Tershi, or cershi if you prefer, is a typical, ancient Jewish recipe from Tripoli, Libya. 
When dining at my house, my friend Manuel eats bowlfuls of this special spread, which he has nicknamed “garlic jam”.

Tershi, in fact, is a spicy and very tasty dip, served as an appetizer, made with different vegetables and and a lot of garlic. It is not ideal for a romantic first date, but believe me …those who taste it can no longer do without it! Today I will teach you the pumpkin tershi, but the same recipe works with zucchini and aubergines too.

Pumpkin tershi

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Antipasto

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Servings 1 big bowl

Ingredients

  

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• 1/2 kg pulp of pumpkin the Halloween kind
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Instructions

 

• Put the pumpkin pulp cut into pieces and the oil in a non-stick pan, and allow the pumpkin to cook with the lid on, until it becomes so soft that it can be crushed with a fork.
• Add the chili pepper and garlic to the pan and sauté the seasoned pumpkin again for about ten minutes. Once this is done, add the salt and vinegar, and cook the pumpkin for a quarter of an hour, until a thick, compact, non-liquid consistency is obtained.
• Finally, add the caraway to the pan with the pumpkin puree, stirring well.
• Turn off the heat, transfer the pumpkin tershi into a bowl and allow it to cool.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Tershi is an appetizer, you can eat it alone or with bread, but any way you decide to eat it … it will be gone in the blink of an eye.

Of course you can try to make a preserve by pouring it into sterilized jars, and cooking the latter, once filled, for a few minutes in boiling water … But why even bother telling you? It will be gone long before you’ve had the time to buy the jars :)

P.S. In case you were wondering, the word is pronounced tch-œr-shi, with emphasis on the first vowel; there are those who write it with an initial “c” or with a “t”, but there is almost no difference. Let’s say that the version with the t appears to be the “aristocratic” pronunciation of the word, while the other is more peasant one.