Book of Days Tales

The Carnival of Awussu, or in French carnaval d’Aoussou, is an annual festival that takes place in Sousse in Tunisia on this date.  The primary event is a parade of floats, bands, and marching groups, supposedly reviving the obscure ancient Roman feast of Neptunalia, but actually marking ‘Awussu the beginning of the summer heat wave in the Berber calendar. 

Rather than give you a precise recipe, I am going to give you the basic idea of two Tunisian staples: harissa and lablabi.  Harissa is the classic hot, spicy condiment of Tunisia (and most of north Africa) and lablabi is a chickpea soup served over stale bread and topped with an egg. 

Most Tunisians buy harissa in jars rather than make it themselves.  Here is an ingredient list:

6 lb dried red peppers (ideally dried under the sun)

1 lb coarse salt

3 cups vegetable oil

1 lb garlic

6 oz. tabel (Tunisian spice blend, consisting of ground coriander seeds, caraway seeds, garlic powder, and chili powder)

olive oil

You probably don’t want to make 7+ lbs of harissa but you get the idea.

Lablabi requires harissa as its main flavoring.  It consists of cooked chickpeas in a broth flavored with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, harissa, caraway seed, and cumin. It is served piping hot over a slice of stale bread and topped with a poached egg – or you can crack a raw egg into the hot soup and let it cook that way.