Here at The Local Butcher Shop, we use Harissa in many of our sausages and marinades.  It is most often found in our Chorizo Sausages, our Merguez Sausages and many of our marinades.  So, what is Harissa anyway?  According to See Smell Taste (our spice provider), the word Harissa comes from an Arabic word for “break into pieces”.  It is a North African hot sauce that is traditionally made by pounding rehydrated chilies with garlic, caraway and coriander seeds in a mortar and mixing that powder with oil.  The version of Harissa that we get from See Smell Taste adds dried spearmint to the mix for a “refreshing finish”.   According to Wikipedia, Tunisia is the largest exporter of Harissa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harissa.

We sell small cans of Harissa here at The Local Butcher Shop.  You can add oil to it and marinade beef or pork for carne asada.  You can also use it more traditionally on goat or lamb.   We think it would be great on a leg of lamb as the summer turns to fall.  You could serve it with summer squash and pine nut couscous and a tomato salad…mmmm…