What Makes Good Harissa?

I am, in fact, INCREDIBLY biased and am obviously a proponent of Tunisian harissa being the end all be all. But it's for good reason! Harissa originated in Tunisia and is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage. Meaning it is globally recognized as an integral part of Tunisian identity and tradition. It is what separates Tunisian cuisine from it's neighboring peers, and has a distinct flavor you won't find in other harissas.

In my quest to replicate Tunisian cooking accurately, I have learned one thing:

Not all harissa is created equal. Sometimes I'd wonder why my cooking failed to have the same depth of flavor or quality of spice. Even when I was using "good" harissa. The problem was that I was using industrial harissa when I was looking for harissa arbi.

So.... what does that mean?

Industrial Harissa Look, this stuff does fine in a pinch but it's not going to change your life. It refers to quickly commercially made harissa that hasn't been sun-dried. These harissas are sharper, have less depth, and for some reason always come in yellow tubes. Don't get me wrong, they are still good harissas, but they will often lack that delicious smokey quality. They are also often runnier and less robust. Popular brands of industrial grade harissa you could find in the US easily would be Cap Du Bon or Dea. If I'm not mistaken, those are also both commercially produced in France. Harissa Arbi This is the good stuff. The smokey stuff. That good shit that will give you a slow burn and an explosion of flavor. Harissa arbi is deep in flavor due to the chilis being sun-dried. It's thick and dark. Sun-drying creates a chemical reaction that creates the smokey umami flavor. The dehydrating and rehydrating of the chilis is a labor of love and it takes much longer to create this kind of harissa. I don't really see harissa arbi in stores, though Zwita is becoming more and more prevalent (and it's really good), but you'd likely have to buy it online or go to an Arab grocer.

Pepper Content & Variety An important distinction to make about harissa is the type of pepper. Many brands posing as harissa contain unnecessary filler of random ass peppers. True harissa is purely baklouti chilis. Get your bell peppers out of here. If I see a bell pepper on an ingredient list for harissa I yeet it. (Even worse if you see tomatoes on there.) **usually they are just listed as "chili peppers" - rarely will you see an ingredients list write out "baklouti"

Seasonings

Good harissa is not only chilis. You should find some of these (or all) in your seasoned harissa: garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, coriander, caraway, vinegar.

These additives are expected in varying quantities. Plenty of people doctor up their harissa at home by adding in more/less of whatever to their preference. **I've seen some harissas (not Tunisian) with lemon and mint in them -- though these can be present in Tunisian cooking they are not usually present in the harissa.

At the end of the day, you can buy whatever harissa floats your boat. BUT, it's not going to give a Tunisian recipe the right taste. ESPECIALLY if that shit is from Morocco. The most egregious of these is brands Mina, whose influence on the market is vast. I'm sure it's a lovely condiment. But I have a hard time calling it harissa. Zwita, the brand I mentioned above, actually has a great post on their website about this.  I highly recommend checking it out if you want to read up on the "Moroccan-washing" of North African cuisines.