The UK has welcomed many an exotic condiment over the last few decades on its journey to gastronomic enlightenment – but few have been taken in with such open arms as harissa. It seems impossible to think that most of us had never even heard of harissa as little as ten years ago. Today, the moreish chilli paste sits alongside store cupboard essentials like soy sauce, sriracha, tomato ketchup and mayonnaise – an indispensable tool in our worldly culinary arsenal.
Harissa is often seen as the national condiment of Tunisia, and it is ubiquitous across the country, but you’ll find the spicy pepper paste all across north Africa and the Middle East, from Morocco all the way into Syria. These days we think of harissa as being synonymous with these cuisines and deeply-rooted in various food cultures, but the reality is actually quite different. Chillies didn’t even exist outside of the Americas until the fifteenth century when Columbus discovered them – they arrived over the Atlantic Ocean courtesy of the Spanish, and quickly became an important part of Maghreb cuisine.
So, what is it about harissa that stands the test of time where other condiments fall out of favour? Many chilli sauces are one-dimensional – designed with only brutish heat in mind – but harissa’s trick is that it isn’t really a chilli sauce at all. Though you can find a fiery harissa if you want one, it’s often milder – the chilli is just one note in a complex symphony of flavours that includes cumin, garlic, caraway, coriander seed and even rose.
