Taste of Tunisia (Carthage Cafe)

After parasitizing LTH for some time, I've decided to jump into the forum with a new entry onto the ethnic food scene. Mrs. Howlop (Coco) and I, serendipitously, recently met a car parker ("Mo") at the Ritz-Carlton who like Coco is a native Tunis, Tunisian. Mo and a partner had recently opened a new restaurant, Carthage Cafe, featuring Tunisian cuisine. A quick trip to Carthage, located in a small strip mall on Foster Avenue, revealed an immaculately clean establishment with a simple North African decor. We both started our light meal with a semolina based tomato soup. Coco had the brikh and I the mechouia salad and chakchouka which was not on the menu but personally made by the owner at my request. Interestingly, Coco was surprised they served pita bread rather than the variety that was customary in her home but then realized that it was in the French households that French bread was the daily fare. We finished our meal with baklava. Although much of what we ate was complimentary as a courtesy from the owner, prices are remarkably reasonable. Overall it is difficult to compare restaurant offerings to that which we have eaten at home for decades but we recommend Carthage Cafe as a new way to sample an ethnic cuisine heretofore not available. Traditional couscous is available weekends or if pre-ordered. Coco and I plan to return for the couscous with our son (Pigmon) and Trixie Pea and bring along our own treasured Boukha.

Howlop



Carthage Cafe
3446 W. Foster Ave.
Chicago, Il 60625
(773)539-9004

Sounds fascinating. Can you give a little more detail as to what the dishes are like? I have encountered chakchouka before, but don't recognize the other dishes (though mechouia looks enough like meshoui, a Moroccan specialty, that I wonder if they are related).

And in addition to describing what you had, can you tell us a bit more about what to look for in a Tunisian restaurant -- what are some of the "must try" dishes that you would recommend to someone new to the cuisine?

Thank you for your report, howlop. I am glad you broke your silence to post because I have been looking for brikh here in Chicago for sometime. Was it brikh with egg you had, by chance?

Welcome to LTHForum howlop!

I'm enthused to hear about a Tunisian cafe within walking distance of my home. It's now at the top of my long list of places to try.

I have little to no experience with this cuisine and I'd love to hear some descriptions of the dishes you mentioned.

Best,
Michael

Howlop,

Greetings and welcome! And many thanks for bringing this place to our attention. As Pigmon knows, I have an abiding interest in Tunisian cuisine and look forward to getting to Carthage Café soon.

Antonius

Thanks for the interest in my posting. In general, Tunisian cuisine is notable for its' use of vegetables, spices and seasonings. In addition to the usual; carraway, corriander, cumin and cinnamon are frequently used. Brikh is a deep-fried thin crust containing an egg or mashed potato characteristically triangular in shape. Carthage Cafe served the potato version-I bet the cook would make it with egg if asked. "Meshoui" is a generic term meaning "grilled" and refers to meat or vegetables. "Meshouia" refers to grilled vegetables-I'm confident there is a trans-North African similarity in these terms.

The Big Daddy of Tunisian food is the national dish, "couscous". You have to understand the term refers to an entire meal built upon the grain onto which is added a highly seasoned broth containing meat and vegetables. The "piece de resistance" of couscous is the boulette which are balls of meat or sometimes fish wrapped in a vegetable (potato, eggplant, celery) and separately fried. Alongside this offering will be multiple side dishes of variously spiced vegetables such as carrots, kohlrabi, zucchini, turnips, etc. which are refered to as the "salade".

Bouhka, the classic Tunisian liquor made from fermented figs is clear in color and may be served before or with the meal. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, it is unavailable in the U.S. However, a freezer-chilled good tequila served in a cordial glass is a satisfactory substitute.

Much of which I recount is a fusion of the French influence in Tunisia and may vary at the Carthage, we plan to explore further.

Howlop

howlop wrote:but we recommend Carthage Cafe as a new way to sample an ethnic cuisine heretofore not available.

Howlop,

Welcome to LTH!

Carthage for weekend couscous sounds just the ticket to cure winter blues, even in summer.

Enjoy,
Gary

I've never tried Tunisian cuisine but I was intrigued by your post - especially the description of brikh - sounds great. You mentioned that Tunisian food is characterised by its use of spices and vegetables - how would you rate it for vegetarians?

BethE wrote:I've never tried Tunisian cuisine but I was intrigued by your post - especially the description of brikh - sounds great. You mentioned that Tunisian food is characterised by its use of spices and vegetables - how would you rate it for vegetarians?

Speaking as someone who knows next to nothing about Tunisian cuisine, I would guess that vegetables and grains play a big role in this culinary tradition.

Hammond

PS. I do know Tunisian sandwiches (at least the Parisian versions), as they were a principal source of sustenance in the winter of 71-2. They contain tuna, but are otherwise largely vegetable.

