Recipe for Tunisian "Brik"
Anne Bourget
Hi Anne,
You mention Turkish cuisine... For *ages* I have been looking for a
recipe for "brick." You would not happen to have it handy in your cookbook?
Many thanks,
Vida
Anne Bourget responds:
break/brik is a Tunisian dish - savory pastry - deep fried turnover that
usually contains a spicy meat or fish filling and often an egg. Though
the fillings may vary, brek/brik is traditionally served with harissa sauce.
I have a lot of respect for Paula Wolfert's work and the following is
quoted from her "Mediterranean Cooking":
TUNISIAN BRIKS
The brik is the Tunisian equivalent of the pizza -- a delicious pastry
dish that can be prepared in innumerable ways, eaten any time of the day,
and bought right out on the street. It consists of a strudel or
phyllo-type dough filled with any one of a hundred stuffings, fast fried,
served up hot, and eaten with the hands.
In Tunisia they call the pastry "malsouqua", which is exactly the same as
the Moroccan "warka", and surprisingly close to Chinese spring roll
skins. Malsouqua is rather difficult to make and unobtainable in the
United States. But Greek phyllo leaves are a good substitute and if you
use them your briks will be fine.
Here first is a master recipe for briks with a stuffing of onion, egg,
and brains. At the end I suggest three alternate stuffings: sweba which
is cooked seasoned ground meat; anchovies and onions; and ground cooked
chicken and potatoes.
BRIKS NIL MOHK (Brain and egg turnovers - Tunisia)
Ingredients:
3/4 lb. lamb, calf, or beef brains
salt and freshly ground black pepper
vinegar
2 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 T finely chopped parsley
1 T grated parmesan cheese
2 phyllo leaves or 4 Chinese spring roll skins
4 eggs
Oil for frying
Lemon quarters
Equipment:
2-qt. saucepan Deep skillet Slotted spoon
Working tine: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Frying time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
1. Soak the brains for 30 minutes in several changes of water. Remove
the membranes then rinse and drain. In the saucepan bring 1 1/2 quarts
seasoned and acidulated water to the simmer. Slip in the brains, cover,
and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Drain, cool, and dice.
2. Melt the butter in the saucepan and cook the onion over low heat
until soft but not browned. Add the brains, parsley, salt and pepper to
taste. Cook gently 10 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the cheese. Mix
and mash, then separate into 4 equal parts.
3. Spread out the pastry leaves and cut them in half. Leave the spring
roll skins whole. Fold each of the pastry leaves in half and place 1/4
of the filling 2 inches away from one corner. Flatten the filling
slightly to make a hollow in the center. Break and egg into the hollow.
Fold over the pastry to cover the egg; dab the edges in the egg white,
press the edges to adhere, and fold each rim over 1/2 inch for a secure
closing, being careful not to break the egg inside. If you are using
spring roll skins, fold in the left and right sides in order to make a
square then proceed as directed above. Repeat with the 3 remaining leaves.
4. Heat oil to the depth of 1 inch in a large deep skillet. When hot but
not smoking slide in on brik. Lightly push it down into the oil then
press one corner in order to make the brik swell. When golden brown on
both sides transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the 3 remaining
briks. Serve hot with the lemon squares.
Variations
Sweba - ground meat and egg turnovers
For each brik mix 2 T ground beef cooked with a little onion and parsley
and seasoned with salt and pepper. Mix in 1 T grated parmesan cheese and
a few drops of lemon juice. A sliced hard-boiled egg is used instead of a
raw one.
Briks bil sthum - Anchovy and egg turnovers
For each brik: 6 fillets of anchoves and 1 T chopped onion cooked in
butter then mixed with 1 T grated parmesan choose, freshly ground black
pepper, and topped with a raw egg.
Briks bil djej - Chicken and egg turnovers
Leftover cooked chicken and boiled potatoes ground together, seasoned
with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and bound with a beat egg. A
Sliced hard-boiled egg is used instead of a raw one.
------------------------------------
Anyone else have other brik recipes that they would like to share with
Vida and others in rec.food.cooking?
Anne Bourget
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____________________________________________________________________________
Anne Bourget bou...@netcom.com
John C. gilkey
> Vida and others in rec.food.cooking?
>
> Anne Bourget <
My wife, Laurel Cooper, spent a year in Tunisia once--and does not recall
ever eating anything as complex as Paula Wolfert's recipe from
"Mediterranean Cooking" for Briks filled with Brain and egg. Whether from
street vendors or nice restaurants, the filling was pretty basic--the egg
of course, usually some capers, sometimes tuna or anchovies. The trick
was to eat the brik without breaking the yolk--but of course that made it
taste better.
There might be a recipe in Time-Life book "5 Cuisines?" which has section
on Tunisia.
John
conn...@vms.cis.pitt.edu
in Hollywood called "Moun of Tunis". This is where I first had brik.
Actually this is the only place I have had brik except once when I
made it.
Moun of Tunis made it with mashed potato, egg, and capers. When I
was trying to find a recipe to make it myself I found several but
none of them had potato. One had tuna but I couldn't get too excited
about that! I forget what was in the others. So I just had to wing
it.
I used spring roll wrappers in place of warka (the filo-like pastry
used in Tunisia). The kind I used are the large circular, paper-thin
kind. They come sort of all stuck together and you have to carefully
peel each one off from the stack. They work beautifully and seem to
be a very acceptable substitute for warka. From various things I read
I learned that filo can be used in a pinch but is not as good as the
spring roll wrappers. I used 2 layers of spring roll wrapper for each
brik.
The other trick I learned was to use only the yolk. If you use the
whole egg by the time you cook it long enough for the whites to set
the yolk will set too. The yolk has to remain runny.
It's really easy (but tedious). Prepare your mashed potatoes and
cool to room temp. Peel off 2 sheet of spring roll wrapper and place
one on top of the other. On one side of the wrapper place some mashed
potato, sprinkle with a few capers, and top with and egg yolk. Brush
the rim with egg white/water mixture. Fold in half and press edges to
seal. Repeat. Deep fry in hot oil, one at a time, until pale golden
brown. Remove and drain. Serve hot with lemon wedges. Squeeze lemon
juice over the brik. Eat with fingers.
The restaurant told me they used olive oil to fry them but I can't
afford that much olive oil! Maybe someday I'll splurge. They sure
are good cooked in olive oil. But the ones I cooked in veg. oil were
excellent! I'm going to have to make them again soon, after all this!
Kate