Salade mechouia

Tunisia's great grilled salad: tomatoes, peppers and onions charred directly over flame, peeled and pounded to a coarse, smoky relish with olive oil, garlic, caraway and tuna: the definitive salad of the Tunisian table

Origin: Tunisia

From the journey of Tomato.

Mechouia, from the Arabic word for 'grilled', is the great vegetable salad of Tunisia and one of the most distinctive tomato preparations in the entire Mediterranean canon. It is fundamentally different from raw tomato salads: every vegetable is first charred over an open flame or under a grill until the skins are blackened and the flesh inside has collapsed and softened. The blackened skins are then peeled away, and the smoky, yielding flesh is roughly pounded, never blended smooth, into a coarse relish. The char is the point: it transforms the raw vegetables into something with depth, smokiness and complexity that raw preparation cannot achieve. Tunisian mechouia uses tomatoes, green and red peppers, and onions, all grilled until their surfaces are entirely blackened, then combined with raw garlic, olive oil, caraway seeds, and capers. The defining Tunisian addition is high-quality canned tuna: flaked over the finished salad along with hard-boiled eggs and olives, turning the salad into a complete dish. Mechouia is served at every Tunisian meal as a starter; it appears as reliably as bread. In Tunisia, it is often made in large quantities on the charcoal grill outdoors, the whole vegetables balanced directly on the grate over the coals.

Ingredients

Vegetables to grill

4 medium ripe tomatoes
3 medium green bell peppers (or Italian frying peppers)
1 red bell pepper
2 medium white onions, halved
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

Dressing

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
½–1 tsp harissa paste (to taste)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp capers, drained

To serve

200 g good-quality canned tuna in olive oil, drained
4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
60 g black olives

Method

Char the vegetables directly over a gas flame, on a very hot griddle pan, or under a hot broiler/grill: place the whole tomatoes, whole peppers, halved onions and unpeeled garlic cloves over the heat. Cook, turning regularly, until the skins are completely blackened on all sides. The tomatoes take about 8 minutes; the peppers 12–15 minutes; the onions and garlic 10 minutes.
Place the charred vegetables in a bowl and cover tightly with cling film or a plate. Leave for 10 minutes: the trapped steam loosens the skins further.
Peel the blackened skins from all vegetables. For the tomatoes: the skin should slide off easily. For the peppers: pull away skin and discard the seeds and white ribs. Squeeze the garlic from its charred skin. Do not rinse under water; you will wash away the smoky flavour.
Place the peeled vegetables on a chopping board and roughly chop everything together, the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, into a coarse mixture. Alternatively, pound them briefly in a large mortar. The texture should be a rough, chunky relish, not a smooth paste.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Add the olive oil, ground caraway, ground coriander, harissa, lemon juice, salt and capers. Stir together well. Taste and adjust; more harissa for heat, more lemon for brightness.
Serve at room temperature or slightly warm. Arrange the tuna (flaked into large pieces), quartered hard-boiled eggs and olives over the top. Drizzle with extra olive oil. Serve with crusty bread.

Notes

Ground caraway is the spice that makes this distinctly Tunisian. If you only have caraway seeds, toast them briefly in a dry pan and grind in a spice grinder or mortar. The smoky flavour from the charring cannot be replicated by any other method; this dish must be made over direct flame.

The Gastrographer

Name: Salade mechouia
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Tunisia
Ingredients: 4 medium ripe tomatoes; 3 medium green bell peppers (or Italian frying peppers); 1 red bell pepper; 2 medium white onions, halved; 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled; 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp ground caraway seeds; 1 tsp ground coriander; ½–1 tsp harissa paste (to taste); 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 2 tbsp capers, drained; 200 g good-quality canned tuna in olive oil, drained; 4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered; 60 g black olives

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control