Mediterranean recipe

Tunisian Brik à l’Œuf

Name: Tunisian Brik à l’Œuf
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Mediterranean cuisine
Ingredients: 2 sheets malsouka or thin brik pastry; 120 g tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked; 2 large pasteurized eggs, at room temperature; 20 g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped; 20 g capers, rinsed and chopped; 1 g ground black pepper; 250 ml neutral oil for shallow-frying; 2 lemon wedges for serving

A crisp, delicate malsouka pastry folded around tuna, parsley, capers and egg, then fried until blistered and golden.

Tunis, Tunisia

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 35 min
Servings: 2

Golden Tunisian brik pastry folded around tuna, parsley, capers and egg, served with lemon — **Real finished-dish photograph**Photograph by MeriemouSource page · Original file · CC BY-SA 4.0Cropped, resized, and compressed by Recipe Nest Vault.

Ingredients

2 sheets
malsouka or thin brik pastry
120 g
tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked
2
large pasteurized eggs, at room temperature
20 g
flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
20 g
capers, rinsed and chopped
1 g
ground black pepper
250 ml
neutral oil for shallow-frying
2
lemon wedges for serving

Method

01
Prepare the filling
Combine tuna, parsley, capers and pepper. Keep the pastry covered with a barely damp towel while working so the thin sheets stay flexible.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
02
Warm the frying oil
Pour oil into a wide skillet to a depth of about 1 cm and heat over medium. It should shimmer but not smoke; keep the handle clear of the burner.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
03
Fill and fold each pastry
Lay one pastry sheet flat. Spoon half the tuna mixture onto one side, make a small well in the centre and carefully crack in one pasteurized egg. Fold the pastry over and press the edges closed, leaving room so the yolk is not pierced.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
04
Fry until crisp
Slide the brik into the oil seam-side down. Fry about 2 minutes until the underside is crisp and golden, then turn carefully and cook 1–2 minutes more until the pastry is blistered and the white is set. For a fully firm yolk, cook longer; use pasteurized eggs if keeping it soft.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
05
Drain and serve hot
Lift onto a rack or paper towel for about 30 seconds, then serve immediately with lemon. Handle gently so the crisp shell stays intact.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph

Practical notes

Tips

Keep the oil at a steady medium temperature; a small piece of pastry should sizzle immediately without darkening at once.
Seal the pastry firmly around the filling and fry only a few pieces at a time so the oil temperature recovers.

Common mistakes

A wet or overfilled wrapper can split and release filling into the oil; drain the filling and leave a clear border.
Oil that is too cool makes pastry greasy; oil that smokes browns the outside before the filling warms.

Substitutions

Use thin spring-roll pastry if malsouka is unavailable, keeping the sheet covered so it does not dry out.
Tuna can be omitted for a simple egg-and-caper filling; keep the egg pasteurized if serving the yolk soft.

Storage

Best eaten immediately; do not store a brik with a soft-yolk egg. Refrigerate any fully cooked leftovers within 2 hours at 0–4°C and use within 1 day.

Cultural context

Brik à l’œuf is a much-loved Tunisian snack, especially associated with Ramadan tables. The paper-thin pastry is often folded around an egg so the yolk remains runny; tuna, potato, parsley and capers vary by household.

Sources and photo credit

This standardized method was independently rewritten after cross-checking the references below. Recipe Nest Vault does not claim that the credited photographer cooked from this exact version.

Recipe references

Fried brik.jpg — Photograph by Meriemou; CC BY-SA 4.0.

Step illustrations: Original illustrations created by Recipe Nest Vault with OpenAI image_gen.

Back to Mediterranean recipes

Tunisian Brik à l’Œuf

Ingredients

Method

Prepare the filling

Warm the frying oil

Fill and fold each pastry

Fry until crisp

Drain and serve hot

Sources and photo credit

Recipe references

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