Food – Tunisian Experience

One thing that almost every traveler to Tunisia wants to know is… Can I eat fresh salad without getting sick? Since moving to Tunisia in 2016, I have come down with extremely unpleasant stomach bugs 3 times (and hopefully never again). I also have good reason to believe that fresh vegetables I ate a few hours prior to getting sick were the cause. I did a little research on why salads are dangerous for travelers, and I wanted to share my findings with you here. So, CAN you eat salad on your trip??? The short answer is that you should NOT eat fresh salad on your visit to Tunisia. Eating fresh veggies in Tunisia when your immune system is not adapted to it is like playing Russian Roulette with a miserable stomach sickness. That’s the simple answer. Below I’ll explain in more detail why exactly it’s dangerous eat leafy greens in Tunisia, or any new environment for that matter. I’ll also give you some alternative Tunisian dishes to try that have cooked veggies. Why You're at Risk of Getting Sick When you're traveling, your body is already susceptible to getting diarrhea and an upset stomach. They even have a name for it: Traveler's Diarrhea. Traveler's Diarrhea is caused by eating contaminated food or water. The real cause is probably one of the bacteria that I detail below in this post. According to the Mayoclinic website, though, travelers are more susceptible to getting sick from these bacteria because the contaminants where you travel are different from those you consume at home. Your body is not immune to the new germs you're consuming. How I Got Sick Warning: Read cautiously if you have a sensitive stomach or are eating right now! When I first moved to Tunisia in 2016, I was eager to get out and experience the local culture. To my delight, a beautiful girl at my language school (who is now my wife Abi) offered to take me and my friend out to explore in a local-yokel part of town where there are no tourists. What could go wrong?! While we were exploring, Abi picked out a normal-looking, hole-in-the-wall restaurant where we could get some Tunisian food. The food was pretty good. The first course was a small plate of fresh salad: lettuce, chopped tomatoes, red onions, and a few olives. This was my first time living overseas, and I didn’t know any better, so I woofed down the salad without giving it a second thought. About 6 hours later, I was entering one of the most unpleasant illnesses of my life. Granted, I’ve been blessed with good health, but still, this was awful! The really bad symptoms lasted 3 days. Vomiting, diarrhea, fever, aches, fatigue, headache, everything! There was no sense of relief after vomiting, just more stomach pain. For the first 36 hours or so, it was just a cycle of sleep, throw up, lay there in bed, repeat. After 3 days, I was starting to recover, but it was a full week before I was back to normal. I wish I could say that it was a one-time occurrence, but I actually got the same sort of sickness two more times within my first year of living in Tunisia. Each one seemed worse than the first. I share this with you so that I can encourage you to please consider taking some precautions and think about what you eat on your trip to Tunisia. If you get whatever it was that I had, it will most certainly ruin your vacation! Why You Shouldn't Eat the Salad Salad can make you sick because they are contaminated with bacteria. To put it plainly, the vegetables come into contact with feces (poop) somewhere between the farm and your table. Vegetables need to be washed well. But kitchen workers (everywhere, not just in Tunisia) often don’t wash the veggies well enough to get the bad stuff off. Even if they did wash the veggies well, the bacteria are sometimes lodged inside, according to the CDC. Most Tunisian restaurants will serve you a small plate of salad before your meal. Even if you’re at a street food restaurant and order a plate of chicken shawarma, it will also have a little bit of lettuce, as well as some chopped onions, tomato, and parsley. If you’re going to avoid fresh veggies, you may want to think ahead of time to ask for only cooked vegetables. Bacteria from Fresh Veggies I perused the CDC’s (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) website and found info about common bacteria that come on veggies and that make you sick. I also found that there is a law firm in the UK that is looking for people who were made sick by number of different types of bacteria on their trip to Djerba, Tunisia. They apparently have documented several cases of people getting sick from a few different types of bacteria. So, I added some info about those bacteria as well. Norovirus One kind of illness you can get from unwashed veggies is Norovirus. The CDC says that Norovirus causes vomiting and diarrhea. It is sometimes referred to as the stomach flu or stomach bug. You can get Norovirus from contaminated food or water. You can also get it from touching infected surfaces, or from contact with an infected person. It’s very contagious. After researching these different bacteria and recalling my own symptoms, my guess is that Norovirus is what I caught 3 times in Tunisia. E coli E coli is short for Escherichia coli. The CDC says that “Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses.” E coli is a common cause of stomach illnesses from poorly handled leafy greens. The CDC has tracked a lot of E coli outbreaks throughout the United States, and they often come from contaminated produce like Romaine lettuce, as well as meat. Salmonella With Salmonella, you’re sick for 4 to 7 days. The symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and stomach cramps. You can catch Salmonella germs from many different foods, but some common ones are fruits, vegetables, undercooked eggs. You’re more likely to catch Salmonella in the summer months because the germ grows faster in warmer weather. Tunisian veggie stands do not refrigerate their fruits and vegetables, and eggs are never refrigerated. Cryptosporidium This is also a common parasite that causes a diarrheal disease. The parasite and the disease both go by the nickname “Crypto.” The most common way people catch Crypto (in the US at least) is from contaminated water. The Crypto parasite is not easily killed by chlorine, which means it can survive in swimming pools. Crypto lives in the intestines of infected animals and people. When those animal or people poop, they poop out live parasites. If vegetables are grown or sprayed with infected water, then those vegetables are now infected. Alternatives to Fresh Salad Are you grossed out yet? Well, you don't have to swear off all vegetables for your whole vacation. You can still eat plenty of vegetables on your trip to Tunisia, even if you don't eat fresh veggies. Thankfully, many Tunisian dishes use a lot of cooked vegetables and they are delicious! Slata Mechouia: (Pronounced (slata meshweeya.) You can get Slata Mechouia at pretty much any restaurant. Some restaurants may even serve you a little plate as an appetizer without ordering it. The base of Slata Mechouia is tomato, green peppers, and onions. It's seasoned with garlic, salt, and maybe a few other spices. Then they add olive oil. Slata Mechouia is usually eaten with bread. Sandwich shops use it as a condiment, but it's usually served on a plate and you scoop it with bread. It's amazing. Shakshuka: This is a tomato-based stew with spicy green peppers, onions, and yellow potatoes. It's very similar to Ojja, except Ojja doesn't have potatoes. Shakshuka is served with a few poached eggs. If you want to be cautious with Salmonella, ask the chef to cook the eggs all the way. Otherwise, the eggs will be half-way done when served. Couscous: Couscous is the most famous, signature dish of Tunisia. Tunisian couscous has potatoes, carrots, green peppers, onion, and chick peas. It's also served with lamb, goat, or fish. Ojja: This is also a stew like Shakshuka which you eat with baguette bread. The difference is that Ojja doesn't have potatoes, and it's cooked with meat, like beef sausages called merguez, turkey breast, or seafood. As you may have noticed, Tunisian dishes have a lot of the same vegetable ingredients: tomato, onion, spicy peppers, carrots. The dishes are acidic and eating them a few days in a row can give you heartburn and leave you feeling heavy. To lighten up your diet, you can find fresh fruits like oranges, bananas, cantaloupe, and watermelon, which are more protected from bacteria by their thick skins. Conclusion Hopefully this post didn't make you sick... it was supposed to keep you from getting sick! I also hope this information equips you to have a great culinary experience on your trip to Tunisia without any unpleasant surprises. Please don't be afraid to try Tunisian foods. You can stick to only cooked vegetables on your trip and not miss out on any great Tunisian dishes. Enjoy the food and have a great trip!