Baku Kitchen! An independent reference of traditional food

Algeria

Ask what Algeria eats and the answer starts with this: hearty Berber-Arab cooking of couscous, slow stews, semolina breads and Ramadan soups, spiced with ras el hanout and dried mint. Look for Couscous (hand-rolled steamed semolina with vegetable and meat broth; the national dish), Chorba frik (lamb and cracked green wheat soup with tomato, coriander and mint) and Chakhchoukha (torn flatbread pieces drenched in spicy tomato-lamb sauce with chickpeas). Steamed in a couscoussier over stew; UNESCO inscribed couscous knowledge and practices in 2020 following a joint nomination by Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania. This atlas has 45 Algeria dishes catalogued below, from everyday cooking to food kept for festivals and special occasions.

45 dishes.

MtewemMtewemMeatballs and lamb simmered in a garlic-heavy sauce with cinnamon and chickpeasOsbaneOsbanesheep tripe stuffed with liver, rice, chard and herbs, then simmeredRechtaRechtafine hand-cut noodles under white cinnamon-scented chicken and chickpea sauceSfenjSfenjRough rings of yeasted dough deep-fried and sold hot by the stringSfiriaSfiriafried bread-and-cheese balls poached in a white cinnamon chicken sauceTaminaTaminatoasted semolina bound with butter and honey, made to celebrate birthsTcharekTcharekCrescent almond cookies scented with orange-flower water, dusted with icing sugarTlitliTlitlirice-shaped pasta baked with chicken, chickpeas and cinnamon; a Constantine wedding dishZlabiaZlabiacoiled deep-fried batter soaked in honey syrup, sold by the kilo

  • Cherbet

    Sweet lemon cordial perfumed with orange-flower water, served very cold. Ready in 20 min prep and 15 min plus 4…

  • Chtitha

    Red pepper and tomato stew, most often made with liver, chicken or beans. Ready in 20 min prep and 40…

  • Mhalbi

    Rose-scented rice-flour milk pudding dusted with cinnamon. Ready in 10 min prep and 20 min plus 3 hr chilling cooking.…

  • Mesfouf

    Sweet steamed couscous with raisins, dates and butter, eaten before dawn. Ready in 20 min prep and 50 min, in…

  • Rechta

    Fine hand-cut noodles under white cinnamon-scented chicken and chickpea sauce. Ready in 1 hr for the noodles prep and 1…

  • Tamina

    Toasted semolina bound with butter and honey, made to celebrate births. Ready in 10 min prep and 30 min cooking.…

  • Chakhchoukha

    Torn flatbread pieces drenched in spicy tomato-lamb sauce with chickpeas. Ready in 1 hr prep and 1 hr 30 min…

  • Chorba frik

    Lamb and cracked green wheat soup with tomato, coriander and mint. Ready in 25 min prep and 1 hr cooking.…

  • Couscous

    Hand-rolled steamed semolina with vegetable and meat broth; the national dish. Ready in 40 min prep and 2 hr cooking.…

  • Zlabia

    Coiled deep-fried batter soaked in honey syrup, sold by the kilo. Ready in 25 min prep and 3 hr cooking.…