Tunisian cuisine features all the hallmarks of delicious North African food: complex spices, Mediterranean ingredients and a hint of French colonial influence. Tagines, the flavourful stews that range from Morocco to Egypt, get their name from the characteristic conical dishes of the same name that they are most often cooked in.
Dali Chehimi has put together a delightful menu featuring several classic Tunisian dishes, many rarely seen in Toronto.
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Salade Mechouia with Merguez
Mechouia is a Tunisian salad of grilled tomato, garlic, onion, sweet and hot peppers, seasoned with caraway, capers and olives. It is served with grilled merguez, North Africa’s popular thin, spicy lamb sausages, and fresh baguette.
Chermoula Seafood Tagine
Chermoula is a unique blend of herbs and seasonings found across the Maghreb. In Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking it is commonly used to flavor fish or seafood. Every family has their own unique variation, but common ingredients include garlic, cumin, coriander, and lemon juice, but may also include pickled lemons, chili peppers, saffron, or other herbs. Here delicate cod, shrimp and calamari are marinated in the chermoula paste, then cooked with diced tomatoes and chickpeas in the traditional North African tagine style.
It is served alongside a light steamed couscous, a hearty Moroccan-spiced pumpkin and chickpea stew, and Dali’s famous homemade spicy harissa.
Tunisian Sabayon
Sweet, orange blossom infused custard with fresh fruit salad garnished with crushed pistachios and almonds
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$60 +HST
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A veteran Toronto restaurateur, Dali Chehimi’s storied career has seen him working at iconic restaurants such as Sassafraz, Sarkis and Avec, as well as catering in Tunisian fare through his pop-up Casbah.
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Every weekend The Depanneur invites a guest chef to host a fun, informal BYOB dinner party.
