Fricassé - Must Try Tunisian Fried Sandwich
Chef Iti
Fricassé, pronounced (free-kah-say) , is a small savoury fried sandwich that originates from Tunisia, a sun-kissed country perched on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Unlike the French “fricassée,” which refers to a creamy stew, the Tunisian version is delightfully handheld, somewhere between a doughnut and a sandwich.
Key Ingredients:
Traditional Tunisian Fricassé starts with a light, yeasted dough similar to brioche but less sweet.
Harissa brings heat and depth, while tuna packed in olive oil adds richness. Boiled potatoes provide balance and texture, and hard-boiled eggs lend a creamy contrast to the spice. The black olives introduce salty, briny pops of flavour, and some like to include pickled vegetables, or salad leaves, for an extra touch.
How to Make Tunisian Fricassé
Begin by preparing the yeast dough. Mix flour, yeast, sugar, warm water, whole egg, olive oil and touch of salt, to form a soft, elastic dough. Allow it to rise until doubled in size. Once risen, roll out the dough and cut it into ovals. I like to use a large oval-shaped cookie cutter to achieve that classic Fricassé shape. It not only looks authentic but also holds the filling beautifully once assembled.
If you don’t have an oval cutter, you can easily shape the dough by hand. Divide the risen dough into equal portions and roll each piece into a smooth ball. Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then gently flatten each ball with your palm. Using your fingertips, stretch and pull the dough slightly from the top and bottom to form an oval shape about the length of your palm.
I demonstrate exactly how to do this step-by-step in the attached YouTube video below, so you can see the shaping technique in action before frying.
To ensure the rolls look uniform, line them up side by side before frying and adjust their size or shape if needed. The goal is a soft, golden oval that opens neatly for your delicious filling.
Fricassé - Tunisian Savoury fried dough
Chef Iti
18
1.5 hours
25 minutes
North African
Sandwich
Fricassé is a Tunisian fried savoury yeast dough that is filled with spicy harissa paste chunky flakes of tuna, boiled potatoes, olives and fresh parsley. The combination of a slightly sweet fluffy dough and the savoury scrumptious filling makes this a must-try Tunisian sandwich.
Ingredients
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700g all purpose flour
1 tbsp baker’s yeast
350ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 egg
Vegetable oil for frying
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1 can of tuna
3 hard boiled eggs
2 boiled potatoes
Black pepper to taste
¼ cup Black olives
¼ cup Fresh parsley
4 tbsp Harissa paste
¼ tsp olive oil
Directions
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In a mixing bowl combine yeast, sugar with lukewarm water. Cover and allow the yeast to activate. Once activated stir in the egg and olive oil.
Incorporate the flour and salt and into the wet ingredients. Using a dough hook, mix the ingredients together on low speed.
If using a stand mixer, knead the dough for 8 minutes until well combined and elastic. Knead for 15 minutes if you are preparing the dough by hand.
Add dough into an oiled bowl, cover and rest for 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size.
Roll the dough onto you bench surface. Using a oval cookie cutter or and round bowl. Cut out ovular shaped dough. See the attached YouTube video for tips on how to achieve the signature ovular shape without a oval cutter.
Place shaped dough onto a lightly floured tray and cover with a damp kitchen towel and rest for 20 minutes.
Heat Vegetable oil in pan and fry dough. Flip each side until golden and fluffy. Resembling a doughnut.
Rest fried buns on rack to maintain texture
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Add peeled and diced potatoes into a saucepan. Fill with water until the potatoes are fully submerged. Add salt to taste and boil until the potatoes are tender but still hold their shape.
Strain the potatoes once they are cooked and run under cold water to stop any carry over cooking.
Boil eggs until hard boiled. Dice eggs and set aside.
Drain tuna and rinsed pitted black olives
Add harissa paste and olive oil into a bowl and mix until desired consistency has been achieved.
Roughly chop flat leaf parsley.
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Slice fried bun with a serrated knife making sure not to slice all the way through.
Spread harissa paste on both sides of the bun.
Fill liberally with tuna, potatoes, egg, olives and parsley.
Enjoy with fragrant mint tea and good company!
