Friday Night Tfina
A slow stew of beef, chickpeas, wheat berries, and potatoes, with eggs cooked for hours in the pot (hamine eggs, which become creamy and brown). A deep, melting dish, perfumed with cumin and turmeric.
A slow stew of beef, chickpeas, wheat berries, and potatoes, with eggs cooked for hours in the pot (hamine eggs, which become creamy and brown). A deep, melting dish, perfumed with cumin and turmeric.
On Friday, my mother would seal the pot and slide it into the neighborhood oven before nightfall — because on Saturday, you see, you don't touch the fire anymore. All night the tfina worked in silence, and on Saturday at noon what a scent when we lifted the lid! The eggs had turned golden inside, the meat fell off the bone. We ate slowly, all together, and even later, in the black hunger of the camp, it was that smell I dreamed of.
- •Beef (shank, short ribs) — a nice piece (heart of the dish)
- •Dried chickpeas — two good handfuls (roundness, protein)
- •Soft wheat berries — a handful (soft starch)
- •Potatoes — a few whole ones (sweetness)
- •Whole eggs in shell — one per person (hamine eggs)
- •Cumin and turmeric — to taste (flavor and color)
- •Garlic, salt, olive oil — to taste (aromatic base)
Friday Night Tfina
A slow stew of beef, chickpeas, wheat berries, and potatoes, with eggs cooked for hours in the pot (hamine eggs, which become creamy and brown). A deep, melting dish, perfumed with cumin and turmeric.
Why this dish? Alfred Nakache grew up in a large Jewish family in Constantine. Tfina (the Maghrebi dafina) is the king dish of Shabbat: prepared on Friday before sundown, it cooks all night on the lowest heat to be eaten on Saturday afternoon, without relighting the forbidden fire. It is the heart of the family meal that saw him grow up.
On Friday, my mother would seal the pot and slide it into the neighborhood oven before nightfall — because on Saturday, you see, you don't touch the fire anymore. All night the tfina worked in silence, and on Saturday at noon what a scent when we lifted the lid! The eggs had turned golden inside, the meat fell off the bone. We ate slowly, all together, and even later, in the black hunger of the camp, it was that smell I dreamed of.
Ingredients (period version)
- Beef (shank, short ribs) — a nice piece (heart of the dish)
- Dried chickpeas — two good handfuls (roundness, protein)
- Soft wheat berries — a handful (soft starch)
- Potatoes — a few whole ones (sweetness)
- Whole eggs in shell — one per person (hamine eggs)
- Cumin and turmeric — to taste (flavor and color)
- Garlic, salt, olive oil — to taste (aromatic base)
Ingredients
- Beef for braising (shank or chuck) — 800 g (heart of the dish)
- Dried chickpeas — 200 g (soaked overnight) (roundness, protein)
- Wheat berries (or pearl barley) — 100 g (soft starch)
- Medium potatoes — 4, whole and peeled (sweetness)
- Whole eggs — 4 to 6, washed, in shell (hamine eggs)
- Ground cumin — 2 tsp (signature flavor)
- Turmeric — 1 tsp (golden color)
- Garlic — 4 cloves (aromatic base)
- Olive oil, salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- The night before, soak chickpeas and wheat. Brown the meat in olive oil at the bottom of a heavy pot.
- Add chickpeas, wheat, garlic, cumin, and turmeric. Arrange the potatoes and whole eggs (washed, in shell) among the ingredients.
- Cover generously with hot water, season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer.
- Cook on the lowest possible heat (or in the oven at 110°C) for 6 to 8 hours, without stirring, adding hot water if needed.
- To serve, shell the hamine eggs, which have turned golden and creamy; divide meat, vegetables, and rich broth among plates.
How it was made : Since cooking is forbidden on the day of Shabbat, Jewish families of the Maghreb would take their sealed tfina to the baker or the communal neighborhood oven on Friday afternoon. The dish cooked in the residual heat all night, and each family retrieved their pot on Saturday morning after synagogue. The hamine eggs, cooked for hours, are its unmistakable signature.
The contemporary twist : Serve the tfina in individual cocottes, the hamine egg cut in half to show its amber yolk, a few burst wheat berries on the surface like golden pearls.
Alfred Nakache · Charactorium
