Tunisian Street Food: What to Order

firas kobbi

4 hours ago

1 min read

Some of Tunisia's best food is sold over a counter, wrapped in paper and eaten standing up. Here is what to look for.

Fricassé

Small fried bread rolls split and filled with tuna, egg, potato, olives and harissa. Soft, rich and impossible to stop at one.

The chickpea soup served in simple canteens, often in the morning. You tear the bread yourself; the cook adds the broth and toppings.

The chopped mix of fried vegetables and egg, stuffed into a baguette. Messy and excellent.

A baguette layered with harissa, mechouia, tuna, egg, olives and potato. The everyday lunch of the whole country.

A flaky flatbread cooked on a griddle and filled to order, often with tuna, cheese, egg and harissa.

Sold hot from street stalls as well as restaurants, especially in summer and during Ramadan evenings.

A large ring doughnut, fried fresh and rolled in sugar. Sidi Bou Said is famous for them; eat one walking down the hill.

Follow the queues, ask for harissa "shwaya" (a little) if you're cautious, and carry small change.

Photo: Noomen9 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0