Beautiful Algeria

[chefzadi]

Condiments and relishes.

Many of the conserves and preserves I mentioned earlier would fall into this category.

As far as condiments to add at the table, they would be mostly be pepper (with varying degrees of heat, herb based. or with olives.

Edited April 8, 2005 by chefzadi (log)

[chefzadi]

Condiment and side overlap with salads sometimes.

Starter course of vetegetables are usually dressed with vinaiger and olive oil or lemon juice and olive oil. Salads (whether or not they contain greens can refer) to vinaigered vegetables or in fruit salads as well. Salata (or Chladya) Fakya means Fruit Salad. Salata and Chladya are regional variations. I prefer Salata because that is what I grew up saying. Eggplants would almost alwys be roasted or cooked down with olive oil. Tomatoes and peppers can be served raw or cooked. Carrots would be grated, cumin is an almost automatic addition to this salad.

[Wolfert]

undefinedIt's basically a catalog of recipes, with no backstory or discussion of cooking techniques. The book is in French, it has a "lexique" which is useful.

Unfortunately, most of the early cookbooks on Algerian cooking are just collections of recipes.. If you want good research material, check out the ethnic studies on foodways in Algeria done by CNRS (centre national de la rechereche scientifique).

The only book that I know that has some detailed discussion written in the 1900's is Leon Isnard's L'Afrique Goumande ou l'encyclopedie culinaire de l'Algerie, de la Tunisie et du Maroc. The publisher was Fouque and based in Oran. My copy is almost completely in shreds, but if there is something you want me to look up, don't hesitate to ask.

Edited April 9, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[chefzadi]

Soups are called Harira, Chorba or Djari and stews are called marqa. (please note again regional variations abound).But this doesn't mean that dishes would be named as such.

In tlemcen the term marqa would be used. I have never heard it in Setif. My generation is really the first to communicate with Algerians from other regions. So a "standard" Derja is developing. Of course TV, radio, films have a lot to do with this as well.

Soups can be entirely made of vegetables or with the addition of a berkoukes, vermicelli, orzo or bulghur. Spices of course vary from cook to cook, but I think that most Setifiennes would be shocked to learn that in Tlemcen they add cinnamon to harira.

I was planning posting a recipe for a chorba when I started this thread but I can't find my own recipe. I will have to ask my wife later.

[chefzadi]

If you want good research material, check out the ethnic studies on foodways in Algeria done by CNRS (centre national de la rechereche scientifique)

A Moroccan friend is (or was) the head of research for a division of CNRS. I didn't even know they did research on food. I talk him once a week, about soccer, and I never knew this.

[Pan]

Chefzadi, what kinds of vinegars are mostly used in Algeria?

[chefzadi]

White Vinegar. Traditionally like the type you would see in the Middle East. But these days French style vinegars are used as well.

Lemon juice and vinegar are used interchangeably in many applications. A little trick to brighten up a slow cooked stew or soup is to add a little vinegar a few minutes before cooking is complete.

Edited April 9, 2005 by chefzadi (log)

[chefzadi]

Chorba in the style of Tlemcen

Ingredients:

1 Pound of boneless leg of lamb or shoulder, cut into 2"cubes

2 medium zucchini, cut into 2" slices then quartered

1 medium carrot, cut into 2" slices then quartered or halved depending on girth

1 medium onion, coarsly chopped

1 small bulb of fennel, including the stem and fronds, coarsely chopped

1/2 Red Pepper, coarsley chopped

1/2 green pepper, coarsley chopped

3 ounces of uncooked vermicelli, cut into 3" pieces.

1 cup of chick peas

1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, concasse (you can used canned)

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

ginger (fresh or ground) to taste

Cinnamon to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive oil for sauteeing the aromatics and vegetables.

[chefzadi]

Algerian H'rira

(It can be spelled Harira, 'Arira. Spelling variations abound)

1 lb. lamb cut into small cubes, 1/2" or so.

2 Tablespoons smen

1 small celery, including the leaves

1 small onion, chopped

4-5 sprigs of flat leaf parsley finely chopped

4-5 sprigs of coriander leaves finely chopped

2 lb of fresh tomato concasse

1/2 cup lentils

1 cup chickpeas

3 ounces of vermicelli

2 eggs, lightly beaten with the juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

pinc of saffron

Salt and pepper to taste

I'll post methods for the soups a little later.

[Pan]

White Vinegar. Traditionally like the type you would see in the Middle East. But these days French style vinegars are used as well.[...]

←

Is white vinegar made from the juice of grapes?

[chefzadi]

White Vinegar. Traditionally like the type you would see in the Middle East. But these days French style vinegars are used as well.[...]

