Next up was Algeria! It is a large country (10th largest in the world) that has green areas along the Mediterranean Sea and other parts in the middle of the Sahara Desert. It has been influenced by so many different civilizations, from the Romans to the Ottoman Empire to French colonial rule. The main spoken language is Algerian Arabic.
Video List
- Geography Now! Algeria
- Geography More! Algeria
- A Super Quick History of Algeria - These brief history videos are super informative, quick, and surprisingly comprehensive. (As a heads-up, there are a few pieces of art featured that show nude female slaves.)
I spent a lot of time trying to find a restaurant that would be able to give us a taste of something close to Algerian cuisine. I thought we might be able to try the harira or tajine at a local Moroccan place, but the reviews were spotty, so we decided to sit this one out. Amazon turned up nothing food-wise from Algeria (although there are a number of cookbooks). Instead I have a few links below to some food lists, and if you have any recipes, dishes, or restaurants in the San Antonio area to recommend, I'd love to know!
Food Info
- Top 10 Algerian Traditional Foods - This video can be watched at 1.5 speed just fine, as there is no talking. There are good pictures, but no information about what is in each dish or how to pronounce it, so this is more a starting list of dishes to look up.
- Traditional Foods of Algeria - This video has good background information and shows various Algerian dishes actually being made. However, the narrator sounds like it is a digital text reader narrating, so I am not certain that the pronunciations of the dishes are correct.
- Algerian Food: 14 Traditional and Popular Dishes to Try - This article has great descriptions of the dishes, their ingredients, and when/where they are eaten.
- 12 Classic Foods in Algeria - This article is doesn't give as much history or context for each dish, but it does provide a detailed description of what it tastes like, which is especially nice when you can't try them yourself!
