Brik

Ingredients

• Malsouka or filo sheets4
• Eggs4
• Tinned tuna200 g
• Potato — boiled and mashed2
• Onion1
• Capers2 tbsp
• Parsley30 g
• Harissa1 tsp
• Oil for frying500 ml
• Lemon1
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Mix the mashed potato with the tuna, chopped onion, capers, parsley, harissa, salt and pepper.

   12 min

2. 2

   Heat the oil to 180 °C. Test with a scrap of pastry: it should surface at once and sizzle.

   6 min

3. 3

   Lay a sheet on a plate, put two spoons of filling on one half and make a hollow in it.

   3 min

4. 4

   Break an egg into the hollow, season it and fold the sheet over immediately, pressing the edges.

   2 min

5. 5

   Slide the brik into the oil and fry forty seconds a side, steadying it with a slotted spoon.

   3 min

6. 6

   Drain on paper and serve immediately with a wedge of lemon.

   2 min

About the dish

The whole difficulty is one thing: the yolk must run at the first bite, not in the oil. Frying takes under two minutes, and overshooting it makes a different dish.

Malsouka pastry is thinner than filo and does not crack when folded. Filo works in two layers, but then the edges have to be glued with egg white.

Brik is eaten by hand, leaning over the plate, starting at a corner. That is the accepted manner rather than clumsiness.

Worth knowing

• — Assemble one at a time and fry it at once. A brik made in advance leaks through the pastry within a minute.
• — Use plenty of oil: the brik has to float. In a shallow layer it soaks through and tears when turned.
• — The tuna can be swapped for mince or prawns — the filling changes, the egg does not.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

390 kcal

Protein

20 g

Fat

24 g

Carbs

24 g

More from Tunisia

• Tunisian lablabi — Chickpeas in a garlic broth poured over torn stale bread, with an egg, cumin and harissa.