A NIGHT IN ALGIERS

Seeking funds for a wine project some years ago, I placed a small advertisement in the London asking for interested parties to contact me. I had a few replies of little interest, except for one, from a gentleman with a hyphenated name who lived quite near. We had several meetings, one of them, for a reason I forget, was in Paris. He told me with some authority that he could introduce me to people who wanted someone to help them market Algerian wine in Britain. We met for a third time, when he brought with him a small, slightly grubby Algerian lady, who, he said could take me to the people who mattered.

I will call her Mrs. Fred. She was a Berber, who spoke no English and not a lot of French or Arabic. Hyphenated-gent told me he had told her about me and what I could do, for a fee. I found out later that what he actually told her was that I was in a position to arrange the purchase of half a million litres of Algerian wine for sale in Britain.

So it was that, a few weeks later, I found myself on a plane to Algiers with Mrs Fred, who had arranged hotel accommodation in what she said was the second finest hotel in the city. The hotel was scruffy and unpleasant. The bed was hard, the linen dirty. Miraculously, there were facilities. However, the hand basin in the bathroom drained into a large tin can. Flushing the lavatory necessitated filling the tin can from the bathroom and swishing the bowl from that. Diners in the hotel restaurant shared long tables, with no tablecloths. The food was terrible: chicken that looked, and tasted, like rope; very dry piles of couscous (semolina). The wine, in jugs, could have passed for vinegar. A memorable meal, indeed.

That night I slept in most of my clothes on top of the hard, lumpy bed. After a wash and shave in cold water, I joined Mrs. Fred at “breakfast” the next morning – dry, stale bread and thin jam and coffee that tasted like it had been made from tree bark. We then took a taxi to the wine commission. The “top man” Mrs Fred had arranged the meeting with spoke no English, very poor, impenetrable French and no Arabic. He and Mrs Fred conversed in Berber and she did her best to translate for me. He seemed only to ask when the shipments of wine (in sea-going tankers) could begin and how payment would be made. After an inconclusive hour, the meeting ended with the proposal for a second one the next day. He would arrange a vineyard visit that afternoon.

We went back to the hotel and Mrs Fred said she would meet me in the restaurant at one. Instead, I packed my case, checked out and took a taxi to the airport. There was a flight to Nice in two hours, where I got a connection to Heathrow, London, and after a most edible home-cooked meal, slept in my own bed that night. I never heard from Mrs Fred again.

I abandoned the wine project. One surprising thing is that now, at least 30 years later, hyphenated-gent’s niece lives just down the road from me in the village in eastern England to which Mary and I moved from Cyprus in 2011. Meeting her at a party one day, I recounted the story of her uncle and Mrs. Fred. She smiled and said: “That sounds just like him”. surface browns and crispens a little and then pour enough light chicken stock JUST to cover. Simmer for a couple of minutes and when it is cooked through add a few bits of chopped sour cherries for a little extra zing. Let it stand for a few minutes, then serve.

The Algerian kitchen does not have a huge number of recipes of its own. It is interesting nonetheless because it has a number of influences: from its Arab and African neighbours, from its desert nomads, the Berbers and from its colonisers, the French. It is also a fertile land, which makes for very good fresh produce. Here is a sample listing of Algerian dishes. The recipes are not difficult to find, in books or on the Internet.

APPETIZERS

Mslalla - Marinated olives Bourek ( - phyllo pastry stuffed with meat, egg and onion

MAIN MEALS

Mechoui - charcoal roasted lamb Merquez - spicy lamb sausages Chorba - spicy lamb or chicken stew with vegetables Dolma - stuffed vegetables Harira - soup served at Ramadan Loubia b’Dirsa - white bean stew Badendjal - roasted aubergine salad Slata bel Clementinas - onion and orange salad Bissar - couscous served with chicken and dried vegetables Djej bil Qasbour - coriander chicken Brochettes - spicy kebabs Kefta - meatballs with spices Lahm bil Zitoun - Lamb and olives Mderbel Qar’a - zucchini stew Za’luka - aubergine ratatouille Ros Bratel - saucy favas Kesra - semolina bread Harissa - spicy paste (condiment)

DESSERTS AND PASTRIES

Makroud - with dates or figs Griouche - honey pastry Kalb-el-louz - semolina, almond paste and rose water Samsa - sweet filled pastry Ghribia - sugar cookies Rfis Tmer - date candies