Cookfolio

No trip to Tunisia is complete without visiting the little doughnut store in Sidi Bou Said. We went three times I think this summer to stock up the sugared delights.

It is amazing how many doughnuts this little (tiny even) store makes. Location is of course everything and there is definitely no escape from the wafts of sweetness that escape into the small and narrow streets or the massive lines that it creates.

The buildings next to it are now also selling food, but who in their right mind wouldn’t want to taste these dreamy circles? We even took some home for my mother in law who had not been there for years and she was very happy!

The sad thing is that they are only something to enjoy in Tunisia. My Tunisian friend tried to make them several times, and once we had a co-collaboration but it was a failed badly. I suppose that the summer temperatures of 44°C have something to do with it compared to our cold homes in The Netherlands. In the event that you have successfully been able to recreate these brilliant bundles of yeast please share the link in the comments.

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The recipe can be found on this website!

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I had seen Tunisian people eating chillies with almost every meal but recently when I was over at my friend’s house I learnt something new. She was perparing the chillies to be fried and slit the green chillies open, mix salt with ground cumin and then fried them.

I questioned why she did this and it was just the norm for her, nothing unusual. Apparently it’s a custom to add cumin in Tunisia as the chillies there are really hot. When they are fried in oil the cumin neutralizes the heat and makes them easier to eat. I did try it and the taste was amazing, really worth the extra effort.

Noicer pasta: very thin, small squares of pasta made with semolina and all-purpose flour, flavoured with cinnamon and rosebuds. via: experiencetunisia.info

Note, you will need a couscous pan for steaming the noicer above the noicer sauce!

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
4 onions finely chopped
3 carrots cut into 3 and halved
3 chicken breasts halved
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tabil
1 1/5 litre water
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 tin chickpeas
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper
450 gr Noicer
olive oil
1/4 tsp ground rosebuds & cinnamon mix

Method:
Saute onions in olive oil, add carrots, chicken and tomato paste and stir, cook for 3 minutes. Add spices, cook for 2 minutes. Add water, peas, chickpeas and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 40 minutes or until carrots are cooked.

Place noicer in a big bowl, adding about 1 tbsp olive oil. Rub in the olive oil making sure to coat all of the small pasta squares. Place noicer in the steam section of the couscous pan and steam for 30 minutes, stir now and then.

Place steamed noicer in a pan, add about 3 big soup ladles and the mix of rosebuds and cinnamon. Let the noicer absorb the sauce for 2 minutes. Serve the noicer in a big bowl with the sauce on top. If there is extra sauce you can serve it on the side. Bon appetit!

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