Slata mechouia — chargrilled pepper and tomato salad

pareve Tunisian Jewish · regular · 100 min, including 35 hands-on

Long green peppers, red pepper, tomatoes and garlic grilled until their skins blacken, then peeled and chopped by hand, with caraway, olive oil and lemon: the kemia that opens meals throughout Tunis.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Preheat the oven grill to 250°C; for a gas-flame method, see step 2. Line a baking tray with foil. Arrange the whole long peppers, hot chillies and red pepper on it, with the whole tomatoes at one end so their juices do not soak the other vegetables. Wrap 2 unpeeled garlic cloves in a 5 cm foil parcel and place at the edge of the tray. Reserve the third clove raw for step 6.
2. Place the tray 10 cm below the grill. At the start, bring a small saucepan of water to the boil; if serving eggs, cook them for 9 minutes, cool under cold water and peel. After 5 minutes, turn the long peppers and hot chillies with tongs. After 10 minutes, remove the hot chillies and garlic: the chilli skins should be blackened and the garlic soft between your fingers, with pale golden rather than brown flesh. Immediately put the chillies in a bowl covered with a plate. After 12–15 minutes, remove the long peppers, with blackened, blistered skins and collapsed flesh; their thin walls cook twice as quickly as a bell pepper. Remove the tomatoes too, when their skins have split and blackened in patches. Immediately add the long peppers to the covered bowl. Turn the red pepper a quarter-turn every 7 minutes, three times overall, and cook for 25–30 minutes until blistered and black on all four sides, with softened flesh. On gas, place the red pepper and long peppers directly on the large burner grate, two or three at a time, turning a quarter-turn with tongs every 2 minutes. Allow 4–6 minutes per long pepper and 8–10 minutes for the red pepper. Cook the hot chillies, tomatoes and garlic, which are too small or juicy for the flame, alongside in a dry 28 cm cast-iron frying pan over a high heat for 8–10 minutes, turning until they show the same signs of doneness. Allow an extra 15 minutes of hands-on time for this method.
3. Add the hot red pepper to the covered bowl of peppers and leave for 10 minutes so the steam loosens the skins. Meanwhile, peel the tomatoes, halve them and discard the seeds and watery juices. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
4. Peel the peppers and chillies with your fingers and a small knife, removing the stalks and all seeds. Do not rinse under the tap, which would wash away the smoky flavour; a few black flecks are welcome. Leave in a colander for 10 minutes to drain. Drain now, not after chopping.
5. On a board, chop the peppers, chillies, tomatoes and roasted garlic into 5 mm pieces with a knife, never in a blender. Mechouia should be a coarse mixture in which each vegetable is recognisable, not a purée. Do not drain again, or you will lose the smoky juices and garlic.
6. In a bowl, combine the chopped vegetables with the raw garlic clove crushed in a garlic press, caraway, coriander, salt, 4 tbsp oil (40 g) and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the salt: the chargrilled flavour should come first, then the caraway, then the heat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours blend.
7. Serve cold, spread on a plate and smoothed with the back of a spoon. Garnish with black olives, rinsed capers and hard-boiled egg wedges if using, then drizzle with the final tablespoon of oil (10 g).

On your plate

Cooking tips

Better the next day, and keeps in the fridge for 4 days under a thin layer of oil. Make it ahead and omit the 30-minute resting time from your preparation on the day. On meat-free evenings, with hraimi, fish couscous or pasta, add half a tin of flaked tuna in olive oil to the fish plate only, never to the serving bowl, so the other plate stays fish-free. Tuna is left out of the ingredient list so the starter stays fish-free and can accompany meat dishes; add it to the shopping list yourself on those evenings. Omit the hot chillies for a mild starter everyone can enjoy.

Equipment : oven with a grill, or gas hob, baking tray, foil, tongs, small saucepan for the eggs, bowl and a plate to cover it, large chopping board and sharp knife, colander, garlic press, 28 cm cast-iron frying pan for the gas method only

Kemia from Tunisian Jewish tables: felfel, long green peppers, with flame-grilled tomatoes and garlic, peeled and chopped with a knife, then dressed with caraway, oil and lemon.