Diners who are especially sensitive to smoke (or who love to smoke) should be advised that Carthage Cafe has an adjacent hookah lounge (with low, comfy-looking couches). The hookah lounge is separated from the cafe only by some curtains, and though the smoke is by no means thick, it is discernible. I will be going back to try the brikh and couscous without my smoke-sensitive companion -- or maybe they do takeout.

Josephine wrote:Diners who are especially sensitive to smoke (or who love to smoke) should be advised that Carthage Cafe has an adjacent hookah lounge (with low, comfy-looking couches). The hookah lounge is separated from the cafe only by some curtains, and though the smoke is by no means thick, it is discernible. I will be going back to try the brikh and couscous without my smoke-sensitive companion -- or maybe they do takeout.

Good point, though I must admit, I thought the ventilation system at CC was quite good.

They definitely do takeout.

Hammond

You're right, David. To clarify, I think the minimal smoke at Carthage would only be a problem for people who are especially sensitive to smoke. Also, there is the matter of becoming unaccustomed to smoke in most places, which seems to make any smoke noxious to those especially sensitive people (like my daughter). Given the current ordinance regarding smoking in restaurants, many people may expect smoke-free dining rooms everywhere. I posted because I have appreciated others' posts warning of smoke in certain theoretically "smoke-free" restaurants. I'm still looking forward to dining at Carthage Cafe sometime soon.

LTH,

After a wonderfully interesting Olive Oil Tasting at Gypsy Boy and Renee's home we followed in the footsteps of Coco and Howlop to Carthage Cafe for Tunisian.

A few weeks earlier I had the privilege of joining Coco, Howlop*, Pigmon**, Trixie-Pea and a couple of others at Carthage where Coco, who is Tunisian, arranged a meal with Mohamed, owner of Carthage. Which, of course, meant I was in charge of our post OOT LTH dinner. This turned out easier than expected, I went to Carthage Cafe a few days before our dinner, chatted with Mohamed a bit about how wonderful our previous Coco directed meal had been, set a price point and left the fine points of the meal in his very capable hands.

We started out with a nice assortment of torshi, including pickled green apricot.

Torshi


Then a choice of soup, followed by Slata Mishwaya w/Tuna, a mix of grilled green and red peppers, garlic, onion and tomatoes, topped with tuna. A really fine combination, especially scooped with a bit of pita.

Slata Mishwaya w/Tuna,


House salad, which may have been MsWiv's favorite of the evening.

House Salad


Keftaji, a lovely mix of potatoes, onion, tomatoes, green and red peppers w/egg and a topknot of Harissa.

Keftaji


Speaking of Harissa, Mohamed was kind enough to share his special stash of Harissa, sent by his mother in Tunisia. Not overly spicy, but very flavorful.

Harissa


Tajin, which is evocative of a Spanish Tortilla was fine, possibly the least interesting dish of the evening, though still quite nice, especially with a healthy shot of harissa.

Tajin


Next up was one of my favorites, Brika, a filo like dough encasing potato, parsley and whole egg that cooks as the brika is fried. Best possible scenario is the soft yoke runs golden yellow when the brika is cut. ~sigh~

Brika



Our Tunisian Marathon continued, Kus-Kus w/lamb, most certainly the best version I have had, including my own weak attempts at preparation.

Kus-Kus w/lamb


Mohamed also prepared a non meat version, as you can see portions are small I should also point out that, for 14 people, there were 5 platters of Kus-Kus served. We ate family style and portions were generous, to say the least.

Renee w/non meat Kus-Kus


This was followed by a small platter of Tunisian Meatballs and then one of the more enjoyable dishes of the evening, Ejja (Merguez sausage w/egg, onion, garlic, tomato paste, Harissa. Technique is leave yoke whole, incorporate white).

Ejja


Fruit to finish, figs, grapes, watermelon, honeydew melon, and, what I think was, cactus fruit (Tuna)




Our waitress throughout the evening, Leaiva, was particularly well informed and gave 100%.

Leaiva


A spectacular evening providing a window to another culture though it's food, with great conversation, no wonder time flew, dinner lasted well over three hours with no lulls.

Again, thank you to Coco and Howlop for offering a window to Tunisia and to Mohamed, a gracious host and terrific chef.

Michael M (L) Mohamed (R)


Most of the dishes are on the Tunisian Specials menu, though a couple of days advance notice is required.

Tunisian Specials


A few additional pictures may be found here

Enjoy,
Gary

* Pigmon's parents
** Pronounced Pig-Min

Gary,

Thanks for the great write-up and the many swell pictures. I can't wait to get a chance to visit this place.

A

Thanks to Gary, not only for arranging this extraordinary dinner, but for posting so thoroughly and accurately.

