Chorba Frik

Chorba frik is cracked green wheat simmered into a thick lamb soup with tomato and mint. It is the soup that opens the fast at Ramadan across Tunisian households, appearing on the table right at the moment the sun goes down more consistently than almost any other dish.

What it really is

Freekeh — young green wheat, harvested early and roasted before being cracked — simmers slowly in a lamb-and-tomato broth, releasing starch as it cooks that thickens the soup into something substantial rather than thin and clear. Lamb pieces braise in the same pot until tender, and fresh mint stirred in near the end cuts through the richness with a note the freekeh's toasted, slightly smoky flavour doesn't have on its own.

Freekeh's toasted flavour is what separates this from any other wheat soup. The grain is roasted while still green before cracking, which is exactly what gives chorba frik its distinct, faintly smoky depth that a plain cracked wheat could never replicate.

How it is served

• Hot, in a bowl, often the very first thing eaten at iftar during Ramadan.
• With bread and a wedge of lemon.
• As a starter, though it's substantial enough to function as a light meal.

How to write it on the menu

• Say if the soup is genuinely made with freekeh, since some kitchens substitute plain bulgur or cracked wheat.
• Note if it's typically served during Ramadan, since that seasonal association is a genuine, meaningful part of the dish's identity.
• List whether lamb or another meat is used, since beef versions also exist.