The Algerian flag will fly over 196 flavors until July 5, as we celebrate Algeria’s Independence Day, that was proclaimed on July 5th, 1962.
It is also our pleasure to welcome Assia Benabbes to the team. Assia is the author of culinary blog Gourmandise Assia and she accepted to be our culinary expert for Algerian cuisine. You can get to know her by reading the exclusiveinterview that she granted us.
I had the opportunity to meet Assia in November 2015, at the Golden Blog Awards where both our blogs were nominated, and what immediately caught my attention was her smile, humor but also her positivity!
Mike opened the festivities a few days ago by cooking maakoudas and he deserves an applause as we crushed our record of trafic on the blog! Congratulations Mike!
(1) North Africa, (2) a soup. You can imagine that I’m in heaven!
I was born in Fez, Morocco, and I definitely love the food from my homeland!
Algerian cuisine, like Moroccan cuisine, is a rich, varied and colorful cuisine. They have a lot of similarities. Our cuisine is an art and a family affair with jealously guarded secrets.
An Algerian soup? I am talking about chorba, of course! We just started the month of Ramadan, so it would be a shame to overlook this delicious soup that is typically served as an appetizer.
Chorba is definitely the culinary symbol of Algeria as much as harira is the same for Morocco but as iconic as it is, it was not born there.
It was actually imported to Algeria by Turkish invaders in the sixteenth century. In the Ottoman army, soup was particularly important in the Janissary Corps where the çorbaci (literally “soup man”) was a military rank equivalent to colonel. From Turkey, it spread throughout the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia and the Maghreb.
In Turkey, it is called çorba, in Iran: chourba (شوربا), in Afghanistan: chorwa (شوروا), in Romania: ciorba, in Kyrgyzstan: chorpo (шорпо), in Russia: churpa (шурпа), in Kazakhstan: sorpa (сорпа), and in Central Asia: chorpa (شورپا).
In the Maghreb, chorba is consumed in Algeria, but also in Tunisia and Libya.
Each region in Algeria has its own recipe, whether one is in the center, east, west or south of the country. Recipes and variations are a dime a dozen.
Chorba is traditionally prepared with mutton or lamb which can also be substituted with beef or poultry depending on the recipes and regions.
In the capital, Algiers, people talk more about chorba hamra fdaouech (red chorba with vermicelli), which, by itself, has several variants: with squash, eggplant, fresh beans, potatoes, peas or a mix of vegetables.
To the east of the country, the most consumed chorba is chorba beida or jari abyad (white chorba). It is prepared with chicken or ground meat, the most important being the lemon and eggs mixture added at the end of the preparation, a method that is reminiscent of avgolemono soup that Mike shared with us in January.
Chorba dchicha (barley), lssan el asfour (orzo), foul (dry fava beans), and freekeh (green cracked wheat) are also widely consumed in the country.
Personally, I chose to prepare chorba frik. The recipe for this soup is pretty similar throughout the country. It is prepared with mutton or lamb, either ground or in chunks, with or without chickpeas, but you should never forget the cilantro, mint and… freekeh!
Freekeh was a discovery for me, but it is not the first time it is cooked on 196 flavors. We discovered this ingredient 2 years when we featured freekeh with chicken from Kuwait.
I followed Assia’s recipe and to I served this chorba with small kesra breads that we savored hot.
Everything was absolutely delicious!
This recipe is validated by our Algerian culinary expert Assia Benabbes, author of culinary blog Gourmandise Assia (in French).
- ¾ lb lamb , cut into pieces
- 2 scallions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch cilantro , chopped
- 1 celery stalk , with leaves
- 3 to matoes
- ½ cup chickpeas (soaked overnight)
- 1 teaspoon paprika (and/or chili powder)
- 1 teaspoon ras el hanout
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- Pepper
- 7 oz. freekeh , rinsed and drained
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 cups water
- In a pressure cooker, brown the meat in olive oil.
