Nonetheless, lengthy earlier than hipster kitchens buzzed to the sound of energy smoothies, farmers and caravan drivers within the Maghreb – which runs from Libya within the east of North Africa to the Atlantic seaboard of Morocco – carried sacks of bsissa to make sure they’d have a great supply of vitamin, even in the midst of the Sahara Desert. Serving as North Africa’s authentic comfort meals, it might both be blended with olive oil, or with water and fruits to create a satisfying meal-shake referred to as rowina.
The previous few years dwelling in Tunis, I began noticing new varieties of bsissa in retailers and eateries, together with gluten-free variations, and the meals was turning into a daily matter of dialog. Throughout lunch within the capital metropolis at some point, a brand new acquaintance advised me that her mom is from Lamta, the place an annual bsissa competition is held, and gave me the contact data of the competition organisers so I might study extra about why bsissa is so vital to the city. Once I referred to as the quantity, Khairi Sassi, a younger, enterprising entrepreneur, picked up and invited me to go to his household’s bsissa enterprise.
Sassi and his household’s lives revolve across the making and promoting of bsissa. Of their small store, which is crowded with cabinets housing packets of bsissa powder, his father Dalel ladled out zrir – a Tunisian dessert manufactured from sesame seeds, nuts resembling hazelnuts and pine nuts, butter and honey – into plastic pots. Dalel gave me a spoon so I might dig in and style it, which is commonly bought alongside bsissa as its extra luxurious counterpart, whereas Sassi confirmed me all of the several types of bsissa accessible on the market and advised me about his enterprise.
“All of us work collectively as a household – mum, dad, my sister and me,” Sassi stated. “My mum used to work in an workplace and hated it, so we arrange the workshop and we financed all of it ourselves.”
