Monday, 20 October 2025

Ajja, from Tunisia

 


Ingredients

4 coloured peppers (green and yellow perhaps, but any ones will do) sliced
half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
salt and pepper to your taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 chorizo sausage, sliced
2/3 crushed garlic cloves
2 chopped tomatoes (with skin removed if you can bother)
some cold water
6 beaten eggs
chopped onions (optional) 

Pour the olive oil into a non-stick frying pan and add the chorizo sausage.  Stir with a wooden spoon occasionally and when the red coloured oil comes out of the sausage, it is time to add the cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper, garlic and fry for two minutes. Add the tomatoes, a dash of water, followed by the beaten eggs.  

Now is the time to add the sliced peppers if you want them not overcooked.  However if you prefer them a bit mushy, you could add them right at the beginning with some chopped onions.

Stir the eggs and mess it around.....it is more scrambled than omelette.

You can vary this according to taste.....swap the chorizo for minced meat, change the cayenne pepper for harissa paste (just a touch) or tabasco sauce, or if you like HOT food, use all three!

Alioli

The origins of alioli are varied. Apparently it was known to the Romans 2,000 years ago.  The Spanish claim that France copied the recipe and named it mahonaise. They changed it by excluding the garlic and increasing the lemon juice.  According to one story, the Duc de Richelieu visited Mahon in Menorca in 1756 where he enjoyed the alioli and egg sauce so much, he took the recipe back to France.