Ines Zahraoui

Ines Zahraoui is a Tunisian home cook and the co-founder of The Mediterranean Recipe, which she runs with her friend Rachel Mazza in the United States. She was born and raised in Mahdia, a coastal town in Tunisia, where everyday cooking was built on olive oil, seafood, semolina and whatever the market had that morning. She later lived in France, where she studied literature and picked up the French side of her cooking, and her kitchen took on a Moroccan accent after marrying her husband, Abdel Ali, whose family taught her the spice work — ras el hanout, preserved lemon, slow-cooked tagines — that runs through much of the site.She has been cooking and developing recipes since 2020. She is not a professionally trained chef: she teaches French for a living and cooks for her family, which is why the recipes here are written for home kitchens and ordinary home equipment rather than restaurant ones.Ines writes and tests the recipes published under her byline in her own kitchen in Tunisia. Nutrition figures on the site are calculated with the WP Recipe Maker nutrition calculator and are estimates rather than lab-verified values.

October 10, 2026April 22, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Freekeh Pilaf with Caramelized Onions & Almonds in a ceramic bowl garnished with fresh mint

Here’s what’s kinda wild about this smoky freekeh recipe: it’s humble enough to eat out of a bowl on a Tuesday with a spoon (guilty), but it plates up like a restaurant side for Shabbat dinner, Eid, Easter, or whatever gathering you’ve got on the calendar

August 13, 2026April 22, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Orange & Olive Oil Muffins with Black Sesame on a rustic wood board with sesame tops

Here’s what makes Orange & Olive Oil Muffins with Black Sesame actually exceptional — and what separates a great orange zest olive oil bake from a dry one: the sugar-zest rub. When you massage orange zest into sugar with your fingertips, you break the tiny oil sacs in the zest and coat every sugar crystal in citrus essence

October 10, 2026April 22, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Moroccan Bastilla-Inspired Chicken Phyllo Pie with powdered sugar and cinnamon crosshatch

The magic of a Moroccan Bastilla-Inspired Chicken Phyllo Pie is all about contrast — and there’s real chemistry behind why this sweet savory Moroccan pie works. The cinnamon-dusted sugar on top triggers sweet receptors first; the saffron-chicken filling hits a millisecond later. Food writer Harold McGee calls this “flavor tension.” The custardy egg bind in the filling (which must be COMPLETELY cool before wrapping) keeps the phyllo from going soggy — same principle as quiche, just wrapped in paper-thin pastry instead of poured in.

October 10, 2026April 21, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Cold brew Turkish coffee tiramisu topped with cocoa, chocolate shavings, and pistachios on a plate.

This no-bake tiramisu soaks the ladyfingers in cold-brew Turkish coffee for deep flavor without sharp bitterness. Cold brew is less acidic than espresso, which helps keep the mascarpone filling smooth. The Story Behind This Recipe Chill the dessert ahead and serve nine portions straight from the refrigerator. Why This Cold Brew Turkish Coffee Tiramisu Recipe … Read more

October 10, 2026April 21, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Blood Orange & Rosemary Polenta Cake with caramelized orange slices and rosemary on a ceramic stand

A Blood Orange & Rosemary Polenta Cake pulls from a few Italian traditions at once — particularly amor polenta from Varese near Milan, and the olive oil cakes of Liguria. It’s equally at home at a dinner party with espresso or on a Tuesday afternoon with a cup of tea

October 10, 2026April 15, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Ful medames mashed fava beans topped with olive oil, tomato, parsley, onion and cumin

I’m going to be honest with you — the first time I made ful medames, it was a disaster. Like, genuinely inedible. It was March of 2019 and my friend Hana (who grew up in Cairo) had been raving about this Egyptian fava bean stew for months. So naturally, I thought, how hard can stewed … Read more

October 10, 2026April 15, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Turkish eggs (Çılbır) with poached eggs over garlicky yogurt and sizzling red chili butter, served with crusty bread

I can still hear the clatter of copper pots and the hiss of butter hitting a hot pan — that sound my yiayia made every Sunday morning in her kitchen above the harbor in Chania. The smell of warm spices would drift through the open windows and mix with the salt air from the Cretan … Read more

October 10, 2026April 2, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

3998 mediterranean roasted vegetable galette

October 2023, and I’m standing in my kitchen at 4:47 PM — I remember the exact time because my smoke alarm went off and my phone logged it (thanks, smart home) — staring at what was supposed to be an impressive Mediterranean roasted vegetable galette for my book club. The crust had cracked into what … Read more

October 10, 2026April 2, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Semolina cake basbousa cut into diamonds with almonds on top and golden syrup soak

The thing that makes semolina cake (basbousa/revani) unlike any other baked dessert is the granule structure of semolina itself. Coarse durum wheat semolina — um, as opposed to fine semolina, which is a different animal entirely — has a starch matrix that gelatinizes during baking but remains slightly open at a microscopic level.

October 10, 2026April 1, 2026 by Ines Zahraoui

Creamy Tuscan shrimp pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, parmesan and basil

October 2023. Date night. I’m going for “effortlessly impressive” with a creamy Tuscan shrimp pasta and instead I produce a pan of rubbery shrimp swimming in a sauce that’s somehow both grainy and thin. My wife Jess — who has the patience of a saint but the poker face of a terrible gambler — takes … Read more