I've only one note to add: though it strongly resembled tuna (the sweet little Mexican fruits), it was explained to us twice (we're hard to convince) that no, it was a fig a la Berber. (Maybe not "a la" but some such construction making it the name of a kind of fig.) Didn't resemble figs at all in my universe, but I did inquire twice. It is certainly possible that our lovely waitperson misunderstood her information or that I misunderstood her explanation, but I'm nearly certain that she twice told our end of the table that it was a unique type of fig. On the other hand, maybe it WAS tuna AND that fruit, in Tunisia, is called fig a la Berber.

Mr. X and I enjoyed our first ever LTH event with the Olive Oil Tasting and the dinner at Carthage Cafe. It was a pleasure meeting folks in person while educating our palates. The food didn't seem to stop coming out of the kitchen for a long time! Although I enjoyed pretty much whatever landed in front of me, I found the vegetarian kus-kus to be one of my favorites. The flavors blended well and seemed richer than even the lamb kus-kus.

Many thanks to GWiv for arranging the dinner and to Gypsy Boy and Lovely Dining Companion for the olive oil experience.

-Mary, The GP

HI,

For most of the evening, our group dominated the restaurant with few other patrons. It wasn't until after 10 PM that other patrons began streaming in. By the time we left, all the other tables were occupied with people eating, smoking hookahs and drinking.

I don't know very much about Tunisian cuisine, I thought the Tajin was a bit dry. I estimate it was perhaps a bit overcooked. Tajin is quite similar to the Spanish Frittata, which is usually quite good as is when cooked to just set.

This was quite the interesting dinner with lots of interesting new dishes to try. Thanks Gary for organizing as well as Coco, Howlop and Pigmon for highlighting this restaurant.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I don't know very much about Tunisian cuisine, I thought the Tajin was a bit dry. I estimate it was perhaps a bit overcooked. Tajin is quite similar to the Spanish Frittata, which is usually quite good as is when cooked to just set.

Tagines are an off-menu item at Carthage, but the pix posted look better than what I had at Couscous on Taylor a few weeks ago. I thought the flavor was "fine," though it seemed like it maybe sat around a half-day too long. "Dry" is the right descriptor.

Were an off-menu item. With the new Tunisian menu which GWiv includes above, this stuff is much more accessible.

Mike G wrote:Were an off-menu item. With the new Tunisian menu which GWiv includes above, this stuff is much more accessible.

Yes, as in the past, you can get stuff like tagines at Carthage Cafe with a few days notice... you can't just walk in and order this stuff (which may be a good thing, as I'm thinking tagines need to be kind of fresh-from-the-oven).

Hammond

You sure? Seems to me the fact of a new printed menu is saying it will be available each day, or at least most days, without having to make special arrangements.

Anyway, on to my comments per the above:

The Slata Mishwaya was one of the better things I've had lately, simple fresh flavor of onion and pepper with canned tuna providing a surprising, very Mediterranean note. (I say surprising because I've had similar spreads like imam biyaldi in, say, Turkish restaurants, but you wouldn't find canned tuna on them.)

I liked the brika a lot, too, but dearly wish my egg had been runny instead of rock hard. I might try to ask for one that way and see if I can get it, although I know that's tough to know when it's in the middle of something being deep-fried.

The couscous was excellent, I'm not that much of a fan of this staple pasta but this couscous was feathery light, way better than most I've had, and the homey stew on it was just fine if nothing revelatory. I liked the lamb patty sausages a lot too, those weren't depicted above.

And finally the ejja was indeed one of my faves as well, with its pungent little sausages (possibly the merguez offered elsewhere on the menu, I think we were told that but I'm not convinced it was right) in a rich tomatoey sauce.

A lot of good things here, all at least homey and satisfying, a few more than that. Well worth checking out and adding to your list of countries visited and eaten in Chicago.

It seems, according to the link below, that the mysterious green hard to eat fruit were cactus fruit or barbary figs (which sounds close to the "figs a la berger" that our server called them). The link shows the fruit in its unpeeled state and the description does sound like what we ate. They were certainly different, but not anything I need to seek out. Somewhat flavorless and the seeds were annoying.

My thanks again to Renee and Gypsy Boy for a very fun tasting and to Gary for arranging such a well-rounded and lovely meal at Carthage Cafe. My vegetable couscous made a perfect lunch the next day as well.

http://khadijateri.blogspot.com/2006/08/summertime-is-hindi-time.html

I liked the flavor of the fruit, a subtle flavor somewhere in the pear/kiwi range, but agree that it was essentially impossible to eat, like a peach full of buckshot. I think they'd make a great sorbet or something, though. Something where you get the juice and leave the seeds behind.

