Judeo-Arabic Flavors: Tunisian Jewish Recipes from the Early Twentieth Century

This Judeo-Arabic cookbook, published in Tunisia at the turn of the twentieth century, offers a rare glimpse into North African Jewish cuisine. Its brief recipes—such as “Squash with Coriander” or “Tongue and Brains” simply fried in flour and eggs—reflect a blend of Tunisian, Levantine, French, and Mediterranean influences. Featuring dishes like shakshuka and tajin with meat and potatoes, it reveals the fusion of Old World traditions with New World ingredients, while an advertisement on the flyleaf hints at its dual role as both culinary and commercial artifact.

It is clear that the author, whose initials are F.I., was a member of the Jewish community of Tunis and was probably involved in the tight-knit world of local Judeo-Arabic publishing there. A possible candidate is Eli‘ezer (Lazzero) Farḥi (1851–1930), a noted Livornese Tunisian writer and journalist who published widely in Judeo-Arabic, under both his own name and various pseudonyms. The publisher of the cookbook, Jacob Guedj, trained as a printer in Algiers and then opened his own press, producing works of Hebrew liturgy and popular Judeo-Arabic literature. In 1895, Guedj moved back to Tunis and reopened his press there, continuing to print until the mid-twentieth century.