Bssisa (Arabic: بسيسة, Berber aḍemmin, Hebrew: בסיס) is a typical Tunisian and Libyan food, based on flour of roasted barley, which dates back to Carthaginian times.[1][2] This kind of food is known throughout Tunisia.[3] Its history goes back a long way, and travellers and nomads used to take bssisa with them on their journeys since it was both full of nutritional value and easy to carry in its ground powder form.
Ingredients
Bsisa is a variety of mixtures of roasted cereals ground with various spices and sugar. The herbs and spices that are added to the mixture can vary,[4] and the mixtures can also be used as a liquid when added to milk or water, creating a strongly floured drink called rowina.
Customs
It is eaten by Tunisian and Libyan Muslims[5] and Jews on various occasions.
Jews consume it especially on the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan as this is the day the Mishkan (tabernacle) was erected (in this case, the food is named bsiset el-marquma or simply bsisa).[6] The food is powder that consists of wheat and barley, which represents the mortar used to build the Mishkan. Additionally, the mother of the household puts her gold ring into the bsisa, recalling the gold that was also used in the building of the Mishkan. Before eating the bsisa, the father of the household blesses in Arabic while he mixes the bsisa with oil using the key to his house, recalling the oil used in the Mishkan. [7] This symbolizes the "opening" of the 'new year' The father and family recite in turn:
Ya fetach,
Bla Neftach,
Arzekna warzek menna
Ya atai,
Bla mena!
Notes
- ^ Cp. Vermondo Brugnatelli, "Elementi per uno studio dell'alimentazione nelle regioni berbere", in: D. Silvestri, A. Marra, I. Pinto (a c. di), Saperi e sapori mediterranei. La cultura dell'alimentazione e i suoi riflessi linguistici (Napoli, 13-16 ottobre 1999), Napoli, 2002, vol. III, pp. 1067–1089.
- ^ Rula Attia, "Tunisian Bsisa", "Tunisian Bsisa". Archived from the original on 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2014-02-06.]
- ^ ""البسيسة" غذاء الرعاة الأفارقة وحلوى بداية النهار" ["Bsisa" is the food of African shepherds and the dessert of the beginning of the day.]. The New Arab (in Arabic). 7 May 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ "Food Heroes detail | World Food Day | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations". WorldFoodDay. Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ "La "bsissa" : Un mets rassasiant aux multiples vertus". 19 February 2019.
- ^ Cp. Mordekhai Cohen, Gli ebrei in Libia. Usi e costumi, translated and annotated by Martino Mario Moreno, Firenze, Giuntina, 1994, p. 81-82. ISBN 978-88-85943-95-7
- ^ "Bsisa". Archived from the original on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
See also
- Tsampa, a similar Tibetan staple
- Arab cuisine
- Cuisine of Tunisia
- Cuisine of Libya
- Cuisine of the Sephardic Jews
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