brek; brik

Brik or Brick (pronounced breek) is a Algerian burek consisting of thin pastry around a filling. The best-known version is the egg brik, a whole egg in a triangular pastry pocket with chopped onion, tuna, harissa and parsley.

Brik pastry are made with sheets of thin dough, either phyllo or malsouqa. Typical fillings include tuna, ground meat, chicken, or anchovies garnished with a fried egg and harissa, capers, or cheese.

The Tunisian tradition is that the bride mother makes a brik to the bridegroom. If the bridegroom eats it without spilling any of the egg yolk he may marry the bride. Otherwise he may not! Of course, the bride’s mother makes the egg yolk very loose if she does not like him because of this.

Brik are often fried after being filled.

In French and English, the word brik is also used to refer to the dough sheets themselves, properly malsouqa.

References

• Michael and Frances Field, A Quintet of Cuisines, Time-Life, 1970. ISBN 0-8094-0075-8.

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