Tunisian Brik

One of the most famous Tunisian dishes is brik, a fried pastry filled with egg and other spices and toppings. The most basic brik is "brik a l'oeuf," which is a malsouqa pastry (here's a first-hand account of using malsouqa to make a different version of Brik, called "fingers of Fatima") with an egg and spices inside, and then fried and quickly eaten.

The art of eating a brik is making sure that you don't get the egg yolk all over you - often the egg isn't totally fried, and you need to be a creative (and fast) eater to get it down without making too much of a mess. (a note from a cooking site on the runny eggs: "Because of concerns over salmonella, many people are uncomfortable preparing dishes in which the eggs are only partially cooked. Most Tunisians do not share this concern.") Another pointer is to give the brik a quick squeeze of lemon for some extra flavor. There are also plenty of other variations, I've eaten brik with Tuna (which is ubiquitous in Tunisian cuisine for better or worse), and ground beef.

A variation of the brik is the doigt de Fatima, or Fatimah's finger, which looks like a spring roll. I personally prefer them like this, because they're smaller and easier to deal with. Also, I've had some tasty variations with shrimp, as part of a long meal which included some great Couscous Djerbien, which is a fish couscous that originates from the island of Djerba.

Even though travel guides love to sing its praises as a typically Tunisian food, it's not as easy to find as it should be on the street. It's often on the menus in typical Tunisian restaurants, especially in the medinas (old towns) of cities, where a meal will typically include salad, brik, and then a main dish such as couscous, fish, or grilled meat.