←

Is white vinegar made from the juice of grapes?

←

Yes they are made from grapes. Algeria has a wine industry.

In the old days vinegar was made with dates.

[chefzadi]

Unfortunately, most of the early cookbooks on Algerian cooking are just collections of recipes.. If you want good research material, check out the ethnic studies on foodways in Algeria done by CNRS (centre national de la rechereche scientifique).

I asked my friend Rachid from CNRS for a copy and he will give to me this week. He's heard of Paula Wolfert of course. His daughter and mine attend the same school, I see him all the time and Paula tells me about this!

[chefzadi]

Chorba in the style of Tlemcen

Ingredients:

1 Pound of boneless leg of lamb or shoulder, cut into 2"cubes

2 medium zucchini, cut into 2" slices then quartered

1 medium carrot, cut into 2" slices then quartered or halved depending on girth

1 medium onion, coarsly chopped

1 small bulb of fennel, including the stem and fronds, coarsely chopped

1/2 Red Pepper, coarsley chopped

1/2 green pepper, coarsley chopped

3 ounces of uncooked vermicelli, cut into 3" pieces.

1 cup of chick peas

1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, concasse (you can used canned)

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

ginger (fresh or ground) to taste

Cinnamon to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive oil for sauteeing the aromatics and vegetables.

←

The following method can be used for preparing most soups and stews. I don't think that it's necessary to repeat the same techniques in recipes, rather it's more important to understand the fundementals of cooking.

1. Heat a non stick skillet to smoking point (you might need a little bit of oil, depending on the pan your using and the amount of marbeling on the lamb). Brown the lamb that has been seasoned with salt and pepper in small batches, do not crowd the pan. Crowding the pan will reduce the temperature of the skillet too much and the meat will start to "steam" and releasing juices. Flavor comes from the browning. Don't shake or disturb the pan too much. Set aside the browned meat. I do not deglaze the brown bits from the pan. I find that it clouds the color of the broth. But if you like you can do this.

2. Add enough oil to a stock pot to coat the bottom, turn heat to medium-high.

3 . When the oil is hot, not smoking, add the onions and sautee untill translucent (I add salt a little at a time throughout the cooking process). Add the tomato paste and saute for a few minutes.

4. Add the browned lamb, tomato concasse and chick peas if you are using dried that have been soaked (if you are using canned add them 40 minutes later) to the stock pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 35-40 minutes.

5. Begin adding the vegetables. Carrots first cook for about 10 minutes. Next add the zucchin and fennel. Turn up the heat each time you add a new ingredient, than reduce the heat again as it begins to simmer. You might have to add a little more water as you go to ensure that all the ingredients are submerged. Next add the peppers, I prefer to saute them first for a few minuts. It brings the sweetness and adds an another layer of flavor. You can omit this step and just add them raw. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or untill the lamb is tender. The vermicelli is added about 5 minutes before cooking is complete.

Remember to add the spices a little at a time throughout the cooking process, as well salt. Taste your food as you cook.

This soup isn't haute cuisine, but adding the ingredients in steps builds the complexity of flavors.

Edited April 12, 2005 by chefzadi (log)

[Wolfert]

I think you are developing a very helpful style in your recipe writing. Don't let some editor take that away from you.

[chefzadi]

Algerian escargot preparations

Most of these dishes begin with "Boudjeghelou" or "Djeghlelou"

Djeghlelou b'tomatiche or Boudjegheloul bsal Tomatiche

Djeghelou b'zaatar

Boudjeghelou biyad

Boudjeghelou bel qedid

Boudjeghelou be Dersa

I wonder if someone can guess at what some of these preparations might be like?

Recipes to follow...

[chefzadi]

I hope I don't seem like I'm zoning out on this thread and a couple of others in this forum. But my teaching schedule is packed this month.

[Smithy]

Algerian escargot preparations

Most of these dishes begin with "Boudjeghelou" or "Djeghlelou"

Djeghlelou b'tomatiche or Boudjegheloul bsal Tomatiche

Djeghelou b'zaatar

Boudjeghelou biyad

Boudjeghelou bel qedid

Boudjeghelou be Dersa

I wonder if someone can guess at what some of these preparations might be like?

Recipes to follow...

←

I'll play. Here are my guesses:

Djeghlelou bsal Tomatiche: Escargot with onions and tomatoes, tomatoes making the main sauce constituent.

Djeghelou b'zaatar: Escargot with zaatar as the main seasoning - I suppose in a lemony or buttery sauce?

At first I thought boudjeghelou bel qedid would be escargot with flour, i.e. coated and fried, but now I've remembered that flour is daqiq - consonants reversed. New escargot?? No clue here.

