Slata mechouia, a vegetarian recipe from Tunisia

Name: Slata mechouia
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Tunisia
Ingredients: 6 long sweet green peppers; 2 mildly hot green chillies; 4 very ripe tomatoes; 1 whole unpeeled onion; 4 unpeeled garlic cloves; 1½ tsp caraway seeds; 1 tsp coriander seeds; 5 tbsp olive oil; Juice of ½ lemon; Salt

Method

Char the peppers, chillies, tomatoes, onion and garlic directly over a flame or under a hot grill, turning until the skins are blackened and blistered.
Shut the hot vegetables in a bowl under a plate for 10 minutes; the steam will loosen the skins by itself.
Peel everything carefully, seed the peppers and chillies, and let the vegetables drain in a sieve for a few minutes.
Toast the caraway and coriander seeds in a dry pan for 1 minute, then pound them in a mortar with the roasted garlic and a pinch of salt.
Chop the charred vegetables by hand on a board into small uneven pieces; a food processor would give a purée, which is not the point.
Mix the chopped vegetables with the spice paste, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
Let it stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving, with olives, and bread if you are not avoiding gluten.

Mechouia appears everywhere in Tunisia, as a starter or inside a sandwich. Everything rests on the charring: the skins must really blacken to get the signature smoky flavour.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

Frequently asked questions

Can I chop the vegetables in a food processor?

No, that turns them to purée. Mechouia is chopped by hand on a board into small, uneven pieces that each keep their own texture. That grain, rather than a smooth cream, is what separates it from a dip.

How do I peel the charred peppers easily?

Seal them hot in a bowl under a plate for 10 minutes. The steam they give off lifts the skins by itself and they pull away with your fingers. Do not rinse them under the tap, or the smoky flavour goes down the drain with the skin.

Can caraway be swapped for cumin?

They are different seeds, and caraway is what gives mechouia its distinctive aniseed, faintly bitter note. Cumin makes a decent salad but a distinctly earthier one. Either way, toast the seeds dry for a minute before crushing them in the mortar.

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Slata mechouia

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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