Spicy Meat and Onion Stew
Tabikha
Region: Jewish Mediterranean, Algerian
Category: Stews
Season: Summer
Difficulty: Easy but long cooking time

In the Maghrib, for both Muslims and Jews, a tabikha can refer to any cooked dish. In Tunisia, it usually refers to a green vegetable stew, a tabikha khudrat. In Tataouine, in southern Tunisia, it is a specialty, a breakfast soup made with lentils and other vegetables.

Algerian Jewish cooking is very similar to that of the Muslim population, even though the Algerian Jews' presence in the region predates that of the Arabs by several hundred years. What distinguishes Jewish food are the preparations made for special occasions. 'Asha, or its full name 'asha bi'l-'ayid, or festival dinner, was traditionally eaten by the Jews of Oran on the coast of western Algeria, either on the first night of Passover or for the Jewish New Year. It is a kind of stew with head or breast of beef or lamb, cabbage, fresh fava beans, zucchini, tomato, onions, bay leaf, ground red chili pepper, and ground coriander seed.

Mhatar is a kind of blanquette of lamb made by the Jews of Constantine in eastern Algeria, with lots of garlic, mint, bay leaf, saffron and eggs. Kafta bi'l-ganawiyya are meatballs with okra. A dish made by both Jews and Muslims in Algeria and Tunisia is tafina, which means "to bury" in Arabic, made with chicken or beef breast, turnips, onions, and red chile. The name perhaps indicates that it is either buried in the in which it cooks undisturbed or perhaps was once literally buried to cook. The Jews made it for the sabbath. Because it can't be cooked on the Jewish sabbath, it is prepared Friday night and left to cook for a long time. It figures in many Hebrew festival menus throughout the year and is derived from the Sephardic marmiteadafina, a stew once made by the Jews of Spain.

Humra, meaning "the red," the color of the finished dish, is a chicken-and-quince dish with onions, cinnamon, and nutmeg that is eaten on Yom Kippur by the Jews of Algiers. The French scholar Maxime Rodinson indicates that it is a very old preparation harking back to medieval times.

This tabikha is an Algerian Jewish dish of beef, onions, tomatoes, and red chiles, the name deriving from the Arabic for "cooked dish," in this case being cooked a long time over an enclosed fire. This dish is often prepared for wedding ceremonies, usually for the bride following her wedding eve bath, a Jewish custom in Constantine. It also is made for the bar mitzvah. For these reasons the dish is a prestigious one. The only vegetable in the dish is the onion, to symbolize the sweetness and "unctuosity" of the marriage and that it may not turn sour, to vinegar. The stew can be served with bread.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Preparation Time: 2 hours

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil     2 large onions, peeled and grated     3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped     1 tablespoon harisa       Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pound stew beef, trimmed of excessive fat and cubed     1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped     2 cups water     1/4 cup finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

1. In a casserole or the bottom portion of a couscoussi?re, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, then cook the onions until translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the garlic and harisa, season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix well. Add the beef and brown on all sides for 2 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and water. Stir, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 45 minutes. Add the coriander and cook until the meat is tender, another 45 minutes.

Posted: 01/10/2007

Needed Recipes:

Harisa