Although I have met people who know people who have worked in Algeria, I don't know anyone who has been there on holiday or part of a holiday. So it was a big big attraction when it came up on the agenda of the Saga Ruby cruise. A possibly once in a lifetime experience for me and I even changed my passport to make sure prior visas did not cause any problem. There had been some political trouble in the previous year, but nothing to see when we arrived. In the event, the port officials were whisked off to a private reception on the boat out of the way of the passengers, and we we told that it was typical to bribe them with cigarettes and whisky in exchange for a grief-free stop over. We will never know the truth, but suffice it to say that a good time in Algiers and Tipasa was the outcome, and there are no signs on my new passport that I ever went there.
Tipasa is a world class Roman Ruin, and as part of the outing for the day we were taken for lunch at what appears to be the only local restaurant. I think the food was of local quality for local people, because during the day, which was a Friday, small groups of smarter looking locals came and eat.
There was a set menu which started with Borek which is a stuffed deep fried pastry, which the lesser traveled among us called spring roll For some reason it arrived at about the same time as flatbread.
This was actually quite hot scoring a 9, and was delicious, truly tasting of the middle east, although we were in north Africa.
The next dish turned out to be a bit challenging for others, and in fact some progressed no further than the spring rolls:
This was a lamb soup with chunks of fairly fatty lamb, grains, which may have been couscous and spices. This again was pretty hot and was quite hard work to get the fat off. Nevertheless it was truly unlike soups I have had before,
The next stage was a bit disappointing being a variety of brochettes, but the sausage was quite spicy. This was cold by the time it came to us, scoring not more than a 5 on the CHOF scale. By this time, the local Feral cats had arrive, and knowing no better, the animal loving British did not shoo them away and might even have fed them. Bad idea, as there is rabies in Algeria.
Desert was some unidentified local fruit, which I am still unsure of. We were told it was the national fruit of Algeria, but no one else in the country seems to think so.
If anyone know what this is, let me know. It tasted somewhere between a pear and an apricot. Coffee never came, and they had clearly lost interest in us. I have no idea how much was charged for this interesting lunch.
Tourism in Algeria clearly has a little way to go, but I think this may be the next big thing as it it relatively unspoiled and has lots of historic sites that can be seen at close quarters.
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