family. During Ha Lachma, the father picked up the seder basket and walked around with it above everyone's head. It was then repeated so that someone could hold it over his. He was also the only person to remove wine during his cup during the plagues, except instead of dipping his finger he poured it into a clay pot on the floor, and then refilled it. There was little discussion about the different parts of the seder.
The Afikomen was only symbolically hidden, and was brought back to the table without any drama after the meal.
On the second night, it is their tradition for magid to recite the entire seder in Hebrew and Arabic. They also do "who knows one" in Arabic, and what I thought is really cool, is that they use the same tune and representations of numbers as the Ladino version of the song. Maybe the song was translated when Jews came from Spain.
We ended the first seder at 2 and the second at 3:30.
The meals for the entire weekend focused around lamb, and I wouldn't be surprised if they purchased an entire lamb for the chag. On the second day they had a probably the largest meal, which was a huge lamb barbecue, which was seperated into different courses by part of the lamb. We started with the liver, then moved onto ribs, then brain, and then chunks of pure fat. The meal finished by eating the Shank bone from the seder plate. We ate the intestines and stomach the night before.
The grill they used looked like the top of a brick chimney on wheels. They put coals in the bottom and once it gets hot put skewers of meat inside vertically so they are leaning against the sides.
Being in the Jewish quarter was like being in Jerusalem. There were no cars and everything was closed, and the streets were full of people walking around or sitting and taking on the sides of houses. There were young guys walking around with the normal Tunisian tight pants and shirts and lots of gel, except they were also wearing Kipot.
One thing we ate as an appetizer were meat and potato balls. Here is how to make them:
You Need
Potatoes, cooked and mashed, maybe with a bit of margarine, salt and pepper
leftover cooked meat (we used lamb)
hard boiled eggs
uncooked eggs
matza meal
First cut the meat into very small bite sized pieces and cut the hard boiled egg into strips. next, beat the uncooked eggs in a bowl. Wet your hands, and take a small handful of the mashed potatoes and flatten it out in your hand. place a piece of meat and hard boiled egg in the center and fold the potato over it. Roll into and oval shape. Roll this around in a bowl of matza meal, and then dip it into the egg. Deep fry until golden brown.
The family I spent my time with switched between going to two shuls, one for morning services and one for evening. I think this is the first time I went to morning and evening services for both days of chag and shabbat.
The two synagogues I went to had similar layouts.
The seating is interesting, because since it extends to all four sides, in order to get a torah out of the ark you need to take off your shoes and stand on the cushions.There were no women at the service. The first night my friend who came with me was offered to come to services, so I assumed that there would be a women's section. It ends up this meant sitting in the courtyard while we went inside.
On average there were around 15 people for morning services, and 30 in the evening. The service was pretty regular, not so much singing except for parts of hallel. Before the torah service, a man gets up and auctions off the aliyot, which I thought was kind of strange. They went for around a dinar a piece, and people usually do not outbid eachother. If there are any that are not bidded for they they are given out, so I got to have an aliyah on two of the days. After your aliyah, you have to go around and shake everyone's hand.
While I was there I saw a student's Hebrew workbook. Besides learning print and script letters, they also learn another kind which I had never seen before, which I guess is what they used in the times when they weren't allowed to write in Hebrew and so that non Jews wouldn't understand. Today I think there are few if any problems of anti Judaism on the island, and people feel comfortable walking around with kipot on.
Since there is no kosher alcohol available in Tunisia, many families make their own. The family I stayed with made two kinds, sweet and not sweet. It did not really taste like wine, and my friend who came with me informed me that it tasted like a very strong port. For the seders they mix it with a little bit of water for the four cups, and even still it is quite intense. My family also made their own Boukha, which tastes like Arak. For each of the four cups, the wine had to completely fill the glass, and you had to drink the entire thing at once.
Djerba has its own matza factories, and also imports matza from France. The Djerban matza is similar to shmura matza, except harder and thicker. My jaw hurt the next day from eating it. It tastes similar to Ak-Mak crackers. Most other kosher for passover food is imported from Israel, which was nice, since it meant I got to have Bisli and Doritos.
Being in Tunisia, where people already have dinner late, we started the first seder at 9:30 and the second at 10. For both seders they had the whole family over, which consisted of the parents, two sons, their wives and children, one daughter and her husband and child, and three more daughters who were not yet married.
The seder plate was a huge basket, which was necessary since the shank bone itself would have taken up our entire seder plate. Instead of using horseradish, Tunisians use romaine lettuce and endive. They dip their parsley in lemon juice instead of salt water. Then, they take balls of what looked like different fruits and nuts and dissolved them in the lemon juice to make haroset, which tasted more like salad dressing. There was no egg on the seder plate.
Before the seder began, one of the sons brought out a scale which I soon found out was to make sure you eat the right amounts of everything. It ends up in order to fulfill the mitzvah, you need to each quite a lot of matza, and a large salad's worth of maror. I was basically full before the meal began.
For Magid we went around the table reading the different sections, except for a few which are reserved for the head of the family. During Ha Lachma, the father picked up the seder basket and walked around with it above everyone's head. It was then repeated so that someone could hold it over his. He was also the only person to remove wine during his cup during the plagues, except instead of dipping his finger he poured it into a clay pot on the floor, and then refilled it. There was little discussion about the different parts of the seder.
