Ma Vie...Ma Joie: Tunis 5 - The Quest for Harrissa

Harrissa or what we call here ma3booch is my second purpose for this trip. Since deciding to come to Tunis I've told Fahad I wanted to get Harrissa. The most famous Harrissa in Tunis is Harrissat Nabul. It is freshly made smoky and hot. I just love it. it goes with everything. Since Nabul is only a couple of minutes away from Hamamat, on the day we checked out we headed that way. Nabul my favorite town in Tunis, it is small and crowded, but I love this town. The last time I was there, I was with an employee from the embassy, Bin Mahmoud, who took me to a place in Nabul which is famous for its Harrissa. It is what they call Harrissa Diyar (Homemade Harrissa). We drove into Nabul, and into its main street. I can't remember where exactly is the store but I do remember it was a small store on the right handside. "Ok, Bin Mahmoud told me it is at Duwar Al Burtaqala." Fawaz, my brother in law said as he drove into the main street of Nabul. "Where is Duwar Al Burtaqala?" I ask. "Just ahead." He points in front of him. But then, I spot a small store with herbs and dried red peppers hanging out. "Here! Here! I think that is it." I say. Fawaz takes a U-turn and park the car in front of the store. We go in and we find out it is a small store but not like the one I've been to before. This store looks clean and new. There were canned goods on shelves, and large glass jars filled with herbs and spices. On the side was a disply for pickled vegetables, lemons and peppers, and olives. We asked the store keeper and he showed us the Harrissa but it wasn't like the one I remembered. His Harrissa is fresh and homemade, but it was filled in a large bucket instead of jars. But because he was welcoming we bought few of the herbs and spices at his store. We told him that we will go look for jars and come back to him. We continued on our way and reach Dawar Al Burtaqala (I still can't believe I didn't take a picture of it!) and we saw the store there nestled between equally small stores. We got in and it was a big difference from the one we just been to. It was old and looked very dirty and flies were flying everywhere. Fawaz asked the shopkeeper, who looked harassed and out of patience about something, about the Harrissa. The shopkeeper pointed at huge buckets in the corner, some were dripping with oil. I shook my head to Fawaz. The previous shop looks cleaner and fresher. Even the herbs and spices smelled better. So we returned to the previous shop and bought a bucket from him. The shopkeeper asked us if we found any jars, but Fawaz was quick enough to tell him that we decided to fill it ourselves back home. On the way out of Nabul, we made several stops. First at a ceramic factory we bought several pieces from there. Second, we passed by farms and some farmers had their goods displayed out of the farm. We bought amazing grapes and figs! Tastes like honey! Third we stopped at a distillery, where they make fresh rosewater, blossom water & spearmint water. I bought a bottle of blossom water which they call 'Athrachia'. Our last and fourth stop was before we reached home, was at Monoprix a mini market. Fawaz got fresh chicken and cream to make us a lunch/dinner of pasta with chicken & mushrooms Alfredo sauce. It was a YUM. Teslam eedick Chef Fawaz. Enjoy the pictures!

The famous Harrissa, tastes a lot better than it looks