For graduation, and to celebrate belated birthdays of my friend Kevin and I, I opened a can of harissa I bought at Forks Mediterranean Deli. The deli used to carry small cans, but now they only have standard sized cans and that's a lot of harissa.
Especially when you're the only one in the house who likes it. And I like it. A lot.
I shared some with Kev, letting him take some home and decided to try freezing the rest. I didn't have convenient containers on hand (and it didn't seem a good idea to put spicy pepper spread in my ice cube trays although the tiny ones would have been perfect).
I scooped a heaping teaspoon into a fold top sandwich baggie and rolled the plastic around itself instead of folding it in. Then I placed the cylinders into a quart sized freezer bag.
This harissa was imported from Tunisia, which is neat because while I first had harissa at a shawarma place in Paris near the Gare de Nord, my true appreciation of it comes from my visit in January 2012 to Tunisia.
For those of you who might be curious about what harissa is, let me quote Wikipedia:
"Harissa (Arabic: هريسة) is a Tunisian hotchili sauce whose main ingredients are piri piri (type of chili pepper), serrano peppersand other hot chili peppers and spices andherbs such as garlic paste, coriander, redchili powder, caraway as well as somevegetable or olive oil. It is most closely associated with Tunisia, Libya and Algeria[1]but recently also making inroads intoMorocco according to Moroccan foodexpert Paula Wolfert.[2] It can also be found in countries with strong Arab presence such as France or Germany. In Israelharissa is a common topping for falafel.
Recipes for harissa vary according to the household and region. Variations can include the addition of cumin, red peppers, garlic, coriander, and lemon juice. InSaharan regions, harissa can have a smoky flavor. Prepared harissa is also sold in jars, cans, bottles, tubes, plastic bags and other containers."
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