Malsouqa (also malsouka - aeb, ملسوقة) is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n dish composed of sheets of

filo Filo or phyllo is a very thin unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and börek in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Filo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of filo brushed with oil or butter; the pastry is the ...

dough, stuffed with a savory filling. The Arabic name comes from لصق (lasaqa) meaning "to stick", referring to the cooking process of taking a ball of raw dough and sticking it to the heated pan to create the layered filo sheets. The name ''Malsouqa'' can refers to both the pastry and the dish. In the Tunisian tradition, there are three main applications for the filo dough: the '' tagine'', a cousin to the Italian frittata; the '' samsa'', a parent to the Middle-Eastern samosa; the

brik Brik ( ; ) or ''burek'' is the north African version of borek, a stuffed filo pastry which is commonly deep fried. The best-known version is the egg brik, a whole egg in a triangular pastry pocket with chopped onion, tuna, harissa and parsley ...

, a relative to the Turkish ''

börek Börek or burek are a family of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Middle East and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach or potatoes. Boreks are mainly ...

'' and the Greek ''

tiropita Tiropita or tyropita (Greek: τυρóπιτα, "cheese-pie") is a Greek pastry made with layers of buttered phyllo and filled with a cheese-egg mixture. It is served either in an individual-size free-form wrapped shape, or as a larger pie that is ...

'' (cheese pie); and the baklava, a Syrian cognate brought by the Ottomans. It resembles the Spanish-Andalusian ''

pastilla Pastilla ( ara, بسطيلة, basṭīla, also called North African pie) is a North African meat or seafood pie made with ''warqa'' dough (), which is similar to filo. It is a specialty of Morocco and Algeria. It has more recently been spread ...

'' also served in Morocco. These utilisations are the legacies of various culture influencing the Tunisian identity. The Tunisian tagine refers to the savory dish itself, unlike the Moroccan version which indicates the utensil into which a stew is prepared and served, akin to the English meat pie. The Tunisian one, filled with eggs, vegetable or meats, is often enjoyed cold as a finger food. The Tunisian samsa is a sweet delicacy, either rolled like a Chinese egg-roll or tri-folded like the Greek trigona panoramatos. The Tunisian version often includes toasted almonds, orange blossom water, sugar, cinnamon, honey and even pistachio. The Tunisian brik is a large fried phyllo pocket filled with egg, parsley, harissa, and sometimes tuna. It is customarily cooked just enough to seal the pocket, while the egg remains over-easy. Although "brik" derives from "borek" etymologically through Ottoman influence, it does not resemble its Asia Minor cousin. Finally, the baklava is served similarly as in other Eastern Mediterranean cultures of Greece, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt for instance. A dessert composed with stacked phyllo dough sheets, a fragrant syrup, some honey and chopped nuts.

References

Arab cuisine Pastries {{Arab-cuisine-stub

See also

References