Algerian cuisine is a meeting of Berber traditions with Andalusian, Ottoman and French influences, and above all it is a cuisine of sharing. Meals are long, generous and rarely eaten alone. On a trip with SEFAR Aventure you will taste many of these dishes, from family tables in Algiers to bread baked in the sand of the Tassili.
Soups and starters
Chorba opens most meals and is eaten every evening during Ramadan. The base is meat, tomato and small pasta or cracked wheat, finished with coriander, mint and a squeeze of lemon; each region has its version, from the white chicken chorba of Algiers to the green-wheat chorba frik. Harira, of Andalusian origin, is its thicker cousin made with pulses.
Look out for bourek, crisp rolls of thin pastry filled with spiced meat, and for hmiss, a smoky salad of grilled peppers and tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, scooped up with flatbread. Chakchouka — peppers and tomatoes simmered with onions and eggs — is a favourite across the Maghreb.
Couscous and tajines
Couscous is the national dish, and there are as many recipes as families: with lamb and vegetables, with fish on the coast, or sweet with butter, sugar and raisins as seffa. In the M'zab, ouchou tinni is a date couscous prepared for weddings. Tajines are slow stews; in Algiers try tajine zitoune, chicken with green olives.
Regional pasta
Algeria has its own hand-made pasta: rechta, fine noodles in a cinnamon broth served for celebrations in Algiers; trida, little squares from Constantine; and tiftitine from the M'zab Valley, served with lamb or camel in a sweet-savoury date sauce.
Pastries and tea
No visit is complete without a tray of pastries and a glass of mint tea. Makroudh are semolina diamonds filled with dates and soaked in honey; griwech are sesame fritters; tcharek, or gazelle horns, hide almond paste scented with orange blossom. Baklawa and kalb el louz complete the table.
Food on a SEFAR Aventure trip
In the desert, our cooks prepare everything fresh: salads, tagines, couscous and the famous taguella, bread cooked under the embers. Tell us about allergies or diets when you book and we adapt the menus.
