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I tried North Africa's indigenous food

Spiced semolina dumplings in a fragrant broth

Author

Julius Fiedler
July 25, 2025

North African Tikourbabine

The indigenous people of North Africa, known as the Amazigh, are credited with culinary innovations like couscous, which are essentially small, steamed granules made from durum wheat. The same wheat is used for another traditional Amazigh staple that is lesser known around the world: Tikourbabine. It’s a stew of large semolina dumplings that have beautifully soaked up the flavours of the spiced vegetable and chickpea broth in which they are cooked. Making the dumplings is surprisingly simple and somewhat reminiscent of Sarımsaklı Köfte, the Turkish bulgur balls I made a while ago.

Best of all, it’s just as good hot as it is straight from the fridge. A small miracle on days when your living room feels like a preheated oven.

Test Kitchen

What’s Cooking?

Fridge-cold boza with roasted chickpeas and a dusting of cinnamon

Every now and then, things just fall into place in my test kitchen. Like last week, when my first batch of Turkish boza had finished chilling right as the latest UK heatwave rolled in.

Boza is something I discovered during my trip to Türkiye. It’s part drink, part dessert, with a generous topping of dry-roasted chickpeas and a dusting of cinnamon. Incredibly delicious and after a first failed test, I’ve finally cracked the code to this fermented drink. Coming soon.

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Thanks so much for reading. See you next week for more kitchen news. Have a good one!

Much love,
Julius