Slata mechouia

Ingredients

To grill

• 6long green peppers
• mild, or bell peppers
• 4large ripe tomatoes
• 2fresh green chillies
• or more, to taste
• 1onion, unpeeled
• 6garlic cloves, unpeeled

To dress

• 5 tablespoonsolive oil
• good quality
• 1 teaspoonground caraway
• half a teaspoon ground coriander
• juice of half a lemon
• salt

To top

• 1 tintuna in olive oil
• drained and flaked
• 3eggs, hard boiled
• quartered
• black olives
• capers, optional

To serve

• flatbread
• or French bread
• extra olive oil
• at room temperature

Directions

1. Use charcoal outdoors in open air only. Peeling is far easier while the vegetables are hot. Put the hot charred vegetables in a covered bowl. Ten minutes covered makes peeling genuinely easy.
2. Start with less and add more once you taste it. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling chillies. Never rub your eyes while working with them. Leave everything whole and unpeeled to start. Cut vegetables dry out and burn instead. Put them directly onto the hot coals or grill.
3. Grill the garlic cloves in their skins as well. They take considerably less time than the peppers. Turn everything regularly to char it evenly. The flesh underneath should be soft and collapsing.
4. Pull each item off as it becomes ready. A pepper is done when it collapses entirely. Take real care, since it is genuinely hot. Put everything hot into a bowl and cover it. Cover it with a plate or with cling film. Leave it for about ten to fifteen minutes. It also lets everything cool enough to handle.
5. Peel the blackened skin off every vegetable. The skin should slip away with your fingers. Use a knife tip for any stubborn patches. Do not rinse them under water at all. Remove the seeds and stems from the peppers. Do the same with the tomatoes if they are very seedy.
6. Keep any juices that run out of them. Deseed the chillies too if you want less heat. Leave them in for a genuinely hot salad. Pound the peeled vegetables in a large mortar. Add the garlic first and pound it to a paste. Pound them to a rough rather than smooth texture.
7. Add the tomatoes last, since they are wettest. Chop everything together into a rough mixture. Keep chopping and turning until it integrates. Do not use a food processor for this salad.
8. Drain off any excess liquid from the mixture. A watery salad tastes thin and dilute. Tip it into a sieve for a few minutes. Keep the juice to add back if it goes too dry. Stir in the olive oil, caraway and coriander. Use a good olive oil, since it is clearly tasted.
9. Grind the caraway fresh if you possibly can. Toast the seeds briefly before grinding them. Season the salad well with salt and lemon juice. Taste it carefully and adjust both together.
10. Let the salad stand for at least half an hour. An hour or two is better still. Take it out of the refrigerator well beforehand. Spread the salad out on a shallow serving plate. Spread it flat rather than heaping it up. Flake the drained tuna over the top of the salad.
11. Use tuna packed in olive oil rather than in water. Flake it rather than leaving it in solid chunks. Scatter it across the whole surface. Arrange the quartered hard boiled eggs over it. Boil the eggs about nine minutes for a firm yolk.
12. Cool them under running water immediately after. That stops the grey ring forming around the yolk. Arrange the quarters evenly around the plate. Scatter black olives and capers over the top. Serve plenty of bread alongside the plate. It keeps three days refrigerated in a covered bowl. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Technique

• Never burn charcoal indoors, in a garage, a tent or a closed balcony. Charcoal produces carbon monoxide, which is colourless, odourless and genuinely lethal, and a cooling barbecue keeps producing it for hours — never bring one inside to finish cooling. Use it outdoors in open air only.
• Do not rinse the charred vegetables under water when peeling, since that washes the smoky flavour away — a few small flecks of black skin left behind are fine and add to the character. Steam them covered for ten to fifteen minutes first, which loosens the skins and makes peeling genuinely easy.
• Tuna and hard boiled egg are laid over the top and both are visible, but say clearly they are there since fish and egg allergy can be severe; the salad base itself contains neither. Wash hands thoroughly after handling the chillies, which are just as potent grilled as raw.

Substitutions

• Libya has a dish called salata mashwiya that is essentially this same salad under another name; the atlas records both rather than merging them, since they belong to two national traditions equally. The Tunisian version leans harder on caraway and is usually pounded rather than only chopped — real differences, but small ones.
• A gas flame gives a genuinely good result and a very hot oven grill works acceptably; all three are used, though charcoal is traditional. Bell peppers replace the long mild green ones.

Variations

• Char the vegetables whole and unpeeled — whole ones hold their juices while cut ones dry out and burn — until the skins are blackened and blistered all over and the flesh collapses. This must be genuine charring rather than gentle roasting, since that smokiness is what the dish depends on.
• Do not use a food processor, which turns it into a smooth wet purée: pound it in a mortar or chop it on a board to a rough texture with distinct pieces still visible. Drain off the excess liquid the grilled tomatoes release, keeping it to add back if it goes too dry.
• Let it rest at least half an hour, and better an hour or two, for the spices to infuse. Serve it at room temperature rather than chilled, since cold mutes the olive oil and the caraway badly — grind the caraway fresh, toasting the seeds briefly first.

History

Peppers and tomatoes are charred over charcoal, peeled and pounded in a mortar; it is the standard opener in Tunisian restaurants, with tuna, olives and egg.

Frequently asked questions

What is Slata mechouia?

Slata mechouia is a salad & side from Tunisia: smoky grilled pepper and tomato salad with tuna, egg and olive oil. Peppers and tomatoes are charred over charcoal, peeled and pounded in a mortar; it is the standard opener in Tunisian restaurants, with tuna, olives and egg.

How long does Slata mechouia take to make?

Slata mechouia takes 30 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Slata mechouia?

Yes, within limits. Libya has a dish called salata mashwiya that is essentially this same salad under another name; the atlas records both rather than merging them, since they belong to two national traditions equally. The Tunisian version leans harder on caraway and is usually pounded rather than only chopped — real differences, but small ones. A gas flame gives a genuinely good result and a very hot oven grill works acceptably; all three are used, though charcoal is traditional. Bell peppers replace the long mild green ones.

What is the most important thing to get right in Slata mechouia?

Start with less and add more once you taste it. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling chillies. Never rub your eyes while working with them. Leave everything whole and unpeeled to start. Cut vegetables dry out and burn instead. Put them directly onto the hot coals or grill.