I'm still trying to get my throat wrapped around 'djeghlelou'. It's something to practice while I'm driving, so nobody has to listen to me. Competent Arabic speakers may feel free to laugh at my guesses. This is fun, even as I blush.

Edited when I remembered the word for 'flour'.

Edited April 15, 2005 by Smithy (log)

[FoodMan]

Algerian escargot preparations

Most of these dishes begin with "Boudjeghelou" or "Djeghlelou"

Djeghlelou b'tomatiche or Boudjegheloul bsal Tomatiche

Djeghelou b'zaatar

Boudjeghelou biyad

Boudjeghelou bel qedid

Boudjeghelou be Dersa

I wonder if someone can guess at what some of these preparations might be like?

Recipes to follow...

←

I'll play. Here are my guesses:

Djeghlelou bsal Tomatiche: Escargot with onions and tomatoes, tomatoes making the main sauce constituent.

Djeghelou b'zaatar: Escargot with zaatar as the main seasoning - I suppose in a lemony or buttery sauce?

At first I thought boudjeghelou bel qedid would be escargot with flour, i.e. coated and fried, but now I've remembered that flour is daqiq - consonants reversed. New escargot?? No clue here.

I'm still trying to get my throat wrapped around 'djeghlelou'. It's something to practice while I'm driving, so nobody has to listen to me. Competent Arabic speakers may feel free to laugh at my guesses. This is fun, even as I blush.

Edited when I remembered the word for 'flour'.

←

Please don't feel bad...my Arabic is fluent and I can pretty much guess what you guessed. Djeghlelou is a word I certainly never heard before, we call escargots "Bizak" in Lebanon. So, I am stealing the definition for the first 2 from you-

Djeghlelou bsal Tomatiche: Escargot with onions and tomatoes, tomatoes making the main sauce constituent.

Djeghelou b'zaatar: Escargot with zaatar as the main seasoning

Boudjeghelou biyad: With eggs maybe ? or in white sauce?

Boudjeghelou bel qedid: hmm...could be with some kind of dried meat.

Boudjeghelou be Dersa: I am totally stumped here. I have no idea what Dersa might mean. Does it have something to do with teeth?

Elie

[Wolfert]

Boudjeghelou bel qedid

Yes, I think qedid is similar to kadid, the Tunisian dried meat preserve

Boudjeghelou be Dersa

I think dersa is brains or some other kind of innard.

[Behemoth]

I got about as far as you did, Smithy, and I've a native speaker also. Well, I also thought possibly biyad = eggs but otherwise clueless.

Can I just add that "Bizak" literally means "spitting thing"? I love Arabic. Is there an Arabic word for slug?

[chefzadi]

"Boudjeghelou" or "Djeghlelou"

derived from Tamazight (Berber language)

bu jeGlellu means snail.

Djeghlelou b'tomatiche or Boudjegheloul bsal Tomatiche

Snails with Onions and Tomatoes

A range of spices can be used.

Djeghelou b'zaatar

Snails with Wild Thyme

Garlic and olive oil based sauce

Boudjeghelou biyad

Snails with White Sauce

The sauce is lemon and egg yolk thickened with flour.

Boudjeghelou bel qedid

Snails with Preserved Meat

The preserved meat is reconstituted in water first. The sauce is fresh tomato based. If the preserved meat sounds a bit strange, think of the reason bacon or cured pork products are used in French or Italian cooking.

Boudjeghelou be Dersa

Snails with Sweet and Hot pepper Sauce

Dersa is an Algerian version of Harissa

Boudjeghelou Dolma

Potatoes stuffed with Minced Snails

Great guesses (and correct) everyone!

[Smithy]

I got about as far as you did, Smithy, and I've a native speaker also. Well, I also thought possibly biyad = eggs but otherwise clueless.

Can I just add that "Bizak" literally means "spitting thing"? I love Arabic. Is there an Arabic word for slug?

←

I hope there's no such thing as a spitting slug! It's bad enough to lie out, listening to those things chewing dry leaves, without worrying about their spitting on me! :laugh:

[chefzadi]

At this point I am wondering what some of the readers of this thread understand Algerian cuisine to be.

[Pan]

At this point I am wondering what some of the readers of this thread understand Algerian cuisine to be.

←

I don't understand the question.

[chefzadi]

At this point I am wondering what some of the readers of this thread understand Algerian cuisine to be.

←

I don't understand the question.

←

What do you think of the cuisine in relation to other cuisines of the region? Including Moroccan, Tunisian, Middle Eastern, European side of the Med?

Sorry it took so long for me to respond, but as I already mentioned this month has been especially busy for me.

I will be posting more recipes this weekend.