Unless I know too little about this subject--an entirely conceivable thing--these Barbary figs ARE, in fact, the exact same thing as what in Mexico they call tuna. Indeed, just to be careful, I checked the net (after all, if it's on the web it's true, right?) and there seems to be confirmation from multiple sources. Same fruit, different name. Do like Mike G's description: peach filled with buckshot. Just not as much flavor (unless it's an early peach).

Gypsy Boy wrote:Unless I know too little about this subject--an entirely conceivable thing--these Barbary figs ARE, in fact, the exact same thing as what in Mexico they call tuna. Indeed, just to be careful, I checked the net (after all, if it's on the web it's true, right?) and there seems to be confirmation from multiple sources. Same fruit, different name. Do like Mike G's description: peach filled with buckshot. Just not as much flavor (unless it's an early peach).

And are these not the same as prickly pears?

Wow. Talk about fast. I was on my way back in to edit my post and state precisely that. Opuntia ficus-indica are also known as bunny ears, cholla, prickly pear, Barbary fig, tuna and Indian fig. Whew.

According to an article by our horticulture friends at Purdue:
The cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica; Opuntia spp., Cactaceae) is a fleshy bush or small tree, native to the desert zones of Northwestern Mexico and the Southwestern United States (Knight 1980). The plant was brought to Europe by the first Spanish colonists from Mexico and has been cultivated along the Mediterranean coast since the late 17th century (Retamal et al. 1987). This fruit is also known as "barbary fig," "tuna," and "Indian fig." The total world crop was estimated at 300,000 t of fruit. Mexico's estimated current production of 200,000 t of fruit on an area of 50,000 ha (Flores and Gallegos 1994). The other important production region is the Mediterranean basin (Italy, Spain, Egypt, Morocco, and Israel) and to a more limited extent South America, South Africa, Southwestern Asia, the U.S., and Australia. The fruits normally are sold in the local markets of these countries, except for Mexico, Italy, and Chile which are also exporters. The cactus pear is not cultivated as a regular commercial crop, but rather is planted as fences, windbreaks, and gardens. The only significant plantings are in Mexico, Italy, Spain, Chile, Israel, and South Africa. The plant may reach a height of 5 m and prefers calcareous soils and semi-arid climate with temperatures ranging from 18° to 26°C.

And, pondering this over the course of minutes, it occurs to me that between her pronunciation and my aging ears, I may have heard a la Berber when she said something more like Barbare (though, strictly speaking, the French would be barbaresque).

Mike G wrote:You sure? Seems to me the fact of a new printed menu is saying it will be available each day, or at least most days, without having to make special arrangements.

Mike,

I believe a few days notice is still required for the majority of Tunisian dishes. The printed menu simply makes it easier to order.

Far as the fruit in question, here are a few pics of Tuna, purchased at Tony's on Elston.

Tuna



Enjoy,
Gary

Howlop and I thank you for your keen interest in my native country cooking, and G Wiv's beautiful posting.
Each Tunisian cook adds her or his own innovation to traditional dishes.
For instance, the slata mechouia with tuna was a morning "casse-croute" sandwich which consisted of an eviserated heel of French bread, slata mechouia, tuna, harissa, oil and sometimes a soft or hard boiled egg, olives, etc.
In America the fig berber is really a prickly pear which in Tunisia is called "figue de Barbary."

Coco and Howlop

Just back from a trip to visit friends in Tunisia. The food was quite good, especially wonderfully fresh grilled fish and home made fries. We saw figues de Barbary everywhere, and as the sloppy vegetarian, I ate lots of lablabi, a soupy dish of chickpeas, harissa, garlic, and pieces of bread. Had a particularly savoury version in Le Kef.

I went to Carthage Cafe for dinner last night with a friend (we had tried a Polish restaurant first, but they were closed for Easter weekend). Very good food, but I was surprised to see very few Tunisian specials listed on the menu!! I had read about the couscous here and asked the server about it, but she said it was only offered a few times a week. I forgot to inquire about the brika (next time!), but we had good food anyway.

The Slata Mishwaya was served sans tuna, but was yummy nonetheless. The pita bread was fresh and warm, and some of the best pita I've had recently. My friend had the grilled lamb chops with salad and hummus, and she found it perfectly grilled with a good smoky flavor and very filling (she didn't even touch her hummus). I had the ejja after reading the description upthread, and loved it! The server brought out French bread with it, and when I ate it spooned over the bread--divine.

My only complaints are the above-mentioned lack of Tunisian specials on the standard menu (they really should mention more of the dishes posted on that special menu pictured above!) and the definite lack of lighting in the restaurant side of the building. We could barely read our menus, and my friend had to eat her lamb chops with her fingers since she couldn't see to figure out where to cut around the bone.