The creation of sauces and pastes comes somewhere on the human evolutionary trail after the taming of fire and before The Beatles. Sauces and pastes elevate food from sad organic tidbits dragged across a fire to a rich, complex eating experience. It is no accident that the generally acknowledged great cuisines of the world (Chinese, Italian, French and Oaxacan) all use sauces as the foundation of their cuisine. Sauces and pastes allow us to make 800 different dishes from chicken - that is nothing short of a miracle.
I opened the February 2009 Saveur Magazine (a great issue, by the way) to find a recipe for harissa. Harissa is a garlic and chile paste from North Africa. Yes it's a little zippy, so if you are into bland, you're not invited. In it's home range harissa is used to liven up couscous or deepen the flavor of soups and stews. It is used on meats and eggs (I have replaced salsa on my eggs with harissa). Some time ago harissa became my go to foundation paste for some of my own quick creations. I use it to liven up shelled edamame or peas, fire up a plain pasta sauce or directly on roasted chicken, or swirl a tablespoon of harissa into rice as it is boiling. Try this: mix a little harissa with olive oil and coat fingerling potatoes, chunks of onion and carrot with the mixture. Roast the veggies at 400 degrees till done. Good stuff.
The best (though somewhat expensive) harissa I've found is Mustapha's. You can buy it online at http://www.mustaphas.com/ or at Sur La Table/Williams-Sonoma type places. What I like about Mustapha's is the color (bright red) and it's intensity. A little goes a long way.
You should be able to find harissa in any middle eastern store, but making is easy enough and quite worthwhile. See the Februay 09 issue of Saveur or google harissa online for a recipe.
I opened the February 2009 Saveur Magazine (a great issue, by the way) to find a recipe for harissa. Harissa is a garlic and chile paste from North Africa. Yes it's a little zippy, so if you are into bland, you're not invited. In it's home range harissa is used to liven up couscous or deepen the flavor of soups and stews. It is used on meats and eggs (I have replaced salsa on my eggs with harissa). Some time ago harissa became my go to foundation paste for some of my own quick creations. I use it to liven up shelled edamame or peas, fire up a plain pasta sauce or directly on roasted chicken, or swirl a tablespoon of harissa into rice as it is boiling. Try this: mix a little harissa with olive oil and coat fingerling potatoes, chunks of onion and carrot with the mixture. Roast the veggies at 400 degrees till done. Good stuff.
The best (though somewhat expensive) harissa I've found is Mustapha's. You can buy it online at http://www.mustaphas.com/ or at Sur La Table/Williams-Sonoma type places. What I like about Mustapha's is the color (bright red) and it's intensity. A little goes a long way.
You should be able to find harissa in any middle eastern store, but making is easy enough and quite worthwhile. See the Februay 09 issue of Saveur or google harissa online for a recipe.
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