Tunisian Fricassée Sandwich

About This Recipe

Fricassée is Tunis's great contribution to sandwich culture — a small, round, slightly sweet fried bread roll, split and crammed with tuna, harissa, boiled egg, olives, preserved lemon, and capers. Every fricassée stand in the medina has its own combination, but the combination of pillowy fried bread, spicy harissa, and briny fillings is always transcendent. It costs almost nothing and is worth everything.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 3 cupsall-purpose flour
• 1 tspinstant yeast
• 2 tspsugar
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 cupwarm water
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 2 cupsoil for frying
• 200 gcanned tuna, drained
• 2 tbspharissa
• 1/2 cupblack olives, pitted
• 3 largeeggs, hard-boiled and sliced
• 2 tbspcapers

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add warm water and olive oil. Knead 8 minutes until smooth. Cover and rest 1 hour until doubled.

2. 2

   Shape the rolls

   Divide dough into 12 portions. Shape each into a small smooth roll. Place on a floured tray, cover, and rest 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Fry the rolls

   Heat oil to 170°C (340°F). Fry rolls in batches for 3–4 minutes per side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

4. 4

   Assemble

   Split each roll. Spread harissa on both cut sides. Fill with tuna, egg slices, olives, and capers.

5. 5

   Serve

   Serve immediately while the bread is still warm.

Variations

• •

  Add preserved lemon (qodra) for authenticity

• •

  Include grilled vegetables

• •

  Make larger rolls for a more substantial sandwich

• •

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

Storage

Fried rolls keep 1 day. Assemble only what you'll eat immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions