Banknotes and other Tunisia Local Custom Tips

It is always important to know how the money, banknotes and coins of a country look like. Here is a sample of a 10 Tunisian dirham banknote. That is all what remained when I went back from Tunisia. I will add other banknotes as soon as I get them.

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The Tunisian Dirham is about 0.80 € or 0.66$. It cannot be exchanged outside Tunisia. The highest coins are 1 Dt and 0.5 Dt. The 1 Dt represents a Tunisian woman picking olives from the tree. In the background are wheat (corn) and a date palm tree. The 0.5 Dt represents two hands; one holding 3 oranges, the other a corn ear. Each of the main crops of Tunisia are represented. On the other side, both coins represent the coat of arm of Tunisia with the scale of Justice, a roaring lion and a sail boat.

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The Tunisian dirham is divided in 1,000 millimes. The coins are 20, 50 and 100 millimes. On one side, they bear the value. The reverse side is entirely written in Arabic script except the date : for example 1997 (after JC)-1418 (after the Hegire).
There is also a 10 millimes coin, (worth 1/2 cent !) but I have not found it.

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Families from Gabès spent their Summer in cabins (seen in the background), on a beach close to the city where we camped for a few days. We had plenty of time to make friends with some of them.

Especially one family with a mother in her forties, a son in his twenties, a daughter of the same age and a 10 years old daughter.

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This type of clothing is what is usually worn at home or around home by a family mother. Though younger women most often clothe in the same way that one would do on the north shores of the Mediterranean, this type of clothing remains very popular.

Here, she is preparing mint tea. Green tea and mint leaves are brought to the boil with water and sugar in a teapot, poured in another teapot from as high as possible, poured back in the first teapot, heated again, etc, ant that can be done several times. These pourings allow the tannin of the tea to oxidize with air so that the tea is not so harsh.

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The son of our welcoming family was working as a clerk at the city Hall. He was usually clothed in European style but over it, wore a light djellabah as you can see on the picture. This kind of clothing is very pleasant to wear when it is hot : you don't receive directly the sun beams and as it is very loose, there is plenty of air circulating underneath and you feel really cool !

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Tunisian cooking mixes a Berber background with an Arab and MiddleEast influence and a French and Italian influence. Tunisian eat a lot of pasta and do not be surprised if in a country restaurant the only meal is spaghetti with a Harissa sauce ! The only illustration that I had for Harissa was a half empty 100 g tube but in Tunisia, it is usually sold in 1 kg and even 5 kg cans !

The most typical characteristics of Tunisian food is an extensive use of Harissa. Actual Tunisian food ranges from hot to very hot. In restaurant for tourists, the seasoning will be milder ! Harissa is THE Tunisian seasoning. It is a purée of hot peppers added with ground herbs and seeds and with olive oil. Tunisian put it everywhere. It is very good if you are not afraid of hot food. Otherwise, be cautious ! In basic local eating places (not really restaurants !), you can get on your table without having ordered it, as a kind of first course, a plate with some olive oil and some harissa. You are supposed to wipe both with a piece of bread. It is delicious, again if you are not afraid of hot food !
Other Tunisian seasonings are parsley, Arab parsley (leaves of coriander), seeds of coriander, of caraway, garlic.

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First course

Brick : triangular turnover made with a thin crunching paste and stuffed with an egg or with a tuna, herbs and egg stuffing and fried. It should be cooked in such a way that though the white of the egg is cooked, the yolk remains liquid. Tunisians eat it with their fingers and the difficult thing is to be able to eat it without having a single drop of yolk flowing ! It is easier if it is overcooked but it should not be !

Fricassé : close to the brick

Fatma's finger : about the same stuffing than brick but rolled as a cigar.

Tunisian salad : called Niçoise salad in France, Greek salad in Greece, etc… Sliced tomato, cucumber, onions, peppers, olives, etc.., seasoned with olive oil and harissa.

Méchouia salad : cold chatchouka (see below)

Chorba : a seasoned broth with pasta, meatballs, fish, etc…

Ojjas : scrambled eggs with different seasoning, pieces of meat, of merguez or vegetables.

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Main course

Chatchouka : kind of ratatouille made of tomatoes, paprika, pepper, onions, chick peas cooked together and often added with a soft boiled egg, served with olive oil and sprinkled with lemon.

Couscous : there are hundreds of different couscous. Beef, mutton (sometimes lamb), goat, chicken or fish cooked in a broth (that will make the chorba), served with any available vegetable and grains (couscous).

Safa : a kind of couscous special from Tozeur, without any meat. The grains of the couscous are larger than usual.

Koucha : lamb shoulder grilled and served with potatoes and green or red peppers

Kamounia : beef stew cooked several hours in a caraway sauce.

Marqua : close to kamounia, with more tomatoes and olives.

Loubia : mutton stew with beans.

Tajine : pieces of lamb cooked in the oven with eggs, parsley and vegetables. The same name but completely different from the Moroccan tajine.

Méchoui : any meat grilled on charcoal.

Kaftaji : brochettes of meat, liver, onions, pepper.

"Poisson complet" and "Poisson à la Sfaxienne" are grilled fish cooked with tomatoes, beans, potatoes and peppers, served with fried eggs in olive oil and a hot sauce.

For those who want to try, I have found a superb web site with plenty of Tunisian recipes. It is in French but has a photography of each dish and thus might interest even those who do not understand French. Actually, it presents not only recipes but Tunisia but from the whole Maghreb. Have fun !

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Website: http://www.khaoula.com/recettes2.htm

Sweets

Makroud is a Berber sweet from Kairouan : semolina cake stuffed with boneless dates.

Ghareiba is a cake made with chickpea flour, mutton grease and honey.

Samsa, a kind of brick stuffed with almond paste.

Mestouf a sweet couscous.

Baklawa is a Turk sweet found around the whole Mediterranean.

Loukoums are not a local sweet (coming from the Middle East) but are often served.

Mkhares are doughnuts cooked in the street.

For those who want to try, I have found a superb web site with plenty of Tunisian recipes. It is in French but has a photography of each dish and thus might interest even those who do not understand French. Actually, it presents not only recipes but Tunisia but from the whole Maghreb. Have fun !

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Website: http://www.khaoula.com/recettes2.htm