Posted on by LDS's Mom

Algerian Rfiss of Constantine

Rfiss is a sweet dish originally from the region of Constantine in Algeria. This dish is mostly prepared in special occasions such as weddings, births, and other celebrations. Rfiss is basically made of baked semolina galette. This galette is cut and placed in a blender to ground it into crumbs (couscous size). Other ingredients used in this dish are milk, rose water, granulated sugar(if you like), powdered sugar ( at serving only), honey, butter, walnuts and other type of nuts. It’s a very consistent dish. Rfiss is served with buttermilk as a dish but it can go with your tea as well as a dessert.
Prepare the semolina galette by mixing in a  bowl the semolina, salt, butter and oil. Sprinkle the mixture of water and rose water over the semolina little by little to obtain a paste (not too wet).
Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the dough evenly in the baking sheet and cut it into squares or any other small shapes. The thickness of the galette isn’t very important since it is going to be blended at the end.
Bake in a 350 °F preheated oven for 1 hour or until golden.
Place the Rfiss galette  pieces in the blender ( you can roughly cut the pieces again with hands before blending them). Pulse until it turns into crumbs( the size of couscous).
Sprinkle the Rfiss crumbs with the mixture of milk and rose water and let it absorb the liquid for about 5 minutes.
Place the Rfiss in the top of a steamer.
Steam the Rfiss for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Sprinkle the Rfiss again with the mixture of milk and water then add the granulated sugar. Steam again for the second time.
After the second steaming of Rfiss, add ground walnuts.
Add butter and honey.
Rfiss can be served as is If you like.
Garnish the Rfiss with walnuts, almonds or any other type of nuts you have. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve it with buttermilk as a dish or serve it with tea or even coffee as a dessert.
5 from 10 votes
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings 5
Author LDS’s Mom

Ingredients

  • 2 cups milk
  • ¼ cup rose water
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 8 tbsp or 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ½ cup butter(unsalted sweet cream butter)
  • ½ cup finely ground walnuts

For the semolina galette or Rfiss galette

  • 2 Cups medium semolina
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 cup water and rose water (¾ cup water plus ¼ cup rose water)

Garnish

  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar for serving
  • Walnuts, Almonds, peanuts (your choice of nuts)

Instructions

  1.  First of all, prepare the semolina galette by mixing in a large bowl the semolina, salt, butter and oil.

  2. Rub the semolina mixture between hands so that everything is well incorporated.
  3. Sprinkle the mixture of water and rose water over the semolina little by little. You may not need to use the whole cup of water and rose water mixture.
  4. Roughly mix with hands, once the dough gets together (it looks like a wet sand), stop adding the water and rose water mixture. Make sure to not over mix.
  5. Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the dough evenly in the baking sheet and cut it into squares or any other small shapes. The thickness of the galette isn’t very important since it is going to be blended at the end.
  6. Bake in a 350 °F preheated oven for 1 hour or until golden.
  7. Bake in a 350 °F preheated oven for 1 hour or until golden.
  8. Let cool a little bit for about 2 minutes then place the pieces in the blender ( you can roughly cut the pieces again with hands before blending them). Pulse until it turns into crumbs( the size of couscous). Note that you can freeze the Rfiss crumbs at this step for later use.
  9. Place the Rfiss galette crumbs in a large shallow dish.
  10. Get 1 cup of milk ready and mix to it 1/8 cup of rose water.

  11. Sprinkle milk rose water a little at the time over the Rfiss crumbs and mix roughly. Wait for 2 minutes until the liquid is absorbed then add more if needed.

    You may not need to use the whole liquid because it depends of the semolina you have used. In this recipe I have used the whole liquid. The mixture should not be a paste!

  12. Place the Rfiss crumbs in the top of a steamer and steam for about 15 to 20 minutes.
  13. Dump the Rfiss in a large shallow dish and sprinkle again with the rest of the milk and rose water(a little at the time).

  14. Add the tablespoon of sugar and mix well. Let it absorb the liquid for about 5  minutes.

  15. Place the Rfiss in the top of a steamer and steam for the second time for a bout 15 to 20 minutes.
  16. Dump the Rfiss in the large shallow dish and add to it the ground walnuts, then the butter and honey.
  17. Mix well with a wooden spoon, the butter should melt since the Rfiss is hot.
  18. Serve the Rfiss in a dish garnished with few walnuts or any other type of nuts.
  19. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

  20. Serve Rfiss with buttermilk as a dish or with tea ir coffee as a dessert.

  21. Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

  • The ingredients in this recipe are exact and the Rfiss came out very fragrant and tasty!

  • Note that the recipe is usually made without limiting the amount of milk, rose water, butter (before serving) and honey.

  • To make the Rfiss galette, you use 4 measures of semolina, 1 measure of butter and oil (equal parts) and gather everything with water and rose water to obtain a wet sand like mixture(not too wet though).

  • It’s important to let the Rfiss absorb the liquid before steaming it.

  • You can add butter and honey to your tasting.

  • You can serve Rfiss as it is without garnishing (no powdered sugar or nuts) if you like.                                                                              

    Time saving tips

  • The Rfiss galette can be done ahead of time and get blended into Rfiss crumbs.

  • The dry Rfiss crumbs can be frozen for later use(before adding the milk or steaming it).

24 Replies to “Algerian Rfiss of Constantine”

  6. Did you say rose water? 🙂 Even the sound of it makes the whole dish so romantic. I can’t wait to try it because not only I haven’t used some of the ingredients before but rfiss is definitely something I need to try. Perfect for a weekend project – thank you!

    Reply

  7. I don’t think I have ever heard about rfiss before but it is definitely something I would like to try making! It is new, and that means it is another challenge – and I love challenges. Must be delicioius and great to try!

    Reply

  8. I love recipes with rose water. My mom used to make a chocolate candy type of dessert with rose water that originated from Turkey, and I loved it. I’ve never heard of rfiss before, but it sounds very intriguing!

    Reply

  10. I have never heard of this. After reading the ingredients, sounds like something I would love to try. I have never worked with rose water before.

    Reply

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