Reviving a Tunisian oasis threatened by drought through its kitchen

Reviving "Nefta" and drawing attention to it through the publication of the book "The Oasis Kitchen".

AFP

Farmer Mohamed says that “everything grows” in the “Nefta” oasis in southern Tunisia, and he, like many lovers of the place, wants to revive this oasis with the traditions of its cuisine and innovative projects that restore its radiance.

"The oasis used to have 152 sources of water that provided 700 liters per second," said Buqa, who is 63 years old and spent 40 of them in Nefta.

However, an excessive use of water occurred with the aim of creating other oases and irrigating palm trees that produce “Deglet El Nour” dates, which led, according to Ahmed, to “drain water springs 20 years ago in Nefta,” 500 kilometers from the capital, Tunis.

Tunisian-French Patrick Ali El Warghi, who established an environmentally friendly guest house in Nefta called “Dar Lahi” in 2011, considers that the oasis represents “a sustainable farming system that is ahead of its time, which is based on three levels of agriculture.”

Patrick and his friends also sought to revive Nefta and draw attention to it by releasing the book “The Oasis Kitchen,” as “there is nothing in the oasis, but nothing is lacking.”

Patrick reveals that this "traditional cuisine" is considered "very simple and dates back to the first nomads" when Nefta was a "transit area for caravans" that came "from Africa and brought with them unknown spices, and here it remained a tradition."

Najah Amer, head of the kitchen at Dar Lahi, explains that “What distinguishes Nefta is that the preparation of spices is done at home.

They are very different from those bought from the market, in terms of cleaning leaves, smells and flavours.

You know very well how it was set up.”

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