Tune into Tunis
Jan Brierley gets cooking in the exotic and colourful Tunisian capital
Barring the odd disaster, I consider myself a pretty good cook, but the chance to benefit from expert tuition in Tunisian cuisine at The Residence, Tunis, was an opportunity I simply couldn’t miss.
The five-star resort has three main restaurants serving top-class food run by resort chef Malek, so I was in safe hands.
Armed with an embossed pinny and chef ’s hat I looked the part but cooking was off the menu for the moment because I needed to forage for my ingredients first.
Wicker basket and secateurs in hand, I snipped my way around the kitchen garden for a haul of herbs, tomatoes, onions, peppers and potatoes. My foraging was so good I was given flowers by the staff.
They may have been a tad hasty as I hadn’t started cooking yet…
Flash in the pan
Back in the kitchen and under the keen eye of Malek, I helped prepare
Tunisian salad (easy) and Tunisian delicacies shakshuka and brik (not so easy). For brik, don’t think masonry and splintered teeth, think a dainty triangle of filo pastry filled with tasty tuna, capers, potatoes, parsley and an egg.
The tricky bit is breaking an egg into the centre of the veg, then folding the pastry into a triangle and plunging it into deep fat, without breaking the delicate pastry or ending up with a rock-hard egg. Amazingly, my egg and pastry were intact. Of course, the proof of the pudding was in the eating and, yes, my egg had remained beautifully gooey. A brik chef extraordinaire!
One for the pot
That evening I visited the Residence’s El Dar restaurant which served authentic Tunisian dishes, even more special than my brik.
Serenaded by a local musician in the traditionally decorated restaurant I was treated to slow-cooked lamb with herbs.
My waiter arrived with a steaming clay pot and a very sharp-looking sword.
With a flourish he used the sword to crack open the pot to reveal the lamb inside.
It was a main course filled with drama and delight.
While the Residence’s Mediterranean L’olivier and Chinese Li Bai restaurants were also impressive they didn’t deliver like the showstopping El Dar.
A grand day out
Chilling by the resort’s splendid pool was tempting, but it was time to explore the Tunisian capital.
First stop was the Bardo museum brimming with mosaics, sculptures, and archaeological pieces charting the history of Tunisia. Housed in a 15th-century palace, the museum’s most famous treasure is a mosaic of the poet Virgil.
Then I was off to explore the medina and souks, wending my way around the sprawling maze of ancient alleyways to do a little bartering. While you need your wits about you to bag a bargain, haggling is nowhere near the aggressive affair it is in neighbouring Morocco.
In the centre of the medina lies the Grand Mosque and my guide Fathi was determined that my friends and I should have a glimpse inside this Islamic place of worship, which dates back to the 8th century.
As well as being a font of knowledge Fathi had many useful friends including a stallholder who gave us robes and shawls to cover up for the mosque. It felt rather galling that the women should be shrouded in the heat of the sun while men were strolling around in shorts. A reminder that despite progress in women’s rights, Tunisia can feel a patriarchal society. Back
Sir Winston Churchill spent time in Sidi Bou Said and loved to paint there
at the Residence it was time to de-stress in the resort’s opulent spa and take a dip in the large seawater pool. A back massage in this oasis of calm undid the tensions of the day leaving me ready for more sightseeing the next day in Carthage.
Hail Hannibal and his elephants
Just a 20-minute drive from Tunis lies the remains of the ancient city of Carthage. Wandering round one of the most important sites of the Roman Empire and seeing the ruins of communal baths and amphitheatres there was an immense sense of history and legend.
From 650 BC to 146 BC, Phoenician Carthage was the most powerful trading and commercial city in the Med, setting it up as an arch enemy of Rome.
Three wars raged between the two superpowers spanning more than 100 years.
But hands down the most famous and epic was the Second Punic War led by Hannibal.
At the tender age of 25, he fronted the most audacious assault on the Romans, crossing the Alps from central Europe into Italy with an army of around 30,000 men, 15,000 horses and 37 war elephants.
The latter were considered the tanks of classical warfare, a symbol of Phoenician power that struck fear into the hearts of the Romans who didn’t expect an army to cross the impassable mountain range.
General Hannibal and his awesome elephants waged war on the Romans for 15 years without taking their capital.
He eventually met his match in the Roman general Scipio and was defeated.
Nevertheless, Hannibal and his Alpine journey remain Roy of the Rovers stuff, celebrated in myth, art and film ever since.
Pretty as a picture
From the rich history of Carthage I travelled to the picturesque blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said. Perched on a steep cliff overlooking the azure Mediterranean, it’s hard not to take endless stunning snaps of this charming village, with its alfresco cafes, art galleries, colourful shops and cobbled streets.
The distinctive colour scheme was inspired by a wealthy French baron who fell in love with the village and used his artistic flair to transform it into a picture-postcard setting of whitewashed homes with blue doors.
Over the years it’s had some famous visitors, including Sir Winston Churchill who wrote part of his memoirs there and painted pictures of the village.
If it’s good enough for Winston it’s good enough for me.