Chorba Frik

Chorba frik is the soup that opens the meal at sunset through Ramadan in most Algerian households: lamb cooked down with onion, tomato and chickpeas, seasoned with cinnamon and a heavy hand of fresh coriander and mint, and thickened with frik, green durum wheat harvested young, roasted over fire and cracked, which gives the soup a smoky, nutty body that ordinary grain does not. It is eaten with bread and often with bourek, filled pastry rolls, alongside. Outside Ramadan it appears through the winter and at family meals. The eastern regions make their own versions, and some households use vermicelli instead of frik, which is a different soup.

What you actually see

• Frik, roasted green wheat - the smoky grain that defines the soup.
• Lamb, tomato and chickpeas - the base cooked down beneath it.
• Coriander and mint in quantity - the herbs that finish it.
• The Ramadan table - the soup that opens the evening meal.

When to go

Ramadan, when it is made in every household, and through the winter otherwise. One hour. During Ramadan restaurants serve it only at sunset and they fill immediately.

Honest expectations

During Ramadan, daytime eating in public is not acceptable and most restaurants are shut until sunset. Restaurant versions vary widely in quality. The vermicelli version sold as chorba is not the same dish.

Nearby

Every region makes its own version, from the coast to the high plains.