A recipe from the past...

My Tchoutchouka

Boufarik, early 20th century.

This is one of my earliest food memory from my youth in Boufarik, Algeria. The family recipe has been lost I fear so I recreated it from various internet sites.

We can imagine that it is eating tchoutchouka that made me feel so happy in front of the our house rue Borely La Sapie...

And that's the house 40 years later in a photo taken by one of my Algerian colleague who happened to know the place and lived nearby in Algeria before moving to France.

So, here's the recipe.

Serves four

4 oignons (big or 6 medium)
4 red bell peppers
4 tomatoes (big or 6 medium)
4 garlic cloves

(you'll notice I tried to make the proportions easy to remember 😉)

1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of Harissa (or any hot pepper paste, Mexican or otherwise)
1 tablespoon of sugar

olive oil
salt

optional:
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of red vinegar

The first step can be passed if you dont mind the skins. Otherwise, you make a little incision in the tomatoes and plunge them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drains and let them cool in a closed container (Tupperware?)
For the bell peppers, you roast then on a tray in the oven for 10 minutes until the skin is blistered! Afterward, you let them cool in a closed container like the tomatoes. The steam they produce when cooling will make the skin easier to remove.

Peel the tomatoes and the peppers.

Cut the tomatoes in cubes and the peppers in not too small strips.

Peel the garlic and cut in small cubes.

Pour some olive oil in a pot (as little as is needed so the signs don't burn) and fry the oignons first on high heat so they would brown then medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove and reserve.

Add a little more olive oil plus the cumin and fry the peppers for 15 minutes.

Remove and reserve.

Add the tomatoes, the garlic, the rest of the spices, the sugar, stir and bring to a boil.

Add the oignons, the peppers, bring to a boil again reduce heat and let it simmer for an hour without the lid, stirring the preparation occasionally. Add salt to you taste, add the vinegar now if you feel like it. It will add a little tartiness if you find the tchoutchouka overly sweet. Same for Tabasco, jalapeño, chipotle, make it as hot or mild as you like.

The tchoutchouka is traditionally eaten with eggs cooked in its middle. A pan works perfectly. I did it in a little fancy way for the sake of the photo. Enjoy!