Tunisian Harissa

Tunisian Harissa is a Tunisian/Moroccan spice and herb blend, often used in tagine cooking. I have not had an opportunity to use this particular one yet. Fritz

I normally purchase my harissa as a paste, but am starting to love these dry blends of which this brand is one of the better ones that I have tried. The ingredients are highly aromatic and fresh. I also love the blend itself which adds flavors to the chilis with cumin, caraway and allspice, among other ingredients.Since this is a dry blend you can control both the bite from the chilis and the consistency of the paste by varying the amount of olive oil you use to mix into it. The heat is not to the degree of one of my favorite pre-made pastes ( Dea Harissa Hot Sauce in tube ), but it also stores in the sealed tin in my pantry instead of the refrigerator after you have opened it.Another thing I love about this dry blend is the small amount of sodium. A single teaspoon serving (before mixing with oil) contains a scant 2mg of sodium. This is a major plus for me over some of the other harissa dry blends that have a much higher sodium content.While this is slightly milder than other harissa dry and paste blends I have used, it has an amazing flavor and can be kicked up a few notches by adding cayenne pepper to the mix before blending with olive oil. In fact, that is actually another plus because you can use this in tagine cooking to make authentic meals for guests who prefer a little less heat in their dishes.Bottom line: I am impressed with the quality and flavor of this mix, and am especially pleased with the convenience of a low-sodium dry blend.

beware - this is a spice mixture only, not actual harissaNot what I intended to order, but the ad wasn't clear.Harissa as I ate it in North Africa was a pulpy mash of peppers and spices, some oil. Fantastic stuff.I recommend Mustapha's Moroccan Harissa - it was terrific.