North Africa · Street food

Fricassé (Fried Mini Rolls Filled with Tuna, Potato, and Capers)

Name: Fricassé (Fried Mini Rolls Filled with Tuna, Potato, and Capers)
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Tunisia
Ingredients: 300 g bread flour (Type 55 or unbleached strong flour); 150 g fine durum wheat semolina (smida rkika); 7 g instant dry yeast; 6 g fine sea salt; 5 g granulated sugar; 1 piece large egg (beaten at room temperature); 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 220 ml lukewarm water (38°C); 600 ml sunflower oil (for deep frying); 160 g canned tuna in olive oil (lightly drained); 2 medium waxy potatoes (boiled, peeled, and diced into 8mm cubes); 3 large hard-boiled eggs (quartered lengthwise); 40 g brined capers (rinsed and drained); 40 g black oil-cured olives (pitted and sliced); 45 g Tunisian harissa paste (loosened with 15ml warm water and 10ml olive oil)

Golden, airy fried yeast rolls slit open and stuffed with spicy harissa, flaked tuna, diced potatoes, briny capers, and hard-boiled eggs.

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The story

Originating within the Jewish-Tunisian street-food quarters of La Goulette and Tunis, fricassé evolved into a beloved pan-Tunisian afternoon ritual (goûter). Street vendors fry these airy torpedo-shaped rolls to order, balancing crisp shells against an impossibly tender, oil-free crumb. A key technical nuance is proofing the shaped rolls on individual oiled parchment squares so they can slide smoothly into hot oil without deflating the delicate gluten network.

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