Harissa: Chilli Paste Technique
Harissa is the defining chilli paste of North African cooking — Tunisian in origin, adopted across Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and through the Palestinian kitchen via the spice trade routes. It appears in Ottolenghi's Jerusalem as both a cooking ingredient and a condiment, and its quality determines the character of every dish it touches. Commercial harissa is useful; homemade is categorically different.
A paste of reconstituted dried chillies (typically a combination of hot and mild), roasted red peppers, garlic, caraway, coriander, cumin, and olive oil, blended to a smooth, intensely flavoured paste. The combination of dried chilli heat, roasted pepper sweetness, and whole spice aromatics produces a complexity that single-chilli preparations cannot match.
Harissa adds heat, depth, and complexity simultaneously — it is not simply a chilli sauce. Applied to lamb before roasting it caramelises into a crust. Stirred into yogurt it produces a versatile dressing. Added to a braise it dissolves and perfumes the liquid. Served alongside couscous it provides the fire that the grain cannot. A small amount does a great deal.
- Dried chillies must be reconstituted in hot water — blending from dry produces a grainy paste with undeveloped flavour. Soaking for 30 minutes minimum [VERIFY time] - Roasting the fresh red peppers before adding produces sweetness and smoke that balance the chilli heat - The spices (caraway, coriander, cumin) must be toasted and ground fresh — the aromatic compounds are volatile and pre-ground spices produce a flat paste - Olive oil added at blending and as a preserving layer on top — the fat layer prevents oxidation and extends shelf life - Balance: the paste should be hot, but the heat should be one note among several. If heat dominates, the spice ratio needs adjustment
OTTOLENGHI JERUSALEM — Technique Entries OT-01 through OT-25
- Turkish biber salçası (pepper paste — similar technique, milder heat), Moroccan chermoula (same herb-spice paste principle, fresh herbs rather than dried chilli), Yemeni zhug (similar chilli paste, fr
Common Questions
Why does Harissa: Chilli Paste Technique taste the way it does?
Harissa adds heat, depth, and complexity simultaneously — it is not simply a chilli sauce. Applied to lamb before roasting it caramelises into a crust. Stirred into yogurt it produces a versatile dressing. Added to a braise it dissolves and perfumes the liquid. Served alongside couscous it provides the fire that the grain cannot. A small amount does a great deal.
What dishes are similar to Harissa: Chilli Paste Technique?
Turkish biber salçası (pepper paste — similar technique, milder heat), Moroccan chermoula (same herb-spice paste principle, fresh herbs rather than dried chilli), Yemeni zhug (similar chilli paste, fr