The Afikomen was only symbolically hidden, and was brought back to the table without any drama after the meal.
On the second night, it is their tradition for magid to recite the entire seder in Hebrew and Arabic. They also do "who knows one" in Arabic, and what I thought is really cool, is that they use the same tune and representations of numbers as the Ladino version of the song. Maybe the song was translated when Jews came from Spain.
We ended the first seder at 2 and the second at 3:30.
The meals for the entire weekend focused around lamb, and I wouldn't be surprised if they purchased an entire lamb for the chag. On the second day they had a probably the largest meal, which was a huge lamb barbecue, which was seperated into different courses by part of the lamb. We started with the liver, then moved onto ribs, then brain, and then chunks of pure fat. The meal finished by eating the Shank bone from the seder plate. We ate the intestines and stomach the night before.
The grill they used looked like the top of a brick chimney on wheels. They put coals in the bottom and once it gets hot put skewers of meat inside vertically so they are leaning against the sides.
Being in the Jewish quarter was like being in Jerusalem. There were no cars and everything was closed, and the streets were full of people walking around or sitting and taking on the sides of houses. There were young guys walking around with the normal Tunisian tight pants and shirts and lots of gel, except they were also wearing Kipot.
One thing we ate as an appetizer were meat and potato balls. Here is how to make them:
You Need
Potatoes, cooked and mashed, maybe with a bit of margarine, salt and pepper
leftover cooked meat (we used lamb)
hard boiled eggs
uncooked eggs
matza meal
First cut the meat into very small bite sized pieces and cut the hard boiled egg into strips. next, beat the uncooked eggs in a bowl. Wet your hands, and take a small handful of the mashed potatoes and flatten it out in your hand. place a piece of meat and hard boiled egg in the center and fold the potato over it. Roll into and oval shape. Roll this around in a bowl of matza meal, and then dip it into the egg. Deep fry until golden brown.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Its Hot
It finally broke into the 80's this week, yet many Tunisians still wear coats because "its still winter"
Also, no stores are allowed to sell you liquor on Fridays unless you have a foreign passport.
Also, no stores are allowed to sell you liquor on Fridays unless you have a foreign passport.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tunisian Cooking Lesson 2: Brik
Brik is kinda like a fried bureka, and it is awesome.
You will need:
chopped parsley
cheese, I think a shredded mozzarella will work (not fresh)
canned tuna (some people use shrimp or just leave out this ingredient altogether)
an egg, 1 per brik
oil
a lemon
and brik dough, which looks like this:
I did a little bit of research and it looks like it might be available in the US under the name Warka, malsouka, or feuilles de brick.
You can also buy them from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/Feuilles-Brick-Dough-10-sheets/dp/B0001217R2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gourmet-food&qid=1204408409&sr=8-1
Or try to make your own, which is supposedly very hard.
Or you can use spring roll wrappers, which are supposedly close enough. Phyllo dough will not work since it is too brittle.
Anyway, you first want to wilt the parsley in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Take it off of the burner and put in the canned tuna and mozzarella cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper. I would say there should probably be equal amounts of parsley and cheese, and slightly less tuna.
Then take the brik sheet and fold in the sides so that it forms a square which is around 5"x5". Fold this in half to form a triangle
Unfold it back into a square, and put in 1-2 tablespoons of the parsley mixture. Then crack an egg directly on top of it, and fold it back into a triangle. Immediately place the brik in a pan of hot oil (you're not deep frying) for around half a minute or less on each side. The trick is to cook the white of the egg, but to keep the yolk runny.
Serve immediately with lemon juice squeezed on top. You know you are a true Tunisian when you can eat it with without letting the yolk fall out.
You will need:
chopped parsley
cheese, I think a shredded mozzarella will work (not fresh)
canned tuna (some people use shrimp or just leave out this ingredient altogether)
an egg, 1 per brik
oil
a lemon
and brik dough, which looks like this:
I did a little bit of research and it looks like it might be available in the US under the name Warka, malsouka, or feuilles de brick. You can also buy them from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/Feuilles-Brick-Dough-10-sheets/dp/B0001217R2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gourmet-food&qid=1204408409&sr=8-1
Or try to make your own, which is supposedly very hard.
Or you can use spring roll wrappers, which are supposedly close enough. Phyllo dough will not work since it is too brittle.
Anyway, you first want to wilt the parsley in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Take it off of the burner and put in the canned tuna and mozzarella cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper. I would say there should probably be equal amounts of parsley and cheese, and slightly less tuna.
Then take the brik sheet and fold in the sides so that it forms a square which is around 5"x5". Fold this in half to form a triangle
Unfold it back into a square, and put in 1-2 tablespoons of the parsley mixture. Then crack an egg directly on top of it, and fold it back into a triangle. Immediately place the brik in a pan of hot oil (you're not deep frying) for around half a minute or less on each side. The trick is to cook the white of the egg, but to keep the yolk runny.
Serve immediately with lemon juice squeezed on top. You know you are a true Tunisian when you can eat it with without letting the yolk fall out.
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