Tunisian cuisine is Mediterranean with great use of spices and herbs.
Bread is always present, either in the form of baguette or as tabouna, a kind of unleavened loaf baked in a domed clay oven.
The national dish is couscous, fine grains of semolina steamed and served in several variations: with meat (lamb, chicken, koftes), fish and vegetables. Being a seaside resort, there is no shortage of fish on the table, usually grilled or baked.
A clear legacy of French colonialism can be felt in tartare, entrecote and bouef bourguignon.
Tunisians really like spicy food, ubiquitous isharissa, a red chilli sauce with which they season everything.
At the beginning of the meal, mechoia, a typical Tunisian salad, is generally served, and as a hunger-breaking snack, the brik.
Desserts are a riot of honey, dried fruit and dates. Let's see the 10 things to eat in Tunis and where!
1 - Cous Cous
Typical of the Maghreb, but also of Sicily, cous cous is the main ingredient in many versatile and complete dishes.
It is made from grains of durum wheat semolina, processed with water and then steamed in a special pot called a couscous pot.
Absorbing a lot of water, although it has similar nutritional values to pasta, it is much more satiating and is perfect for meat and fish or vegetarian dishes.
The dish's most common accompaniments are vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onions and peppers), pulses (especially chickpeas) and a truly explosive mixture of spices: in addition to cinnamon, saffron and various seeds (cumin and fennel), there are chilli peppers, paprika and harissa (a very hot sauce made from crushed chilli peppers and oil).
For more elaborate recipes, meat (chicken, lamb, snails, meatballs called koftes) or fish are added to this base.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €6.00
Main ingredients: wheat semolina, meat, fish and vegetables
2 - Mechouia
This is theTunisian salad par excellence. A very popular dish for those who appreciate spiciness, it is especially eaten in summer.
The basic ingredients are tomatoes, green peppers, onion and garlic, combined with spices, especially cumin and coriander, with the addition of olive oil and salt.
It is usually eaten cold, as an appetiser, accompanied by some bread, decorated with tuna, boiled eggs and olives.
On menus, it can be found in the list of appetisers; in fact, a very small portion is served, which has nothing to do with our big salads. However, it can also often be found as a filling for sandwiches sold as street-food by street vendors.
Recommended for: entrée for lunch and dinner
Average cost: €8.00
Main ingredients: tomato, green peppers, onion, garlic, spices, tuna, boiled eggs, olives
3 - Brik
Impossible not to try the brik at least once during a stay in Tunis. It is the street-food par excellence and can be found practically everywhere.
It is a roll of very thin fried dough, similar to our phyllo dough, which is filled with various fillings: usually tuna, olives and harissa, but also minced meat with spices, or eggs and vegetables.
It is a dish from the Maghreb gastronomy, which was initially mainly popular among nomadic peoples. The name comes from the dough, brik or brick, that women still prepare by hand.
Originally created as a street food, given its great success, it is served in restaurants among the appetisers.
Recommended as: snack or starter
Average cost: €3.00
Main ingredients: fried dough, tuna, olives, minced meat, egg, harissa
4 - Chakchouka
This is avery hearty single dish made of vegetables, usually peppers, tomatoes and aubergines, cooked with tomato sauce, parsley, egg and spices (as many as 50 types of spices to which aniseed and rose petals are added!).
Of Algerian origin, it is a dish served during festivities.
The term chachcouka translates as'torn flatbread'.
The reason is obvious because the dish is served with a lot of bread: pieces of flatbread called khobz or melaouia, dry, thin bread reminiscent of carasau.
This dish started out as poor and very variable, it was prepared differently each time depending on what was available at home.
Recommended as: snack or starter
Average cost: €3.00
Main ingredients: vegetables, eggs, tomato, spices
5 - Lablabi
True Tunisian street-food, it is a chickpea soup enriched with lemon juice, sautéed onion, cumin, harissa and to which you can add tuna, eggs and olives.
It is not served in restaurants because it is a popular dish, much appreciated especially by workers gravitating around markets, commuters crowding stations and students leaving high schools.
For Tunisians, approaching the steaming pot with the bowl already full of stale bread piecesis a daily routine.
Lablabi is a complete dish that costs little and puts one in a good mood, especially in winter.
