Mat og Drikke i Tunisia - Tunisia Guiden.no

Plain folk - for whom bread remains the staff of life. From the urban "baguette" to the unleavened country bread baked in a clay domed oven "tabouna" , each region boasts its specialty. Freshly baked bread is available throughout the day and no family meal is complete without it.

Sophisticated gourmets - Tunisians' pride themselves on their fine taste buds. Indeed woe to the chef who forgets the touch of cumin in a grilled fish or the bay leaf in the mloukhia, a beef stew thickened with corète. Lamb is the basis of most meat dishes and purchased from one's family butcher after close examination and exhaustive questioning as to the region,

season, breed and age. A favorite way to prepare young lamb is coucha - portions of shoulder meat are rubbed with a sauce of olive oil, salt, a sprig of mint, a touch of cayenne pepper and turmeric and baked in a slow oven in a tightly covered earthenware dish.

A summer "dinner" may consist of home pressed olive oil, a few green olives, country bread, heavy and grainy and a salad of sliced scarlet radishes or plump tomatoes served with grilled fish. Pampered by miles of coast and a unpolluted and generous sea, seafood is a mainstay of the Tunisia diet. Without question, the blue ribbon goes to the Rouget -red mullet, a delicious fish either grilled or fried.

The varieties of seafood from the imperial royal shrimp to the familiar and much appreciated sardine are endless and each region has its recipes and secrets for preparation. Jerba in particular is known for the excellence of these gifts of the sea.

Tunisian meals are social events and the longer the better. A typical meal would begin with shorba frik- lamb soup with flavored with tomato paste, coriander, parsley and seasonings in which green spring wheat grains are slowly simmered, is served with slices of lemon. Brik, followed by Slata mechouia - grilled green peppers , tomatoes and garlic finely chopped.

Spices and olive oil are added and the salad is garnished with tuna fish, hard eggs, olives and capers. Dinner will now begin. Assorted stews follow roasts of lamb, veal or fish, tajine - a rich, flavorsome omelet baked with chopped meat, vegetables and cheese. Fresh salad, fruits, pastries and custards, coffee and tea make the finale.

Holidays are occasions for the preparation of traditional specialties and though there is some leeway given to the chef's creativity, the main ingredients vary little. On the Mouled, zgougou ,a sweet pudding of ground pine seeds , topped by a vanilla cream and decorated with grated nuts is served throughout Tunisia.

The Aid El Fitr, a day marking the end of the Ramadan fast is celebrated by families visiting each other, bringing and receiving plates of pastries, homebaked or purchased with bakloua or makroudh as all time favorites. Aid El Kebir brings to the table a myriad of dishes prepared with lamb- cuminia,osbane, mechoui, lamb chops or cuts grilled over charcoal. Ras El Am, the Moslem New Year is greeted not with champagne but with mloukhia.

While most Tunisians like their food hot and spicy, restaurants and hotels prepare their menus considering the tastes of their visitors and serve harissa separately. This condiment is made of crushed dried red peppers, garlic and spices and adds a definite zest to any meal. It is a mainstay of many dishes and can be toned down by a touch of olive oil. Many menus are also printed with English, German and French translations of the dishes.

Sweet loving Tunisians have adopted the Turkish baklava - layers of whisper thin pastry interspersed with ground pine nuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios, bathed in golden butter, baked and dipped in a honey syrup. No holiday, wedding, christening or dinner party could be considered without it. Other sweets, makroudh ,a specialty of Kairouan of semolina pastry stuffed with dates, caak, almond paste wrapped in fine dough ,as well as a myriad of regional specialties make up the traditional platter served for every joyous occasion. The vast almond orchards of Sfax supply the different types of almonds that are the basic ingredient of most sweets and cakes. Tunisian pastries are given as gifts for holidays and are well worth a trip to the nearest pastry shop.

How can one go wrong with sun ripened vegetables, middle eastern cuisine with a continental touch, fish from the morning's catch and fruits from the tree to your table ! Tunisian restaurants and hotels plan their menu for you - Tunisian specialties vie for your attention alongside of familiar continental dishes.

The exotic brik - paper thin pastry, enclosing a mixture of egg, parsley, seafood or meat and fried to golden perfection can herald in either a sizzling brochette of lamb, a choice of seafood or a robust cous-cous, Tunisia's national dish. As varied as Tunisia itself, cous-cous, grain steamed over a fragrant stew, can be prepared with veal, lamb or fish - a specialty of Jerba, plus an assortment of vegetables to which the adventurous may add to their taste a touch of harissa.

Tunisian wines are a revelation. Enhance your meal and discover the full bouquet of Haut Mornag or Magon, or the refreshing and light rosés of Sidi Rais and Koudiat and the spicy "piquant" Blanc de blanc or Muscat de Kelibia.

