dchich دشيش
Tunisian Derja · noun
“dchich” (دشيش) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning cracked wheat or barley.
Meanings
- cracked wheat or barley
- cracked-wheat soup
Usage
Dchich refers to cracked grain, barley or wheat, and by extension to the dish made from it. Most often it is a thick soup (chorba dchich), but it can also be a dish cooked with vegetables, for example cauliflower. It is comforting home cooking, associated with winter and with mothers and grandmothers. You say "tayyabt dchich" for "I made dchich". Do not confuse it with borghol, another cracked grain, or with couscous, which is rolled rather than cracked.
Example
أمي طيبتلنا دشيش بالقرنيط
ommi tayyebtelna dchich bel 9arnit
“My mother made us dchich with cauliflower.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dchich” but also “dshish”, “dachich” and “dchiche”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.