Traditional Tunisian brik: the thin malsouka pastry with egg, tuna, capers and parsley, fried

Brik is the first thing you eat in Tunisia, on the street, in a restaurant or at the Ramadan table, when breaking the fast. The pastry, malsouka, is a paper-thin sheet of wheat, cooked on a hot griddle and sold in stacks, a relative of Moroccan warka and filo pastry, but sturdier. Folded into a triangle or half-moon with the filling and a raw egg inside, it is fried in seconds.

The classic filling, brik à l'oeuf, has canned tuna, onion, capers, parsley and the egg, which should come out with the white cooked and the yolk runny. It is eaten by hand, biting from the corner and holding the rest so the yolk does not drip, with a squeeze of lemon and harissa on the side. There are versions with ground meat, potato, shrimp and cheese.

Outside Tunisia, malsouka is found in Arab and Maghrebi grocery stores, sometimes under the French name feuilles de brick. Filo pastry, in two sheets brushed with oil, and even thin pastel dough work, with different textures. It is a 25-minute snack, from the first step to the last.

Recipe card

• Origin: Tunisia
• Category: Starter or snack, fried pastry
• Difficulty: Easy, requires speed
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 10 minutes
• Serves: 4 briks

Ingredients

• 4 sheets of malsouka or feuilles de brick (or 8 sheets of filo pastry)
• 4 eggs
• 1 can of tuna in oil, drained and flaked (170 g)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 small potatoes, boiled and mashed (optional, to hold the filling)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Oil for frying
• Lemon wedges and harissa to serve

Method

1. Sauté the onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes, until soft, and mix with the tuna, capers, parsley, mashed potato, salt and pepper.
2. Heat 2 fingers of oil in a wide frying pan on medium-high.
3. Lay a sheet of pastry on a plate. Place a quarter of the filling on one side, making a well in the center.
4. Crack an egg into the well, sprinkle with salt, and quickly fold the sheet in half, forming a triangle or half-moon, pressing the edges.
5. With a large spatula, slide the brik into the hot oil. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side, spooning oil over the top, until golden and crispy; the yolk should stay runny.
6. Drain on paper towels and repeat with the others.
7. Serve immediately with lemon and harissa, biting from the corner.

Tips and variations

• Assemble each brik only when ready to fry: the pastry gets damp and tears if it waits.
• Very hot oil and quick frying are the secret to the runny yolk: more than 2 minutes per side cooks the yolk.
• With filo pastry, use 2 sheets brushed with oil and fold into a triangle, like a samosa.
• Meat brik: ground meat sautéed with onion, parsley and a little cinnamon.
• Shrimp and cheese brik is the modern restaurant version from Tunis.
• In the oven at 220 °C for 10 minutes it is lighter and the yolk cooked.
• Eat standing, by hand, tilting your head: that is how it is eaten in Tunisia.

Brik is crispy, hot and drips yolk down your hand: Tunisia's perfect snack, made in minutes and eaten in seconds.