In Tunisia, the art of vine growing and winemaking dates back to the earliest antiquity. The agronomist Magon, who lived in Carthage at the time of the Phoenicians, recorded in his Treatise of Agronomy viticulture, wine-producing practices that are still in use nowadays. In the Roman mosaics, Dionysos-Bacchus, the god and guardian of wine, contributes to ride high in triumph.

Today, Tunisian wine continues to boast the high repute that the sun, soil and time-honored Tunisian traditions have conferred on it.

Well situated on the most fertile lands, the vineyards extend over an area of some 10.000 hectares (for dessert grapes) and of 15.000 hectares (for wine grapes.) They grow on hillsides blessed with an average annual temperature that never rises above 20° and with a rainfall ranging between 250 and 500 mm a year. The quality of the Tunisian wines is rich in alcohol content, without excess of acidity, and soft, with the character of new wines and an alcohol percentage of 11 to 12° for both red and rosé, and a slightly lower percentage for white.

The yield is of the order of 480.000 hl, with 60 to 70 % rosé, 25 to 35 % red and 5 to 10 % white. The produce is marketed at 70 % of wine under "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" (A.O.C.), of which 20 % id granted the label 1er Cru (First Vintage). Both exports and local market supply in bulk and loose are ensured by "Office National de la Vigne de Tunisie".

The storage, bottling and marketing of bottled wine is entrusted to the producers themselves, namely U.C.C.V. (Union Centrale des Coopératives Viticoles: Central Union of Wine-Producing Cooperatives).

Areas of outstanding wine yields:

Khanguet: Situated at about thirty km south of Tunis, the region produces a choice of red and rosé wines that go very well with red meat and game.

Grombalia-Takelsa: Flanked by the Mediterranean sea to the north in Korbous, and the south in Hammamet and Nabeul, this region yields A.O.C. Mornag produced from the vine-types Alicante, Grenache, Bouschet, Carignan and Consault, and up to 20 % from improving vine-types such as Cabernet Sauvigné, Mouvèdre, Merlot and Syrah which give them mellowness an fineness. The white wines are obtained from the wine-types Merseguerra, Pedroximènes, Clairette, Chardonnay and Beldi.

Kelibia: This is a coastal vineyard growing in sandy and siliceous soil, and is home to the Muscat d'Alexandrie, the A.O.C. 1er Cru "Muscat de Kelibia". The dry Muscat wines of the Cap Bon region can be tasted without anything else as appetizers and go equally well with seafood and grilled fish.

"Sidi Saâd"

Sidi Thabet-Mornag: Respectively situated at bout twenty km to the north and to the south of Tunis, this region produces A.O.C.1er Cru "Grand Cru Mornag", the red and rosé "Coteaux de Carthage", the red "Sidi Saâd", the "Chateau Mornag". The basic vine-types of the region are Alicante Granache, Carignan, Cinsault, Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Monique and the Mouvèdre for the rosé wines. Those noble wine-types give body, balance and elegance to the wines of this region from which originate the fleshy, full-bodied and strong red wines, recommended to go with meat and especially with game.

Tebourba: Produces over a large expanse, A.O.C "Côteaux de Tebourba" wines, and its old dark-red "Magon" wine, with its pomegranate color and its distinctive good and full-bodied bouquet. Also comes under this appellation, in rosé, the fresh and fruity wine "Gris de Tunisie", obtained by dripping from traditional wine-types.

The South-West side of Bizerta region: Produces A.O.C. 1er Cru "Côteaux D'Utique". To the red and rosé wines, based on traditional vine-types, there come to be added, in moderate measure, such improving vine-types as "Cabernet Sauvignon", "Merlot" and "Syrah" which give them fineness and velvetiness.

The Beja-Jendouba region: Situated at 140 km west of Tunis, this region produces, under a markedly contrasting continental climate, A.O.C. 1er Cru "Thibar" wines obtained by normal fermentation of a must yielding 11 to 13° acquired alcoholic content. For the red and rosé wines, the basic vine-types are "Carignan," "Cinsault," "Grenache" and "Bouschet" to which are currently added such imprxoving vine-types as "Mourvèdre", "Merlot" and the "Franc and Sauvignon Cavernets". The ruby-coloured red wines are full and tasty wines; the rosé wines are fruity and fragrant. As for the whites, to whose traditional vine-types (Clairette and Pedroximènes) "Ugni Blanc" is added, they are very dry and very fresh wines. Then, there are Muscat wines which are produced by the Domaine of "Thibar" which markets sparkling wines as well.

Desert is a cruel choice for the weight watcher. Irresistible pastries of nuts and honey, can undo the most disciplined, and the fruit ! Who can stop at just one golden orange, a few succulent grapes, or a tiny slice of fragrant melon! Never fear, an afternoon swim, a jog along the beach or a few sets of tennis will set things right!

A perfect finale to your meal - a thimbleful of sweet, rich Turkish coffee or a glass of fragrant green tea, served with a spring of fresh mint and a smile.

Kilde: Tunisian Tourist Office

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