Brik is a North African deep fried pastry particularly associated with Tunisia, related to the broader borek family of stuffed pastries under regional names including bric, boerek, burek, warqa and malsouka, and dating back at least five hundred years, though its precise origin is unclear. Its most popular form, brik a l'oeuf, encases a whole egg in a triangular pastry pocket with chopped onion, tuna, harissa and parsley, while other versions use ground meat, chicken or anchovy fillings. The thin malsouka pastry is formed by slapping dough onto a hot surface in overlapping circles, then folded around the filling into a triangle and fried for two to three minutes per side until crisp. Brik is sometimes served in pita bread and can be filled with raw egg and herbs or with tuna, harissa and olives.
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin Period, From (Year)Sourced to the subject's own accountWikipedia gives only a floor for brik: the dish dates back at least 500 years, with no fixed date, place or inventor named beyond that. 1500 marks that floor, not a precise invention year. Origin RegionSourced to the subject's own accountTunisia (North Africa); the wider borek/malsouka pastry family is also found across the Middle East and North Africa under regional names including bourek, boerek, burek, warqa and malsouka 1 Classification
Dietary SuitabilitySourced to the subject's own accountContains Fish or Shellfish 1 Connections
In Cuisine
Open Questions
Uses Ingredient
Sources
1. Brik (Wikipedia)
WikipediaRegional variants and preparation
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.
Regional variants and preparation, dating floor
Although the food's origins are hard to trace directly, it dates back at least 500 years in the past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brik (dietary-suitability)
The best-known version is the egg brik, a whole egg in a triangular pastry pocket with chopped onion, tuna, harissa and parsley.
View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
When and where did brik take shape beyond its at-least-500-year floor?
Wikipedia gives only a floor for brik, dating it back at least 500 years, and says its origins are otherwise hard to trace directly; no more specific date, place or inventor is given anywhere in the article.
What would resolve this A food-history source narrowing brik's origin beyond the 500-year floor, and identifying where among the wider borek/bourek/burek/malsouka family it specifically arose.
food historyBrik (Wikipedia)
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