Brik
Encyclopedia
Brik or Brick is a Tunisian
derivative of the börek
consisting of thin warka pastry around a filling commonly deep fried. The best-known version is the egg brik, a whole egg
in a triangular pastry
pocket with chopped onion
, tuna
, harissa
and parsley
.
Brik pastry (malsouqa
or Warka) is made by slapping a sticky lump of dough onto a hot non stick surface in overlapping circles to produce the desired size and cooked for a minute or two. Typical fillings include tuna
, ground meat, chopped boiled egg, chicken
, or anchovies
garnished with a fried egg
and harissa, caper
s, or cheese
.
The Tunisian tradition is that the bride-to-be's mother makes a brik for the potential bridegroom. If the bridegroom eats it without spilling any of the egg yolk he may marry the bride.
The dough sheets themselves, are also referred to as malsouqa
or Warka.
Demographics of Tunisia
The majority of modern Tunisians are Arab-Berber orArabized Berber, and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small population of Berbers located in the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Jerba...
derivative of the börek
Börek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
consisting of thin warka pastry around a filling commonly deep fried. The best-known version is the egg brik, a whole egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
in a triangular pastry
Pastry
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
pocket with chopped onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
, tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
, harissa
Harissa
Harissa is a Tunisian hot chili sauce commonly eaten in North Africa whose main ingredients are piri piri , serrano peppers and other hot chili peppers and spices such as garlic paste, coriander, red chili powder, caraway as well as some vegetable or olive oil...
and parsley
Parsley
Parsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
.
Brik pastry (malsouqa
Malsouqa
Malsouqa is Tunisia'n pastry. Sheets of malsouqa are usually sold in stacks wrapped in cellophane. Malsouqa are used to make samsa and brik , in addition to dishes with a variety of other fillings....
or Warka) is made by slapping a sticky lump of dough onto a hot non stick surface in overlapping circles to produce the desired size and cooked for a minute or two. Typical fillings include tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
, ground meat, chopped boiled egg, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, or anchovies
Anchovy
Anchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.-Description:...
garnished with a fried egg
Fried egg
A fried egg is a food made from an egg fried whole with minimal accompaniment. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast in western countries, but may be eaten at other times of the day.-China:...
and harissa, caper
Caper
Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, is a perennial winter-deciduous species that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant...
s, or cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
.
The Tunisian tradition is that the bride-to-be's mother makes a brik for the potential bridegroom. If the bridegroom eats it without spilling any of the egg yolk he may marry the bride.
The dough sheets themselves, are also referred to as malsouqa
Malsouqa
Malsouqa is Tunisia'n pastry. Sheets of malsouqa are usually sold in stacks wrapped in cellophane. Malsouqa are used to make samsa and brik , in addition to dishes with a variety of other fillings....
or Warka.