May 13, 2010 | Short Order

What I ate and saw in Tunisia: a lot of tuna, rockin’ruins.

       
                  Highly regarded Dar El Jeld in Tunis does elegant riffs on typical starters. Photo: Steven Richter        

        Dear friends and family…I didn’t have much computer access in the desert, sometimes for days, but when I did, I exercised my compulsion to tweet. If you're interested, keep reading...

       Just the 2 of us dinner in town below hotel, streets like a stage set, cheese crepes, then panini with beef bacon & beef salami, tasting fake

April 25

      About to hv lunch in splendid restored house on farm: Top Chef Master fan spotted me at Roman ruins in Dougga: R U someone? she asks

April 27

       Steven & I in Tunisia farmhouse inn, gorgeous round window, flyspecked, cracked, watching sun set like a fiery orange egg yolk.

April 29

       What are tourists mostly French wearing in Tunisia: pedal pushers, women & men (sometimes w/short socks), me: Brooklyn Diner Tshirt

April 29th

       Dinner@Le Corail in Sfax,Tunisia. Surrounded by smokers and chain smokers. Even a guy w/a pipe. I'd forgotten how awful that can be.

April 30

       Curious abt the Ceasar salad: crunchy lettuce w/carrot,avocado,tomato, gruyere, chicken, pineapple, raisins,corn,walnuts,creamy dressing

April 30

       Dragged guide from awful hotel buffet to little empty resto in Sfas,Tunisia.Tell him I want my omelet soft. "Baveuse,"sez waiter.And it was.

May 1

       I’ve not yet tasted a Tunisian cous cous as good as Paula Wolfert’s.

May 3

       Tunisian restaurants begin w/giveaway olives,harissa paste (hot,hotter,hottest) to cool w/olive oil, & sometimes small saucers of salad

May 3

       Dinner in top rated seafood spot on Tunisan island of Djarba. Can’t order fish becuz custom is to cook till dry and flaky

May 3.
 
       Chef at Sangho Hotel baked lamb in a jar for dinner tonight, with wonderful stuffed breads. A troop of French boys jumped into the pool.

May 4

       I hope I don't lose too much cred for not tasting camel,avlb in six dishes at Restaurant de Republique today. Cous Cous, brochette, steak

May 7

       Looks like Tunisia is where old iceberg lettuces go to die. Amazing.It's everywhere. Crunchy on the salad buffet at Dar Cherait in Tozeur.

May 7

       I'm wild about a dish called ojja, soft scrmbled eggs with tomato sauce, fresh tomato chunks & at lunch, merguez sausage, cumin, caraway, garlic.

May 7

       Pain in the ash. Stuck overnight in Heathrow Hilton. Still, getting closer: AllBran & low fat yogurt. Missing Tunisia's great oranges No dates.

May 12
 

       Tunisians love tuna, yes, canned tuna, it's everywhere, on top of spicy harissa with olives. My first lunch home? Tunafish salad. Addictive.

Click here to return to Short Order Listing



Cafe Fiorello



ADVERTISE HERE