Tonight's blog is a marriage of different countries who
all share in a few ingredients, ground lamb, parsley, mint, garlic, red pepper paste, chile paste, allspice and cumin,
grated onion, chopped onion..For a dinner this week I dipped into my memory bag for some inspiration and out came
Tunisia..a country in North Afrtica with a long Mediterranean coast, deserts and hot sun.  A trip to Tunisia a few years
ago opened my eyes to the souk, the bazaar where everything is sold, but the spice markets were particularly in-
toxicating.  The smell of grilled lamb, briks (a phyllo pastry baked or fried with tuna, meat, or chicken and whole
egg), exotic heady spices..all made me want to shop and cook as we toured the souks of Tunis and of Sidi Bou
Said.  Again, opening the refrigerator was a revelation...there was ground lamb, ground pork, fresh mint and parsley,
onion, and my own spice rack was calling me...all I could see and hear were those memories of Tunisia.  Deep
blue sky, gleaming whitewashed buildings, the sound of the cry to prayer from the Minarets...dates and sweets
tasty and enticing..this is what was racing through my head while thinking of what to cook.  The answer was not
in a Tunisian dish per se, but in a fusion of all those flavors and tastes I've been fortunate enough to enjoy which
come from that region.  The kofte, or meatball, is somewhat made in Tunisia, but it is more a Middle Eastern
dish.  Variations of this treat are endless in the Mediterranean, each house has it's own.  From Tunisia I did
borrow the harrisa sauce, a national treasure and source of pride for Tunisians, they use it like Americans use
ketchup, salsa and mustard or mayo..
First though, let me show you some scenes from Tunis and Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia.
  A Tunisian mother with her children at a Brik
shop purchasing items for breakfast.  Those briks are a thin pastry packet filled with tuna, or chicken, or lamb, and
many times an egg..when you bite into it, the yolk drips down your chin...for those of us who are yolk lovers, it's
heaven...to the rest of you, I apologize.
   Meandering through the souk we found these directional signs.






The entire walk through both Tunis and Sidi Bou Said was amazing..intoxicating too...the rug bazaar, the spice
and sweets bazaar, the souk with it's myriad of trinkets, necessities and foods...with all this in mind, and lots
of buzz about the Meatball Madness that was going to be held at this weeks' New York Food and Wine Festival,
I created a kofte dish, kotfe, kufta, whatever, it's a middle eastern or north African dish of chopped meats formed
with herbs and other ingredients, usually grilled, then eaten as they are, or in a pita.  It essentially is a different
cultures form of meatball...the universal orb of love.

Let start with the harissa...a simple way to go is to finely chop a sweet red pepper and 2 red chile peppers, mortar
and pestle works best here, but use the processor if that's what you have.  Once the peppers are a mash, grind in
one clove of garlic, some salt, and a few teaspoons of good fruity olive oil.  Blend well...there you have it.  Now I also
had in the fridge some greek yoghurt..add 2 tbs. of that to the harissa and you have a creamy bold flavored sauce
for your kofte.  Set this aside.  It tastes the best if made hours ahead of time.


Chop up a good handful of fresh mint and parsley, and grate  (GRATE NOT CHOP, why?  because when I learned how to
make Armenian food, they said grate, not chop..learning the dishes of the wonderful Paula Wolfert, the kofte dishes say
grate not chop, so. grate) 1 medium onion.  Mix these well. Add a sprinkle of salt.  Then add 1 lb. of ground lamb, or 1/2
lamb and 1/2 pork (which is what I did), add 1 tsp. of ground allspice, 1 tsp. of ground cumin.  Blend well.


Let this sit for about 1/2 hour.  Then form into football shaped balls, patties, whatever you'd like to call them. Well grease
a grill.  When the grill is very hot, place the kofte on.  Cook for about 8 minutes per side.  These should be cooked all
the way through, so test one before you turn the grill off. 
   It has the exotic spicy smell of the street vendors in NYC, the
good smell...a wonderful blend of aromatics and onion with the meat.  Awesome.
Now serve these kofte on a pita with the sauce and some extra fresh parsley and mint, chopped raw onion.





Or you can serve them on a platter...great party food or family style served food at a dinner party...Go, create, circle the
globe from the kitchen you cook in.  The world is a big place....try something new, different, of course, always within
your tastes and comfort zone and you will no longer be saying.."what am I going to cook tonight??".