Bsisa (Arabic: بسيسة, Berber aḍemmin, Hebrew: בסיס), also known as bsissa, is a fine powder made from roasted barley and legumes, typical in Tunisian cuisine, prepared and served either as a paste or drink. It dates back to Pharos times.
Bsisa (Arabic: بسيسة, Berber aḍemmin, Hebrew: בסיס), also known as bsissa, is a fine powder made from roasted barley and legumes, typical in Tunisian cuisine, prepared and served either as a paste or drink.
01 · What it is
Food
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02 · Where & name
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03 · How it is doing
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04 · Proof & reuse
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Chapter Takeaways
IngredientsBsisa is a variety of mixtures of roasted cereals ground with various spices and sugar.
Regional varietiesIn Palestinian cuisine, bsisa is made with carob juice, olive oil, wheat flour, and nuts.
CustomsIt is eaten by Tunisian and Libyan Muslims and Jews on various occasions.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Bssisa in plain words?
Bsisa (Arabic: بسيسة, Berber aḍemmin, Hebrew: בסיס), also known as bsissa, is a fine powder made from roasted barley and legumes, typical in Tunisian cuisine, prepared and served either as a paste or drink.
Where is Bssisa practised or documented?
No verified geographic place has been linked on record yet — editors can add a cited place from the edit page.
What is the current condition of Bssisa today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Bssisa entry?
Cite as: "Bssisa." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/bssisa, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
Bsisa (Arabic: بسيسة, Berber aḍemmin, Hebrew: בסיס), also known as bsissa, is a fine powder made from roasted barley and legumes, typical in Tunisian cuisine, prepared and served either as a paste or drink. It dates back to Pharos times. Bsisa is also known and consumed throughout North Africa. Its history goes back a long way, and travellers and nomads used to take bsisa with them on their journeys since it was both full of nutritional value and easy to carry in its ground powder form. 1
Ingredients
Bsisa is a variety of mixtures of roasted cereals ground with various spices and sugar. The herbs and spices that are added to the mixture can vary, and the mixtures can also be used as a liquid when added to milk or water, creating a strongly floured drink called rowina. 1
Regional varieties
In Palestinian cuisine, bsisa is made with carob juice, olive oil, wheat flour, and nuts. 1
Customs
It is eaten by Tunisian and Libyan Muslims and Jews on various occasions.
Jews consume it especially on the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan as this is the day the Mishkan (tabernacle) was erected (in this case, the food is named bsiset el-marquma or simply bsisa). The food is a powder that consists of wheat and barley, which represents the mortar used to build the Mishkan. Additionally, the mother of the household puts her gold ring into the bsisa, recalling the gold that was also used in the building of the Mishkan. Before eating the bsisa, the father of the household blesses in Arabic while he mixes the bsisa with oil using the key to his house, recalling the oil used in the Mishkan. This symbolizes the "opening" of the 'new year' The father and family recite in turn:
Ya fetach,
Bla Neftach,
Arzekna warzek menna
Ya atai,
Bla mena! 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bsisa”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Bssisa is dish from Tunisia, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 2
