Brik à l'Oeuf (Algerian Tuna & Egg Pastry)

About This Recipe

Brik is one of the great street foods and starters of North African cuisine, found across Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco but claimed most passionately by each country as their own. The concept is brilliantly simple: a sheet of paper-thin malsouqa (or filo) pastry is filled with a mixture of tuna, harissa, capers and spring onion, an egg is cracked into the centre, and the whole thing is folded and slipped into hot oil. The skill is in the timing — the pastry must be golden and crisp while the yolk remains perfectly runny. Breaking through the shatteringly crisp pastry to find the flowing egg and savory filling is one of the great textural pleasures of North African cooking. Brik is traditionally eaten during Ramadan to break the fast.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 sheetsmalsouqa or filo pastry(large, round)
• 160 gcanned tuna(drained and flaked)
• 2 tbspcapers(roughly chopped)
• 2spring onions(finely sliced)
• 1 tspharissa paste
• 2 tbspflat-leaf parsley(chopped)
• 4 largeeggs
• oil(for deep frying)
• salt and pepper(to taste)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make tuna filling

   Mix tuna, capers, spring onion, harissa and parsley. Season lightly.

2. 2

   Heat oil

   Heat 5cm of oil in a wide pan to 180°C.

3. 3

   Assemble brik

   Lay a pastry sheet flat. Place one quarter of the tuna mixture slightly off-centre. Create a small well in the filling. Crack a whole egg into the well.

   Work quickly — the egg will start spreading immediately.

4. 4

   Fold and fry

   Fold the pastry in half over the filling, pressing the edges to seal. Carefully slide into the hot oil. Fry 2–3 minutes until golden and crisp, turning once gently.

5. 5

   Drain and serve

   Drain briefly on paper towel. Serve immediately with lemon wedges — the yolk must still be runny.

Variations

• •

  Fill with mashed potato, egg and harissa for a vegetarian brik.

• •

  Add diced preserved lemon to the tuna filling for a brighter flavour.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

• •

  Spicier: add a finely chopped fresh chile or a teaspoon of crushed Aleppo/Urfa pepper to the aromatics for warm, layered heat instead of a single sharp hit.

Storage

Brik must be eaten immediately — it goes soggy within minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions