Dar Nabeul Tunisia Festival ... The capital of pepper and harissa

 The main street of the city closes, and the horsemen stop to the right and left, passing traditional carriages of red peppers, before the brass band begins to play;

In the center of the city, the heads of the kitchens are dressed in distinctive white uniforms from different countries and bands to move the city, which suffers from the absence of tourists like other tourist cities in Tunisia.

For the past three days (6-9 October), Nabeul has been living on the second edition of the 'Herissa and Pepper' festival, which has taken the motto of this year 'Nabeul, the Capital of Heris', with the participation of a number of countries in the world, including Croatia, Hungary and North Korea .

The 'harissa' is a Tunisian dish prepared by drying hot red peppers under the hot sun during the months of July and August, with garlic and some spices added, and all ingredients are returned to a special machine.

The people of the tribal nation (the cities of the state of Nabeul) are famous for preparing the harissa and using the peppers in all their food and food. They are stored and known to the general public of Tunisians after being washed and dried.

Shahida Boufayed, one of the artists participating in the festival, says: "Our city has known the production of pepper since its inception, allowing its inhabitants to prepare different types of herds, and then they are promoted in the local markets."

"There are different types of herring, including Arab herring and grilled salad (green pepper and onions are then grinded with garlic and some other spices) and prepared according to market demand."

"The quantities of production are doubling during the summer months, as tens of thousands of tourists and foreigners flock to the city, especially those with Algerian nationality, who buy harissa for cooking."

Tunisia's pepper production annually exceeds 500,000 tons, of which more than 300,000 tons are processed in factories to prepare different types of harissa.

"The festival is a great event for the city's residents, enabling them to show their products to Tunisian guests from home and abroad," said Fathi Hussein, a member of the maintenance society of Nabeul city.

"The festival offers direct cooking classes and is tasted by the heads of participating kitchens, Tunisians and foreigners from South Korea, Hungary and Croatia," Hussein said.

According to Hussain, the attendees will have a date with a live workshop to display the types of peppers and methods of preparing traditional prey, and a second workshop open to plastic art and historical documentation of pepper and harissa.

"The festival aims to introduce the food heritage of the city's population and its agricultural products, especially peppers of different types: Shaabani, Nabali, Harar ..

Pepper cultivation starts in Tunisia every April, and farmers begin to harvest crops several times a year, or Tunisia, in the name of the bellies, a month later, sometimes a month and a half of planting. This is repeated until the end of December of each Public.
Prices of green peppers vary from $ 1 ($ 0.45) and $ 2.5 ($ 1.13). The price increases are relatively close to the end of the season. Red pepper is found in all seasonal farms in Tunisia.