No McDonald's in Tunisia; I keep my snack and my lablabi, thank you!!
Preamble 1: a Tunisian snack is a complete meal. It takes the form of a roll or half of a half-opened baguette, the interior of which is first anointed with olive oil and then covered with a thin layer of harissa, and in which one successively laying mechouia salad, cadune grilled peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic, a little Tunisian salad also made up of fresh tomatoes, green peppers, onions and cucumbers cut with fresh mint in very small cubes, a few cubes of apples boiled clay, capers, an eighth of a cooked egg, a piece of candied lemon, and all abundantly covered with Tunisian tuna with a drizzle of olive oil.Important clarification: Tunisian tuna is a variety of bluefin tuna extremely tasty and different from the white tuna common all over the world.
Preamble 2: a lablabi is a popular Tunisian dish that constitutes a meal. It is consumed especially in winter, as well in the morning as at lunch, dinner or late in the evening. In a large terracotta bowl (usually yellow with green decorations) cut the bread from the day before into small pieces; then they are bathed in a chickpea soup. Chickpeas are cooked in water and salt for long hours until they become tender. So, the pieces of bread from the day before are moistened with the liquid, then a large ladleful of chickpeas are placed there, seasoned with cumin (effective against aerophagia ie the formation of gas in the stomach), a good spoonful of harissa and olive oil. Add to taste a slice of squeezed lemon, capers, a half-cooked egg. Before eating, we will take care to mix everything well, and we usually accompany this dish with variations and a Boga cider.
Why are we talking about snacks and lablabi?
Last week, information of the utmost importance went almost unnoticed. Leaders. Com; a site particularly specialized in kowtowing and shoe polishing in the old fashion, especially when they are those of the leaders, published an article dated 9/6/2011 which seems very ordinary: “What the Tunisian-American operators asked Caïd Essebsi.” These nice thugs didn't ask anything from the Tunisian people, they are asking the Master. But what did they ask him?Let's read:
It doesn't take a genius to see how the Tunisian-American (sic) operators make Caïd Essebsi swallow the snake. A group of volunteers, to calm the revolutionary ardor, then the Big Bang: “lift the ban on the franchise of international brands”, that is to say in Tunisian: open Tunisia to all Mac Donald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and all that terrible food typical of the American diet, sold through publicity and communication. You can imagine how many Tunisian businessmen have not been able to sleep since, cherishing the dream of these fast foods invading all of Tunisia. Oh, don't worry, this time they won't forget the internal, underprivileged, landlocked regions, etc.
A few years ago, the Leaders.com site had published an article praising a large French operator specializing in hardware that was setting up here. I sent the site a few lines explaining that there was nothing to celebrate. The operator will create a few jobs, but he will abolish many more, because all the small neighborhood hardware stores and similar shops will have to close. Just as grocers and convenience stores have all closed where the French retail giants have set up shop. And that all in all, it's a fool's bargain from our point of view. As you can imagine, my comment was never published; Since then, I have not communicated with this site, a showcase of wild capital and selling itself by playing on the inflation of the egos of the people they call leaders. Obviously, before January 14, the Trabelsi, Matri, Chiboub, and other Jilani constituted the literature. Short.
Tunisian men and women, we have a diet (a little greasy I agree) but which is one of the best in the world. Our children eat couscous, pasta, vegetables, fruit, fish… If the terrible American food comes to us, we will have obesity, cholesterol, cardiovascular problems; with all the result at the level of intellectual production…
The number one health problem in the United States is obesity. They are swollen and sick, those who get by have to jog 20 km a day.
Our cuisine, Tunisian snack, lablabi, osbane, brik, mermez etc included, our national cuisine is an integral part of our culture and our heritage. Let's claim them, talk about the Tunisian cultural exception, and refuse the lifting of the ban on international brand franchises.
It's not because four hungry sharks want to get rich that we have to sacrifice the health of our children, and bury our cultural heritage, while sending the thousands of small restaurants and other humble eateries who live and support their families out of work. of these small Tunisian specialties that they prepare for us daily.
Please, let us take a stand for our heritage and our economy. And above all, do not trust the big food groups; they have no scruples, and lie to sell their filthy food, including GMOs. Here is a little proof published in March 2010 by Le Monde Diplomatique under the title “India resists the seduction of American agro-food, written by MiraKamdar.” :
