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Mlawi
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Mlawi

Folded flatbread with tuna

Mlawi is the flaky griddle bread of Tunisian street corners: a semolina dough oiled, folded and flattened into a square, then cooked on a hot plate until blistered and layered like puff pastry. In the Medina of Tunis, around Bab Bhar and the lanes leading to the Zitouna Mosque, women roll and flip them all morning, and the classic order is a mlawi spread with fiery harissa and rolled around tuna, sliced egg and black olives, eaten hot for breakfast or a mid-morning snack. It contains wheat, fish and egg. Chef's tip: let the folded squares rest for 5 minutes before the final flattening, so they spread without springing back.

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