Stewy chickpeas with squash and chicken braised with apricots: Samin Nosrat’s recipes for cooking with harissa

Fragrant with spices, this staple of north African cooking brings a welcome heat to stews and braises

I thought I knew my harissa after nearly two decades of making it from scratch. Then I tasted a spoonful of rich, wine-dark paste from an unmarked jar that arrived on my doorstep from brothers Mansour and Karim Arem. They were on the verge of launching Zwïta, a company focused on celebrating their Tunisian heritage. Whereas western cooks and food writers are familiar with many of the food traditions of nearby Morocco, we’ve largely neglected to learn anything about Tunisia or its culinary history. And, judging by the Arem brothers’ harissa, that’s entirely to our detriment.

Made with mild, sun-dried chillies, the traditional Tunisian version of this pepper paste is layered with garlic, caraway and coriander. Multidimensional in flavour and distinctly thick, it will be a revelation to anyone who has only ever encountered the stuff squeezed from a tube (or any other version similarly doctored with tomato products, hydrated chilli powder or fresh peppers). Once I tasted their harissa, I began to incorporate it into my everyday cooking, stirring it into garlic and herb labneh and drizzling it over roast vegetables. One of my favourite ways to use it is as a rub or marinade for chicken.