Tales from the Past | Part V
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Loading... - elliot emillia
- 05 Oct 2022
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Its title casts a net widely over the nation’s diet by suggesting that it gives us much to be grateful for. It supports the health of our citizens, keeps the family strong, and adds memorably to all our most important festivities. The distinctive odours coming from today’s Tunisian kitchen make our mouths water and bring laughter to the family table.
The title also reminds us that the journey from Carthage to Kairouan (and to Tunis, too), has taken a long long time. But what riches it has brought to change our nation’s tables. In writing about it, I have learnt much about the new dishes introduced by visitors to our shores. But, rest assured – the real heroes of this book are the women of Tunisia. It was they who shaped what we eat today, by making sure their daughters learnt about the good imports and binned the rest.
No matter how hard I try, a short article cannot provide all the answers to a story with many wonderful attributes, that stretches back two millennia to Queen Dido (Elissa). But keep on reading and you will at least get some of the picture. It will, I hope to tempt you to follow it a bit more closely.
My book aims to bring the past, present and future together in a glorious reminder of the wealth of nourishment that thrives in our land, of the dedication of the women of Tunisia, who developed and preserved so many ways to prepare food for our table, and hopefully, to encourage everyone to keep strengthening these life-enriching traditions in the years to come. It must also be said that cookery books have not yet contributed much to the success achieved by Tunisian mothers down the generations. They unfailingly taught their daughters with a combination of oral instruction, and demonstrations of the necessary skills.
I wanted to write a book to introduce our wonderful cuisine to the World outside Tunisia, with three different audiences in mind: The first category are English speaking tourists and visitors to our country, who enjoy delicious food in our hotels and restaurants, and would like to replicate the experience back home. At the moment there is no such book for this purpose. A second larger category is the growing number of people whose passion for good food does not need the stimulus of travel. Read More…
