flipLablabi, Chickpea Soup of the Early Morning
Lablabi, Chickpea Soup of the Early Morning
Why this dish? Lablabi is THE popular breakfast of the streets of Tunis, served in working-class eateries frequented by the people Bourguiba claimed to represent. Boiling hot, cheap, and hearty, it is the Tunisian street dish par excellence.
A chickpea broth perfumed with garlic, cumin, and harissa, poured over pieces of stale bread, crowned with an egg, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. You eat it scalding hot, standing or seated in the noise of the medina.
Go to the medina at dawn, where the worker gathers strength before labor: that is where lablabi is served, and that is where you understand Tunisia. You tear yesterday's bread into the bottom of the bowl — nothing is wasted, remember that well — you pour the boiling broth, the egg, the cumin, and a squeeze of lemon that wakes everything up. I have eaten bowls of it, as a young militant, between speeches. The full belly of a free man is worth all the sermons.
- •Dried chickpeas, soaked — a good amount (soup base)
- •Pounded garlic — abundant (raw aromatic)
- •Ground cumin — generous (signature spice of lablabi)
- •Harissa — to taste (fire)
- •Stale bread — as much as you like (base of the bowl)
- •Egg — one per bowl (protein garnish)
- •Olive oil and lemon — drizzle + juice (acidic and fatty finish)
Lablabi, Chickpea Soup of the Early Morning
A chickpea broth perfumed with garlic, cumin, and harissa, poured over pieces of stale bread, crowned with an egg, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. You eat it scalding hot, standing or seated in the noise of the medina.
Why this dish? Lablabi is THE popular breakfast of the streets of Tunis, served in working-class eateries frequented by the people Bourguiba claimed to represent. Boiling hot, cheap, and hearty, it is the Tunisian street dish par excellence.
Go to the medina at dawn, where the worker gathers strength before labor: that is where lablabi is served, and that is where you understand Tunisia. You tear yesterday's bread into the bottom of the bowl — nothing is wasted, remember that well — you pour the boiling broth, the egg, the cumin, and a squeeze of lemon that wakes everything up. I have eaten bowls of it, as a young militant, between speeches. The full belly of a free man is worth all the sermons.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dried chickpeas, soaked — a good amount (soup base)
- Pounded garlic — abundant (raw aromatic)
- Ground cumin — generous (signature spice of lablabi)
- Harissa — to taste (fire)
- Stale bread — as much as you like (base of the bowl)
- Egg — one per bowl (protein garnish)
- Olive oil and lemon — drizzle + juice (acidic and fatty finish)
Ingredients
- Cooked chickpeas (with their liquid) — 2 cans (base)
- Garlic — 3 cloves, pounded (aromatic)
- Ground cumin — 2 tsp (key spice)
- Harissa — 1 tsp (heat)
- Stale bread or baguette — 4 slices (base)
- Eggs — 4 (poached or soft-boiled) (garnish)
- Olive oil + 1 lemon — 4 tbsp + juice (finish)
- Capers / olives / tuna (optional) — to taste (street food toppings)
Method
- Reheat the chickpeas in their liquid with a little broth, garlic, cumin, and salt until simmering.
- Prepare a paste of pounded garlic, cumin, and harissa diluted with a little hot broth.
- Tear the stale bread into the bottom of each bowl.
- Pour the broth and chickpeas over the bread; add the garlic-cumin-harissa paste.
- Top with a poached egg, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice; garnish with olives or capers. Serve boiling hot.
How it was made : Street eateries served lablabi from dawn to workers and travelers; each person composed their bowl at the counter, dosing harissa, oil, and lemon themselves — an instant assembly cuisine, never fixed.
The contemporary twist : Presented in a deep bowl with a halved soft-boiled egg that lets its yolk run, and a pinch of toasted cumin just before serving.
Habib Bourguiba · Charactorium
