A fried bun split open and packed with tuna, boiled egg, potato, olives, preserved lemon and harissa, the tuna sandwich Tunisian Jewish immigrants carried to Tel Aviv's markets.

The sandwich traces to a 19th-century story from La Goulette, the Jewish port suburb of Tunis: a young Tunisian Jewish woman left with more fried buns than a party needed filled them savoury with tuna, harissa, egg and potato instead of sugaring them as planned. Tunisian Jews carried the sandwich with them when they left in the 1950s and 1960s; in France it became le fricasse, and it stayed popular through Israel's own Tunisian Jewish community, sold from market stalls and side-street counters. The Tunisian Sandwich Center, run by Haim Bukovza of the original Ramla Market stand, serves it on HaPatish Street in south Tel Aviv in baguettes baked on site, with merguez as a second filling.

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Tunisian Sandwich Center ★ 4.2

$TunisianFlorentin

The Tunisian Sandwich Center on HaPatish Street, run by the Ramla Market original's Haim Bukovza, bakes its own baguettes for Tunisian and merguez sandwiches.

OrderTunisian sandwich and merguez sausage in baguettes baked on site

TipOrder the Tunisian complete, the most popular baguette on the menu, or the merguez sausage version; the bread is baked on site.

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