Recommended for: snacks, quick meal out (streetfood)
Average cost: €3.00
Main ingredients: chickpeas, bread
6 - Ojja
This is a recipe for scrambled eggs that are cooked for a long time in the ubiquitous harissa. To the egg mixture are then added chunks of merguez, spicy lamb sausage (for a change!) and the whole thing is then garnished with shrimps.
A hearty and caloric dish. It is strange to think that ojja was originally the favourite national dish for breakfast. Today, it is served as a single dish during one of the main meals of the day, lunch or dinner.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €7.00
Main ingredients: eggs, shrimps, merguez sausage
7 - Berzguen
This is a very unusual dish. It is in fact a sweet-savoury couscous prepared with milk and accompanied by lamb flavoured with mountain rosemary, dried fruit and dates.
The dish is generally brought to the table on feast days.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €8.00
Main ingredients: cous cous, lamb, milk, dried fruit
8 - Kabkabou
Kabkabou or Kabkabu is a popular fish and tomato stew as it is relatively healthy and easy to prepare.
The fish is cooked in a sauce, and then capers, green olives, black olives and lemons are added.
Many species of fish are used, such as grouper, tuna and mackerel. The ingredients for the sauce are: onion, oil, tomato sauce, garlic, harissa, salt, pepper, cumin and saffron.
Perfect to accompany couscous or to be eaten with typical bread.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €16.00
Main ingredients: fish, tomato, olives, capers
9 - Tajine malsouka
Photo by Souad Anane Lesina. This is another typical Tunisian recipe which, despite its name, has nothing to do with the Moroccan tajine of the same name.
It is a simple dish and very quick to prepare: a kind of savoury pie whose base is the same as a brik, filled with chicken, eggs and cheese.
This is the original version but, of course, the filling can vary depending on the taste of the diner or simply on what you have on hand.
The Tajine malsouka can never be missing from the table during a wedding celebration!
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €10.00
Main ingredients: chicken, eggs, cheese
10 - Baklava
This cake originates in Turkey but is also popular in North Africa and the Middle East. It consists of biscuits kneaded with date sugar, dried fruit and honey syrup.
There are several variations, such as one with walnuts and pistachios.
In the Medina of Tunis, cake stalls overflow with baklava and similar sweets dripping with honey.
Recommended for: desserts
Average cost: €1.00
Main ingredients: honey, dried fruit
Where to eat: best restaurants, typical places and street food
Photo by Faiza affes. From exclusive'European-style' restaurants to street vendors, Tunis can satisfy everyone, both in terms of taste and budget.
Local eateries offer typical dishes, usually clean and of good quality, and are also frequented by Tunisians themselves. For lunch or a quick bite to eat, you can buy a typical snack from one of the many street vendors that are not only found in the markets but also on the streets with fixed or mobile canopies.
For the more discerning palate, there are also restaurants that follow more Western standards specialising in meat or fish. Obviously, in these cases, the bill is rather steep and one is not immersed at all in the typical atmosphere of the place.
Along Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the long avenue leading to the Marina with its many Art Deco buildings, there is a succession of bar-restaurants with outdoor terraces and waiters on the pavement'catching tourists' offering everything from couscous to salads, from hamburgers to lasagnes. Prices are average but, from the vastness of the menu, it is easy to deduce the poor quality.
1 - Chez Slah (Fish Restaurant)
Description: restaurant serving excellent fresh fish, reservation required as the premises are not very large.
Speciality: catch of the day
Average price: from €25.00 per person
Address: 14 Bis Rue Pierre de Coubertin(Get directions)
2 - Chez Abid (Local restaurant)
Description: simple but excellent restaurant frequented by locals and tourists alike.
Speciality: fish soup and fish couscous
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: 4 Rue du Caire(Get directions)
3 - Dar Hammouda Pacha (Elegant restaurant)
Description: located in a sumptuous 17th century building in the heart of the Medina offers typical Tunisian dishes
Speciality: tajine and lamb mously
Average price: from €40.00 per person
Address: 56 Rue Sidi Ben Arous(Get directions)
4 - Panorama Kedidi (Cafe and snack bar)
Description: outdoor terrace for a quick meal (also takeaway)
Speciality: sandwiches, pizza and desserts
Average price: from €7.00 per person
Address: 41 Ave Habib Bourguiba(Get directions)
5 - M' Rabet (Café)
Description: environment with typical decor and terrace overlooking the Medina. Ideal for breakfast and traditional dinners
Speciality: cous cous with lamb
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: Souk Trok(Get directions)
