BROUDOU BIL HOUT (TUNISIAN FISH AND VEGETABLE SOUP)

Oct 27

Oct 27 BROUDOU BIL HOUT (TUNISIAN FISH AND VEGETABLE SOUP)

The Kitchen Scholar

Soups

SOURCE: CLAUDIA RODEN. THE NEW BOOK OF MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD.

Phoenicians from the Lebanese cities of Tyre and Byblos were the first outsiders to come into contact with Berber tribes dating as early as 1000 BC, and the resulting diplomatic relationship fostered by the combination of maritime trade and interracial wedlocks helped establish the Carthaginian Empire up until 146 BC when its capital of Carthage (present-day Tunis) crumbled under the mighty assault of the Roman military. Because their ancestors were inseparable from the sea and the Tunisian coastline has the widest and most fertile continental shelf in the southern Mediterranean, chances of locals adopting a daily diet of fish in the form of soups, stews, or a chunky melding of both known as a *broudou*, all of which are spiced with *Harissa*, are very likely.

Ingredients

1 pound/450 grams tomatoes, peeled,, seeded, juiced, and quartered

1 pound/450 grams potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 1/2 cups/1100 mL water

1 tablespoon/14 grams tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon/2 grams Harissa

3/4 teaspoon/2 grams cumin, preferably Moroccan cumin

2 tablespoons/18 grams finely chopped garlic

1/4 cup/60 mL freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons/45 mL extra virgin olive oil

1 pound/450 grams boneless cod fillets, skinned and cut into chunks

1/2 cup/30 grams finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

1 tablespoon/2 grams finely chopped mint sprigs, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

Specific Equipment

Large pot

Fork

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Combine tomatoes, potatoes, water, tomato paste, harissa, cumin, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to moderate and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

2. Stir in olive oil and and cod fillets and poach for 10 minutes or until the cod has turned milky. Break the cod into smaller chunks gently with a fork.

3. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the parsley and mint. Spoon the soup and into individual bowls or deep-bottomed plates.