Algeria

Algeria being rich in culture and diverse is not well known for its culinary treasures.  The first thing that comes to mind is Merguez sausage.   However I wanted to delve deeper and come up with something a bit different.   I sometimes find that while cooking if you listen to the countries music you get a 'feel' for their culture.   While we dined and listened to their music I realized it was too long of a break we had taken from doing the countries every week.   The world is full of culture and tradition and it is really ours to enjoy and appreciate.

Borek Algeria

Phyllo pastry stuffed with onions, ground beef, parsley, cinnamon, eggs,  Laughing Cow cheese and then deep fried.  This type of food is typical street food, that may be purchased while roaming the bazaars or at road side stalls.   Instead of deep frying though I decided to do an oven fry.  I felt the phyllo would absorb a bit too much oil so I brushed the pastry with olive oil and prepared them in the oven.   I feel the results were comparable to a deep fry.   As for the taste I must admit I was quite impressed with the unique combination of flavours that did have an Arabian feel to it.



Died b'l-Qasbour

Simple as this dish may sound the actual combination of flavours were fantastic.  Chicken breast sautéed with saffron, coriander, garlic and then finished with lemon and olives.  A refreshing zing to the tongue and an overall delicious dish when served over rice.

Basboussa

Arabian desserts can be a little too sweet for my liking and I usually compensate and reduce the sugar quite a bit.   However while researching this recipe I found another that intrigued me and decided I was going to combine the recipes.  The result was fantastic.   Tangerines, Pomegranate and almonds were soaked in a syrup of ginger, cardamon and star anise for 2 days.   The Basboussa which according to the recipe needed 4 cups of sugar in a simple syrup was eliminated and replaced with the spiced simple syrup I had made.  Less then half the sugar and the results were fantastic.