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Harissa – North African hot chili pepper paste
Harissa (Arabic: هريسة harīsa, from Maghrebi Arabic) is a hot chili pepper paste, native to the Maghreb.
The main ingredients are roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers (بقلوطي), spices and herbs such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and olive oil to carry the oil-soluble flavors. Rose harissa, made with rose petals, is also made.
Tunisia is the biggest exporter of prepared harissa and UNESCO lists it as part of Tunisia's Intangible Cultural Heritage.[3][4] The origin of harissa goes back to the importation of chili peppers into Maghrebian cuisine by the Columbian exchange,[5] presumably during the Spanish occupation of Ottoman Tunisia between 1535 and 1574.[6]
