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

  • Baklawa

    Layered nut-filled pastry cut in lozenges, drenched in honey syrup. Ready in 45 min prep and 50 min plus 6…

  • Berkoukes

    Large hand-rolled pasta pearls stewed with vegetables, chickpeas and meat. Ready in 1 hr for the pasta, 20 min for…

  • Bouhezza

    Cheese ripened inside a goatskin, fed daily with fresh buttermilk until sharp. Ready in 1 hr spread over weeks prep…

  • Bouzelouf

    Singed sheep’s head steamed with cumin, eaten for the cheek and tongue. Ready in 1 hr including cleaning prep and…

  • Bradj

    Date-filled semolina squares from Kabylie, griddled dry on a hot plate. Ready in 30 min prep and 25 min cooking.…

  • Bourek

    Crisp fried pastry rolls of minced meat, egg and onion; Ramadan starter. Ready in 40 min prep and 25 min…

  • Chorba beida

    White chicken soup with chickpeas, vermicelli and cinnamon, finished with egg. Ready in 25 min prep and 1 hr 15…

  • Dersa

    Pounded garlic, cumin, paprika and oil, the base of countless Algerian sauces. Ready in 10 min prep and none, or…

  • Dolma

    Vegetables stuffed with spiced minced meat, simmered in white chickpea sauce. Ready in 50 min prep and 1 hr 20…

  • Douara

    Tripe and offal stewed with chickpeas, mint and dried herbs. Ready in 45 min including cleaning prep and 2 hr…