- Add the scallions, garlic, tomatoes, and celery to meat. Add half the cilantro leaves and tomato paste. Add the chickpeas, stir and sauté over low heat covered for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the spices, salt, bay leaf, mint and hot water. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.
- Close the pressure cooker and cook on medium heat for 1 hour.
- Open the pressure cooker and check the amount of liquid. Add a little boiling water if necessary.
- Add frik into the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes over low/medium heat, stirring regularly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Turn off the heat and add remaining cilantro.
Barbara Hansen says
This sounds so good. I have freekeh, but where would I get ras al hanout?
Mike Benayoun says
Hey Barbara, you’ve already got freekeh, that may not be as easy to find or make, so you’re almost there 😉
There isn’t really one recipe for ras el hanout, the same way there isn’t one for curry or garam masala… some ras el hanout blends include up to 40 different spices! But you can actually make your own by mixing some (or all) of the following main spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, chili powder, coriander, turmeric. I bring mine back from France whenever I go there. Let me know how your chorba turns out!
M says
As An Algerian from the capital and love cooking since my childhood, I am disappointed with the recipe, Chorba is very much a capital dish it has variety while going towards west or east specially when it come to how much chili paste you would add ( Harissa) but I can tell you that we never ever use garlic, celery or bay leaves ! in Chorba it is a big no no no … even Olive oil the real recipe no olive oil but sunflower oil and little Ghee, Algeria odesn’t grow much scallion I have always doing the markets with my mother for cooking we use only onions even in algerian cooking books you only see scallions in salad or sometimes in the dolma mix not much otherwise
Mike Benayoun says
I understand M. I think that whether it is for chorba frik (not just any chorba) or other authentic and traditional recipes, there are indeed a number of ways to make it without steering to much away from the “original” (if there is an “original” recipe, which is debatable). I can tell you that in addition to our expert Assia, a number of prominent Algerian bloggers include celery, onion or garlic in their authentic Algerian recipe. Here are just a few examples (in French, as English is not a prominent language in Algeria):
https://www.mesinspirationsculinaires.com/article-chorba-frik.html
http://www.lesjoyauxdesherazade.com/chorba-frik/
https://cuisinezavecdjouza.fr/soupe-chorba-frik-html/
I hope you will enjoy a good chorba with us, with or without those ingredients 😉
k says
ok this is close but not right. it depends on the part of Algeria and also what the family passes down.
my inlaws are in Batna, Algeria and for Ras El Hanout we use ground Coriander, ground cumin, chili flakes, cinnanon, paprika, ginger and Turmeric.
the soup is similar, sometimes made with chicken, usually use lamb. we use onion and garlic. carrots, small courgetts, patoto, parsley, celery, chickpeas, skinned tomatoes,tomato paste, Frik (crushed green wheat)… served with borek topped with harissa. The soup is blended before adding the frik.
Kelvin says
This is much closer to what me Algerian friends prepare for Ramadan.
warda says
Hi guys,
I am an Algerian from the region of Constantine (east) and you can say the capital of Shorba frik. it is a staple there. I wanted to note that we NEVER use garlic in shorba NEVER neither the bay leaves. main spice if you have nothing is the cinnamon and fresh Coriander is a must. you add it at beginning and when you switch off. you can also put mint which my mother did in the past. the other secret of shorba is the cooking of the meat with tomatoes and onion before you add water the longer is the better so 5 minutes won’t cut it. you can also substitute the oil with ghee that’s how we prepare it to get that amazing smell. freekah is available here in Australia and the US ras el hanout is t me not necessary as long as you have cinnamon either stick or powder. we also can add a variation which is meat balls small and round they just make the shorba a full meal. my husband who is American loves it and ask for it all the time. hope you enjoy trying it.
Véra Abitbol says
Hello Warda
Thank you very much !!! I will try all this! Very good week-end to you !