Ramadan Special 2013: Bourek

Salam 3alaikoum everyone,

Today I want to share my Bourek recipe with all of you. Bourek is a famous Ramadan dish in Algeria. They are filled puff pastry in the shape of a pancake roll. There are many fillings, but I will give you the meatloaf filling and the tuna filling. Whenever you guys would like to try out another filling send me an e-mail or react down here. They are truly delicious :)

Saha Ftorkom! (Bon Appetit)




The Ingredients for Bourek with meatloaf filling:

- store bought puff pastry sheets
- 500 gr meatloaf
- parsley
- salt, pepper
- 100 gr cheese spread


The preparation:

Fry the meatloaf in a pan. When done remove from the heat and pour in a bowl. Add chopped parsley, salt, pepper and cheese spread. Mix the ingredients in the bowl. Now take a sheet of puff pastry and put the filling close to the begin of the sheet. Roll over the puff pastry, so the filling is covered. Fold the sides to the inside and roll till the end. You should end up with a perfect shaped Bourek. Heat a fryingpan and fry the Bourek from both sides untill golden brown.


The ingredients for Bourek with tuna filling:

- store bought puff pastry sheets
- a can of tuna on oil base
- 3 potatoes
- parsley
- salt, pepper


The preparation:

Cook the 3 potatoes in boiling water with the skin for about 20 minutes. When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat and take out the boiling water. Remove the skin (this should go easily after cooking them). Mash the cooked potatoes in a bowl. Chop the parsley and add to the bowl. Also add a teaspoon of salt, a quarter of a teaspoon of pepper, and the tuna. Make sure you don´t add any of the oil remaining in the can of tuna. Now mix well. Shape and fry the Bourek as explained before.

Ramadan Special 2013: Algerian Maakouda

Salam 3alaikoum everyone,

Today i want to share my Maakouda recipe. We mostly eat it in the holy month Ramadan, but can also be eaten thoughout the year. Maakouda is known in Marocco, Algeria and Tunisia (The Maghreb). I don't know if the recipes are all the same, but here you go..The Algerian version my mommy makes:

Saha ftorkom!  (Bon Appetit)




The Ingredients (For about 20 Maakouda):

- 10 potatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- parsley
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of safran
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
- flour
- oil


The preparation:

Cook the potatoes in boiling water without removing the skin for about 20 minutes. To see if the potatoes are ready, poke a potatoe with a fork. It should slide in easily. When the potatoes are ready, remove from the heat and take out of the water. Let cool a little and remove the skin ( This should go easily after cooking them). Put the skinless potatoes in a bowl. Mash the potatoes. Add to the potatoes the chopped parsley, 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and the spices. Mix well together with a spoon. 

Now make round shaped flat balls out of the batter. Dont make them too little (about 2 cm to 3 cm). 
It's possible that the batter sticks to your hands, if so do some flour on your hands. The batter can stick because the potatoes are still hot. Whenever you shaped a Maakouda, cover it in flour. 

They should look like this. Now pour oil in a pan and let heat. Make sure you use enough oil, as the Maakouda needs to fry from both sides. Break the eggs on a plate or so and beat them. Now when the oil is hot; cover the Maakouda in egg and put them right away in the hot oil. Fry both sides untill golden brown. 

Ramadan Special 2013: Algerian Fish Soup (Soupe de Poisson)

Salam 3alaikoum everyone,

Today I want to share my Fish Soup recipe with all of you. As you may know, Ramadan started this year five days ago. We break our fasting with a date and a glass of milk. Then we start our dinner (iftar) with soup. This is usually harira or chorba: two Algerian soups (I will post the recipes later on this month). But sometimes it's good to change the habit, therefor this recipe! It's also a delicious soup outside the month Ramadan and definitely my favorite. There are many different recipes, but this is my version.

Saha ftorkom! (Bon appetit!)



