A Food and Drink Guide to Algeria: What to Eat and Drink

Algeria on a plate

Algerian cooking blends Berber, Arab, Ottoman and French influences, built on wheat, olive oil, lamb and bright spices. Meals are generous, social and often slow, especially around Friday lunch.

Signature dishes

• Couscous is the national dish, steamed semolina topped with lamb or chicken, chickpeas and vegetables in a light broth. Friday is couscous day in most homes.
• Chorba frik is a tomato-based soup with cracked green wheat (frik) and lamb, the staple starter that breaks the fast during Ramadan.
• Rechta features thin handmade noodles with chicken and a white turnip-and-chickpea sauce, a classic in Algiers.
• Chakhchoukha from the highlands tears flatbread into a spicy lamb and tomato stew.
• Mhajeb are stuffed semolina flatbreads filled with onion and tomato, sold everywhere for a few hundred dinars.

Street food and snacks

• Karantika (also garantita) is a baked chickpea-flour custard, an Algiers and Oran favorite served warm in bread with harissa and cumin.
• Brik is a crisp fried pastry with egg, tuna or potato.
• Mhadjeb and grilled merguez sausages fill the medinas at sunset.
• For dessert, try makroud (date-stuffed semolina), zlabia and kalb el louz, an almond-semolina cake soaked in syrup.

What to drink

• Mint tea and strong coffee are everywhere; coffee culture is a French legacy.
• Selecto and Hamoud Boualem, an iconic local soda since 1878, are nostalgic favorites.
• Fresh juices, jus de zaatar style herbal infusions and almond milk (sharbet el louz) are common.
• Algeria is mostly dry in practice; alcohol is sold but discreetly, so do not expect it in most restaurants.

Dining tips and etiquette

• Eat with your right hand when sharing communal dishes; bread doubles as a utensil.
• Accepting tea or coffee when offered is polite; refusing outright can seem cold.
• During Ramadan, avoid eating in public during daylight and plan around the evening iftar rush.
• Tipping around 10 percent is appreciated but not mandatory; cash in dinars is king, as cards are rarely accepted.
• Tap water is best avoided; stick to bottled water.

Stay connected in Algeria

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