Brik

Deep-fried pastry in North African cuisine


title: "Brik" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tunisian-cuisine", "egg-dishes", "mediterranean-cuisine", "african-cuisine", "maghrebi-cuisine", "middle-eastern-cuisine", "fried-dough", "algerian-cuisine", "libyan-cuisine", "deep-fried-foods"] description: "Deep-fried pastry in North African cuisine" topic_path: "general/tunisian-cuisine" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brik" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Deep-fried pastry in North African cuisine ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox food"]

FieldValue
nameBrik
imageBrikdish.jpg
main_ingredientEggs, pastry
associated_cuisine
::

| name = Brik | image = Brikdish.jpg | caption = | alternate_name = | course = | served = | main_ingredient = Eggs, pastry | associated_cuisine = | variations = | calories = | other = Brik ( ; بريك) or burek is the North African version of borek, a stuffed malsouka pastry which is commonly deep fried. The best-known version is the egg brik, a whole egg in a triangular pastry pocket with chopped onion, tuna, harissa and parsley. With a slightly different shape, but with identical ingredients and method of preparation, the brik is known in Algeria and Libya as bourek (بوراك). It is often filled with a raw egg and herbs or tuna, harissa and olives and is sometimes served in a pita. This is also known as a boreeka. It is also widespread in Eastern Algeria in the cities of Annaba and Costantina.

Brik pastry is made by slapping a sticky lump of dough onto a hot non-stick surface in overlapping circles to produce the desired size and cooked for a short amount of time. The brik dough sheets are called malsouka or warka. Typical fillings include tuna, ground meat, raw egg, chicken, or anchovies garnished with harissa, capers, or cheese.

Regional variants and preparation

Although the food's origins are hard to trace directly, it dates back at least 500 years in the past. In addition to its unclear origins, it is also not known by a singular name; across the Middle East even now, the popular food can be referred to as bric, börek, burek, warqa or malsouka. The common ingredients in every brik – regardless of what it is called – include the deep fried pastry crust and proteins (like tuna or egg) encased within the wrapping, such as the common French spin known as brik a l'oeuf.

To prepare a classic Tunisian Brik, one must fold the outer pastry into triangle shapes, stuff the mixed ingredients into the wrapper, and then heat them in a frying pan for two to three minutes on each side.

References

References

  1. [[Alan Davidson (food writer). Alan Davidson]], ed., ''[[The Oxford Companion to Food]]'', ''s.v.'' börek, p. 96
  2. Michael and Frances Field, ''A Quintet of Cuisines'', Time-Life, 1970. {{ISBN. 0-8094-0075-8
  3. Paola Gavin. (2005). "Mediterranean Vegetarian Cooking". M. Evans.
  4. "Jerusalem". Ten Speed Press.
  5. "What does BRIK mean?".
  6. (2021-07-11). "Introducing brik, the Tunisian pastry you've probably eaten but never made".
  7. "Global Cuisine 2: Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia". National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation - Foundation of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts.
  8. (23 June 2017). "Tunisian brik with parsley and egg".

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tunisian-cuisineegg-dishesmediterranean-cuisineafrican-cuisinemaghrebi-cuisinemiddle-eastern-cuisinefried-doughalgerian-cuisinelibyan-cuisinedeep-fried-foods