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Harissa

Posted at 1:28 PM on October 23, 2008 by Paulette Thompson (6 Comments)

I hope that my friend Michael W.and I can get together to make harissa, North African hot sauce or paste.
Harissa is in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. There are national and regional differences, however. Some prefer it to be hotter. Some use it as more than a condiment. Moroccans prefer it added individually to one's portion.
It's good on eggs, couscous, and many other dishes.

I enjoy having company as opposed to making it all by myself. Why buy it when it is easy to make? Homemade is better, but commercial varieties can be quite good. They are more expensive, though. If you have family members or friends who go through it like jam or salsa, making it is the best plan.

If you want me to provide a recipe, i will. You'll need peppers, oil, garlic, cumin, caraway, and a few other items. I personally like cilantro in mine.

I have found that I like playing with a few different recipes before I finally make a commitment.

Comments (6)

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Yes, please give me the recipe, because I have peppers everywhere. Autumns' dill pickled peppers are great, and I will definitely make some of her Hot Pepper Mustard, but Harissa is new to me.

Cher's Farm Journal Tomato Butter is outstanding, and I am also hoping for Sareen's Smoked Green Tomato Salsa. I have never tried so many new recipes in my end of season processing. This is way more fun than my usual freeze it all panic.

If it is good on zucchini I need to know about it.

Kathy

Posted by Kathy | October 23, 2008 2:20 PM

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Provide a recipe for this intriguing North African hot sauce with a beautiful name? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

Posted by Autumn Long | October 24, 2008 7:04 AM

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Harissa is good with zucchini, yes.

Okay, I will talk to my friend Michael W. so that he and I (and other North African food lovers) can work the harissa recipe out for y'all. Give me a few days.
Paulette

Posted by P. Thompson | October 27, 2008 12:48 PM

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Paulette,
What about local peppers that work in your Harissa? I just about gave up trying to grow peppers in Seattle area as they most often don't really ripen - and there is a huge difference in quality between really ripe (mature) and immature when it comes to peppers, don't you think? Many good peppers from Yakima but is that local to you? My daughter put up a greenhouse and set out a half dozen pepper plants and she has brilliant red ripe peppers. So tell us - what kind of peppers? How do you get local peppers of quality? How does that recipe go? I want to learn about Harissa (on zucchini and eggs).
Peace
Woody

Posted by woody | November 2, 2008 3:06 PM

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I, too, would love a receipe for harissa. I first encountered it in Paris, in a Lebanese restaurant the served a wonderful home-style lamb tangine. I have friends and family who love hot foods even more than I do, and I will pass on the receipe. One of my daughters-in-law is Lao, and her father eats her mom's home made Lao chili paste on everything. My son-in-law is Nigerian, and his whole family loves hot stuff. It would be so great to surprise them all with something I made myself.

Posted by Helen | November 4, 2008 3:58 PM

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Hello everyone!
I have heard your voices!
I have been looking at recipes for the past week or so. Some of my research came about because I had papers due. Also I could not remember which peppers should be used.

I will give you some options in a day or so!

Cheers!
Paulette

Posted by P. Thompson | November 4, 2008 4:07 PM