The Ingredients:

- 2 large sardines
- 250 gram shrimp 
- 2 large onions
- 2 large red sweet paprika
- 2 large roots
- a half celeriac
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 fish bouillon cubes
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 canned tomato paste
- oil
- some parsley
- salt, peper, cumin and paprikapowder

The preparation:

In a large stockpot, add 5 tablespoons of oil: let heat a little. Chop the onions, the paprika, the celeriac and the tomatoes. Scrub the scale of the sardines. Cut the sardines in half and remove the bones: make sure there aren't any left. Add to the heated oil the onions and let fry for about 2-3 min. Add the chopped vegetables, the sardines, the shrimp, the tomato paste, the bay leaves and bouillon cubes. Tie the parsley together and put on top. Add a teaspoon of cumin and paprikapowder: salt and pepper to own taste (I use 1.5 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper). Now add water to the stockpot and let cook for about an houre: middle to high heat. After an houre, remove the stockpot of the heat and remove the parsley, mix the ingredients: I use a blender. The soup may be thick: add some water and stir. Let cook for another 10-15 min. Serve the soup hot.

The Chedda

Tlemcen is a big city (wilaya) in Algeria. In the 13th century Tlemcen was the capital of Algeria. When Algiers became the new capital of Algeria, 3 centuries later, Tlemcen kept his diversity of arts and crafts. In 1585 the first so called 'Chedda' was published in the world's costume book worldwide. Today the traditional bridal costume is called: 'Labsat al Aftan', which means the caftan dress. Its richness and orginality evoque the heritage of the Berber Amazigh, The Roman, The Arabic, The Andalousi and The Ottoman cultures which have stimulated the evolution of the Maghrabi art of dress. The traditional dress is an economical resource for the city. It requires the skills of many craftsman from different fields, such as silkweaving, bridary and jewellery.

The Chedda is a traditional dress for wedding festivities. The symbolic features of the costume are pearls, henna, red stones, gold, spangles and other elements to chase away demons. These items are passed down through the family. Those who can't afford such jewelles, can always hire or borrow them. When the bride is dressed she leaves her house wrapped in a golden silk veil. 

The ceremony starts with the make-up ritual. One of the brides aunts draws red and silver circles on her cheeks. These symbolic circles complete the costume and strengthen the protection of the bride against magic spirits that could do her harm in her future life as a married woman and a mother. Nowadays wedding festivities take place in top hotels and public halls.

 The ceremonial practices and craft activities linked to the bride's costume are one of the most prominent cultural expressions of the identity of the Tlemcen people. Older craftsman do their best to hand over their knowledge to their sons. But today professional schools and institutes have also opened in Tlemcen to preserve local skills and teach them to the next generation. Preserving the costume tradition is a priority for all Tlemcen families. From the age of three, young girls are dressed up like little brides to celebrate anual religious festivals. The rituals linked to the bridal's dress is a cultural heritage that spends hundreds of years and shows the creativity and the identity of the Tlemcen people.

I really love the Chedda. You can see that it's a traditional dress and the richness of the jewellery makes the costume look excessive and expensive. I hope this helps out to those who want to learn more about this traditional costume or the culture of Tlemcen. 

Kind regards and love,

Chahinez

xoxo

Introducing Myself

Salam 3alaikoum everyone!


This is my first blog and I want to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Chahinez. I currently live in the Netherlands, but I will move to Algeria next year. You might think: '' Why to Algeria? ''. Well, that is because I am going to marry with an algerian boy! Super exciting ofcourse!

I use all my time to prepare for a new life I will live soon. For us muslims marriage is the most important thing in someone's life. I am a student and I will finish my study just in time. I also work parttime at a pharmacy. And all my spare time I use helping my mother, talking to my fiancé (internet is a lifesaver), shopping and most of all cooking. I have a real passion for cooking and baking. I love algerian food and I prepare mostly algerian dishes, but I also enjoy making international dishes. I travel a lot and I have been to many countries in Europe and North Africa.

I want to share my inspiration, lifestyle, recipes and much more on my blog. Hopefully you will enjoy and feel free to comment! I will take my time to answer all of you. If you have more questions about me, my blog or ideas about what I should write, do not hesitate to tell me! Any kind of help or positive feedback is welcome :).


W3alaikoum Salam
Kind regards and love,

Chahinez
xoxo