Quick question: Could you name 5 facts about Tunisia or Tunisian cuisine? I sure couldn’t, before this episode, and to be 100% honest, as embarrassing as this is, I’m not sure i would have accurately located it on a map!

A few weeks ago, I shared a recipe from a guest that was named after Tunisia. I felt uncomfortable sharing this recipe, because the guest wasn’t Tunisian, and I couldn’t verify if the recipe had any real basis in authentic Tunisian cuisine. In the end, I kept the name, but asked in the blog post that if any Tunisian read the post, he or she would reach out and educate me about Tunisian culture!

Well, Elyes Taleb, a native Tunisian who now lives in Paris with his wife and baby son, found that post. He was so kind and generous to reach out to me and offer to share more about the culture and cuisine of his country. At his suggestion, we focus the conversation around Oula, a harvest ceremony celebrated in the north of Tunisia in mid to late summer. At this ceremony, the women prepare provisions for the winter months, especially couscous. The high point of this tradition is the lunch they prepare from the newly formed and preserved couscous. So not only has Elyes taught me about this history, culture, and cuisine of Tunisia, he has also taught me that we’ve been cooking couscous all wrong all these years! 

Instagram: @elyestagram

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