Brik

Brik is a thin sheet of pastry folded around egg and tuna, then deep-fried until the outside is crisp and the yolk inside stays runny. It's a Tunisian classic judged almost entirely on that one detail — a brik with a hard yolk is considered a failure, not a variation.

What it actually is

A sheet of malsouka, a pastry so thin it's closer to filo than to regular dough, is folded around a filling of tuna, capers, parsley and a whole raw egg cracked directly into the centre. It's folded into a half-moon or triangle fast enough that the egg doesn't set, then lowered into hot oil and deep-fried for under a minute a side — just long enough to crisp the pastry while the yolk inside stays liquid.

Timing is everything: too long in the oil and the egg cooks solid, which is exactly the failure the dish is built to avoid.

How it's served

• Immediately, hot from the fryer, eaten by hand or with a fork, folded in paper for a street version.
• With a wedge of lemon, squeezed over just before the first bite.
• As a starter, often the opening dish of a Tunisian meal.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg and fish; all three are structural to the dish, not optional additions.
• Warn that the yolk runs; a guest unfamiliar with brik may not expect a liquid centre when they cut in.
• Say if you offer a meat or cheese filling instead of tuna; both exist and change the allergen picture.
• Note it's finished to order; a brik cannot be held without the egg overcooking or the pastry going soft.