Briouates aux Fruits de Mer

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30cm wide sauté pan
• •Heavy 3-liter saucepan or deep frying pan
• •Spider or slotted spoon
• •Clean damp towel for covering warqa
• •Wire rack set over a tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry the seafood

   Pat the shrimp and calamari very dry. Cut large shrimp into two or three pieces and slice the calamari into small ribbons or bite-size pieces. Keep them cold while you prepare the noodles; seafood that starts dry and cold cooks cleanly instead of flooding the pan.

2. 2

   Soak the vermicelli

   Cover the glass vermicelli with just-boiled water and let it soften for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain it well, rinse briefly, then cut it into short lengths with scissors. Squeeze out what water you can. Long wet strands pull the filling out of the triangle, and we need the filling to stay gathered.

3. 3

   Mix the chermoula

   In a bowl, stir together the garlic, coriander, parsley, preserved lemon peel, preserved lemon brine, paprika, cumin, ginger, black pepper, cayenne or harissa if using, a little salt, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. This is coastal chermoula, bright with herbs and preserved lemon. Taste it. La balance est dans les yeux (the scale is in the eyes), but the mouth must agree.

4. 4

   Cook the seafood

   Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Add half the chermoula and stir for 20 seconds, just until the garlic wakes up. Add the calamari first for 1 minute, then the shrimp, stirring until the shrimp turn coral and the calamari is opaque, about 2 minutes more. Lift the seafood into a bowl and leave the juices in the pan.

   Stop before the seafood feels firm. It will meet the hot oil later, and overcooked shrimp has no kindness in it.
5. 5

   Dry the filling

   Add the drained vermicelli and the remaining chermoula to the pan juices. Toss over medium heat until the noodles absorb the liquid and the pan looks almost dry. Fold the seafood back in, taste for salt, then spread the filling on a tray to cool completely. This is the rule that decides the dish: the filling must be cool and almost dry before it touches warqa. Wet filling softens the leaf and bursts in hot oil; dry filling lets the pastry crisp.

6. 6

   Fold the triangles

   Lay one strip of warqa on the counter and keep the rest covered under a clean damp towel. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling near the bottom, fold one corner over it to make a triangle, then keep folding triangle over triangle like a flag. Do not overfill. Seal the last flap with a little flour paste and set the briouat seam-side down. Keep the folded pieces covered while you finish the rest.

   If you are using filo, use two thin strips where the sheets feel fragile. Filo dries quickly, so cover it every time your hands leave it.
7. 7

   Fry until golden

   Heat the neutral oil in a deep pan to 175°C, or until a scrap of warqa sizzles at once without darkening too fast. Fry the briouates in small batches, seam-side down first, turning once, until deep gold and crisp at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain them on a rack set over a tray. Do not crowd the pan; crowded oil cools down, and cool oil makes pastry heavy.

8. 8

   Serve them warm

   Pile the briouates on a shared platter while they are still crisp, with a little chopped coriander and thin preserved lemon strips if you like. Put a small bowl of harissa nearby for the ones who want heat. These are eaten by hand, passed quickly, and replaced just as quickly. That is la cuisine du lien (the cooking of connection).

Chef Tips

• •Buy the seafood the day you cook, and trust your nose. If the shrimp smell sharp or the calamari feels sticky, cook another dish. No gesture rescues tired seafood.
• •Warqa is the true leaf here. If you use filo, keep it covered and work calmly; it dries while you turn your back.
• •Do not reach for ras el hanout here because the jar says Morocco. Avec le ras el hanout, on ne triche pas (with ras el hanout, you don't cheat), and you also don't put it where it doesn't belong. These triangles want chermoula, preserved lemon, cumin, paprika, and green herbs.
• •The filling must be dry and cold before folding. That one rule saves the warqa.
• •For a potluck, fry them shortly before leaving and re-crisp in a 180°C oven for 6 to 8 minutes. They travel better on a rack-lined tray than in a sealed box.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the filling up to 1 day ahead, cool it quickly, cover, and refrigerate. Fold the briouates the day you fry them.
• •Folded raw briouates can be frozen on a tray until solid, then bagged for up to 1 month. Fry from frozen over slightly gentler heat so the center warms before the pastry darkens.
• •Fried briouates can stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Re-crisp at 180°C for 6 to 8 minutes just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)