Msemmen traditional, rich, layered, crêpe-like flatbreads from the Maghreb region of North Africa. If you like setting yourself a culinary challenge or, you have had many failed attempts making msemmen in the past and your enthusiasm to master this beast of a flatbread hasn’t diminished. Here is my step-by-step how-to in photos. You will forgive the lack of … Read more
Sweet & creamy No Bake Cheesecake The prettiest dessert to come out of my Kitchen so far, possibly the most delicious with all shop bought ingredients! (cringing over here) A simple yet testing assembly job is the No Bake Cheesecake. The only skill you learn or learn you have none of is patience. The cheesecake (assembled) … Read more
Another day closer to Eid al Fitr, another sweet recipe for you to bake, and later devour; Tcharek Msaker. Tcharek Is the Algerian Arabic word for crescent. It comes from the Turkish word Çeyrek meaning ‘quarter’, as in the ascending quarter moon. The quarter moon or ‘new moon’ is what we muslims look for on the 29th Ramadan in … Read more
Recipe below is adapted from couscous and pudding Tcharek – Algerian Crescent Shaped Pastries Filled With Dates Cook Time: 15 minutes Yield: 36 Ingredients 4 cups plain flour 2 tablespoon icing sugar 1 cup ghee (clarified butter), melted 1/2 tsp halal vanilla extract 2 tablespoon orange blossom water 1 cup cold water* For the filling: 1 kilogram … Read more
My Best Loubia Recipe ~ White Bean Soup 1437 A.H / 2015! Every year as soon as the colder weather sets in my husband says, in more or less these exaggerated words “that’s it, we are eating loubia – beans soup, addass – lentil soup, any soup but only soup for the next 6 months”. The kids groan and I smile with glee … Read more
Algerian Kbab – A lightly cinnamon spiced chicken stew with chickpeas, topped with fried potatoes and garnished with fresh parsley. This Algerian kbab recipe has been here on the blog a while (much like those ghribiya cookies) I’m simply updating the recipe and including some better (ok slightly better) photos -the chicken really looked dry in … Read more
Tabaa in the Algerian language means baking mold – in this case a cookie/pastry cutter. It also can refer to a postage stamp. Tabaa are also known as Torno in Oran. Recipes for this double named cookie vary from place to place, family to family. Halwat Tabaa are best described as a type of shortbread or sablé, yet they are lighter … Read more
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Scones; light and tender quick breads with deep fruity olive flavour and the slightest hint of vanilla. I was out of butter margarine (yuk! but that’s what I get when I ask father-in-law for ‘Zibda‘) when I wanted to bake something to have as a sweet treat along with our afternoon coffee. I’m no stranger … Read more
Gers Ogely – A light and dairy free cake from Kuwait flavoured with saffron and green cardamom, encrusted with sesame seeds. The cuisine of Kuwait was this months MENA cooking club challenge, join us as we cook dishes and explore cuisines from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. As usual we have 3 dishes to choose from, a savoury, … Read more
It’s time to reveal what we have all been cooking up in the MENA cooking club this month. Joanne from what’s on the list is our host this month and we are cooking Bahraini style She gave us the option of Chicken Machbous and this Halwa recipe. I made both (for chicken machbous click here) but first, bahraini halwa; originally from the island of … Read more
Harira; the traditional soup of Maghreb, North Africa. This week I bring you not one but two soups, what can I say? I’m a soup lover, anytime of year and whilst spring has sprung here in England the winds are still blowing a cold chill which makes me still long for warm comforting meals like this Harira soup. Really though … Read more
Sfinz / Sfenj – North African doughnuts. MENA Cooking Club challenged us this month with 3 dishes from Libya; a soup, a stew/tagine and North African doughnuts / fried bread. I’ve cooked a lot of soups and stews from neighbouring Algeria but that didn’t stop me trying the Libyan lamb, carrot and green olive tagine. I made my recurring tagine mistake of halving … Read more
Algerian Basbousa – a citrus semolina cake soaked in sugar syrup. Flavoured with citrus fruit and lightly with orange blossom water this sweet, soft, fragrant and ‘moist’ cake will have you coming back for more. Basbousa September 2017 I wanted to bake Basbousa as part of our sweet breakfast tray for Eid al Adha. By the time I … Read more
Chicken Salona / Saloona: Emirati Chicken Stew, flavoured with Loomi (dried lime) and easy, home-made Bezar spice mix. Over the last month MENA Cooking Club have explored the United Arab Emirates through three dishes chosen by our host Tamar: Ro-be-yann nashif – spicy fried shrimp, Djaj Murraq / Salona – Chicken Stew and Khanfaroosh – saffron and cardamom fried ‘pancakes’. Emirati cuisine is a blend of many Middle Eastern and … Read more
Syrian roast chicken & potatoes As part of MENA Cooking Club we were given Syrian dishes to try. This chicken & potato dish was the easiest by far and who doesn’t love a roast? it’s not like any ordinary roast chicken, it’s full of strong yet complimentary flavours of garlic, hot pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. It’s been almost thirty days since I posted a recipe. … Read more
Palestinian lentil soup ~ smooth, flavoursome and simple to make! The past month’s MENA Cooking Club challenge was to cook a dish or dishes from Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina). Members had the choice of Musakan – Sumac Chicken with onions, Shorbet Adas – Lentil Soup and Kunafe Nabulsia – Sticky Pastry made of gooey sweet cheese sandwiched between layers of shredded kunafe pastry from the Palestinian … Read more
Algerians love their chorba freek and this Brit does too. We have it almost every night during Ramadan to break our fasting, so technically it’s breakfast. Any other month of the year we eat it for lunch or dinner. Freekeh is young wheat that is green and specially processed by sun drying and burning the husks, which … Read more
I’ve always preferred soups made with Lamb and not Chicken, but after tasting this Chorba Bayda / Shorba Baïda or simply White Soup, I’ll definitely be trying more Chicken Soups from now on ان شاء الله. How to make the soup white? Well, it’s the genius combination of egg yolk and lemon juice. When mixed together and … Read more
Algerian Tajine Zitoune ~ Chicken stew with green olives and carrots. Vibrant in both colour and taste. A welcome addition to the Iftar ‘break fast’ table this Ramadan. Zitoune / Zeitoun / Zaytoon The Arabic word for Olives is زيتون, pronounced ‘zaytoon‘. In Algerian Darja it’s pronounced ‘zeetoon‘. As the French language is still widely used here in Algeria, زيتون transliterated is spelled Zitoune. At least … Read more
It may be near the end of summer here in Algeria, yet the heat and humidity are not letting up just yet. So why am I sharing a soup recipe?! After all, isn’t soup associated with cold winter or rather any.season.of.British.weather?? Here we enjoy soup all year round and especially in Ramadan to break our fasting … Read more
After breaking fast with dates and/or water, Chorba Freek to me is the epitome of the breaking fast meal. Especially here in Algeria, no table seems complete without it during Ramadan. Algeria has a wide variety of soups including Harira & Chorba Bayda ‘white soup’. The one I think is the best? Chorba Freek. I’ve made it many times and … Read more
La Mona – Algerian brioche with a super light and fluffy crumb. Flavoured with orange blossom water, citrus zest and a sprinkling of sesame seeds or pearl sugar. You can eat as is alongside your morning cup of tea or coffee, or split it and fill with creme patisserie, butter and jam or your favourite chocolate / … Read more