Cookfolio

Garlic is one of my favourite ingredients. I think that the first time I actually had garlic sauce was when I was teenager and ate my first Lahmacun, a Turkish pizza filled with salad, garlic sauce and if you dare a splash of sambal. But garlic sauce is even better served with any barbecue meat on hot summers day, try it!

2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 small Garlic clove crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of dried mint (the best is the Turkish dried mint)
1 tbsp Water

Put all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix together with a fork for about 2 minutes. You can add more water or mayonnaise to get the right consistency. You can use the sauce straight away but it does taste better if you set it aside for a couple of hours.

Handy Links:
How to make your own dried mint
Mint recipes
Origin and Histroy of Mint

Harissa is a Tunisian hot chilli paste made with sun dried red chilli peppers. Harissa is a condiment that is eaten daily in Tunisia and accompanies almost ever hot meal. I made two versions of harissa this year and it was really easy to do. The chilli peppers are dried in the summer heat on farms and sold on a string at markets all over Tunisia.

Ingredients batch #1:
dried red chilli peppers – 50cm string (no idea how many chilli’s)
head of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp tabil spice mix
olive oil

* Ingredients batch #2:
dried red chilli peppers – 50cm string
head of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 finely diced onion
½tsp dried coriander
½tsp dried cumin
olive oil

Method:
Soak the red chilli peppers in water for at least one day. Remove the seeds and stems. Be careful when cleaning the peppers as it stings if you touch your eyes etc. Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and add heaps of olive oil. Blend the ingredients to a paste, add more oil if needed. It will keep for weeks in the fridge, I recommend adding a layer of olive oil to keep it from going off.

* Blend 2, fry off the onion in olive oil and add spices towards the end of cooking.

Being one of the worlds favourites it is no wonder that this dish is very popular in Tunisia. You can even buy different thicknesses of Spaghetti in corner shops, this is a reflection of how passionate the Tunisians are about their pasta.

Of course the Tunisian Bolgonese is spicy but you can make is as hot as you like. Potatoes are also sometimes added, it took me a long time to get used to it but sometimes my husband leaves it out and then I am left wondering where the goodness has gone. Another strange ingredient is the chickpea, not too many but just enough to make the sauce different and unusual.

Tunisian cooking is easy, in general it’s slow cooking, most dishes follow the golden rule – everything takes 1 and a half hours to cook. Or at least until the oil comes to the surface.

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp tomato paste
250gr lean minced beef
water
1 tbsp tabil
3 or 4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
optional: dried chick peas, dried chilli peppers, potatoes

Method
Fry off the onions in the oil and bay leaves, if you are using the chickpeas add them now. When the onions are softened add the tomato paste and let it cook for a couple of minutes to get rid of the bitterness. Stir in 2 to 3 cups of water, stir while adding the minced meat so that it isn’t lumpy. Add salt, black pepper, tabil, and garlic. If the sauce is too thick add more water, leave to cook for at least an hour.

* If adding the potatoes add them 30min before the end to slowly cook.

Serve the sauce on a bed of your favourite spaghetti and sprinkle Parmesan cheese if desired. A true Tunisian meal will always be served with freshly baked french bread from the local bakery!

The perfect accompaniment for lamb cutlets, fish or chicken.

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Tabil
¼ tsp dried rosemary
half a cup of water

Method
Chop the tomatoes into big pieces, if you prefer you can remove the skins. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the tomatoes. After about 3 minutes add the rosemary, minced garlic, salt & pepper and water. Slowly let the sauce cook until it is thicker and most of the water is gone.