Tershi, a Libyan pumpkin dip

Thanks to another food blog I enjoy reading, Jasmine and Manuel's Labna (they mainly write in Italian but some of their posts are in English too), I discovered a great new African recipe. Hop onto a time machine with me and let's travel to the Libya of many centuries ago to discover a delicious dip made by the Jewish community of Tripoli.

It is called tershi or cershi and it is perfect to make this time of year, its main ingredient being pumpkin.

It is sweet, sour, spicy and aromatic. It is not for vampires or first dates as you should not go lightly on the garlic. I made it as an appetizer to eat with thick, crusty pieces of bread but I am sure there are a million other ways to eat it (couscous, meat, cheese, soups are just some of the things I would like to try with this new found love).

Hurry up and try it, you may discover a great new dish to surprise and impress your guests with at Halloween and Thanksgiving! And last but not least, if you have an overload of pumpkin in the house these days, Jasmine informs us that you can preserve it for later use.

Ingredients

500gr pumpkin flesh

2 cloves garlic, pressed

a pinch of salt

2 tbsp vinegar

1/2 tsp caraway seed powder

1/2 tsp crushed chili pepper

4 tbsp olive oil

This recipe should be made with orange pumpkin but I couldn't find any at my farmer's market so I used another variety. Cut the skin off, deseed and cut into small chunks. To cook, place in a pan with a little olive oil, cover and let simmer, turning every once in a while. You can use canned pumpkin and skip this step of course, but here it can only be bought in a few specialty stores and it is extremely overpriced. Once the pumpkin has softened, mash it with a fork until it has a smooth texture. In another pan, sauté the pressed garlic and crushed chili pepper in a little olive oil and then mix into the pumpkin and keep simmering over low heat. In the meantime, crush the caraway seeds with a mortar and pestle. After about 10 minutes, add the vinegar and salt into the pan and let cook for another 10-15 minutes. Just before taking the pan off the heat, add in the caraway powder and mix well. The texture should be dense, soft and creamy, not liquid. Let cool and serve with crunchy bread.



With this recipe I am participating in Tobias' 16th Mediterranean Cooking Event. Be sure to check it out!