Tunisian cuisine

Tunisian cuisine, the cuisine of Tunisia, is a blend of Mediterranean and desert dwellers' culinary traditions. Its distinctive spicy fieriness comes from the many civilizations which have ruled the land now known as Tunisia: Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Spanish, Turkish, Italians, French, and the native Punics-Berber people.

Couscous, called "Kosksi", is the national dish of Tunisia, and can be prepared in many ways, it is often considered to be the best type of couscous in North Africa.
Specialities:
• Couscous (ground semolina served with meat, fish or vegetable sauce).
• Harissa (chilli paste).
• Salade Mechouia (roasted vegetable salad).
• Tajine (a kind of spiced quiche, served cold – no relation to the Moroccan dish of the same name).
• Brik (the Tunisian version of the Turkish borek; a deep-fried filled pastry. Common ingredients include tuna, egg, onions, capers and parsley).
• Merguez (a heavily spiced beef sausage).
• Filfil mahshi (peppers stuffed with beef and harissa).
• Lablabi (a chickpea soup with lashings of garlic).
• Marqa (a slow-cooked stew of meat and vegetables).
• Ojja (Tunisian scrambled eggs, usually spiced with lashings of harissa, as well as tomatoes, peppers and sometimes meat).

Things to know:
Although Tunisia is an Islamic country, alcohol is not prohibited. It is sold in bars, restaurants and some supermarkets. Tunisia produces a range of palatable table wines, sparkling wines, beers, aperitifs and local liqueurs.

Vegetarianism is a concept that most Tunisians cannot get their heads around and vegetarians may struggle to eat a varied diet within the country. Although there are plentiful salads, soups, egg-based dishes and stews in Tunisian cuisine be aware that many 'vegetable only' dishes will have used a chicken stock as their base or will have one, or two, tiny pieces of meat added in for flavour.