A (Sensorial-Political) Guide to Eating in Tunis, if You Land in Tu-Nice by Mistake
Part 1: A Sensory Guide of Tunis's Markets
Hello and welcome to Kalām, my Substack that connects you to the food, art, and heartbeat of Tunisia and North Africa. This guide to Where and What to Eat in Tunis isn’t just a roadmap for your appetite—it’s a gateway into the soul of Tunisia. I wanted to go beyond the surface, weaving the country's social fabric into every recommendation to challenge clichés and inspire deeper cultural connection. For this, I commissioned Yasmin Houamed, whose meticulous curation brought this vision to life—and then some.
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Before we get into the juicy stuff, briefly note what's off the menu today.
What this guide is not:
A repository for objectively 'good food' – this does not exist. Taste is entirely relational (i.e., connected to a memory or a place) and situational (i.e., dependent on the season or our emotional state). Hierarchies of taste are just elitisms of the mouth.
A sneak peek into the 'authentic' Tunisian cuisine. Authenticity implies that cooking has a natural or stable essence, which has never been the case and tends to lead to exclusionary discourses. Food practices, like social identities and borders, are fluid and ever-changing.
A romanticization of the Mediterranean diet. What we eat reflects the conditions of the world around us. Some things will taste amazing – e.g., fruit, veg, fish – and we must thank the sun, generous earth, and talented land workers. Other things will be tasteless – e.g., white baguette – and we must remember the legacies of post-WWII 'development' schemes in the Global South, such as the US ‘Food for Peace’ program. Yet other things will be absent – e.g., milk, butter, flour, sugar, eggs, coffee – and we must look to the rupture of these food staples as an enduring failure of poor governance and predatory international loans to ensure any semblance of food sovereignty.
A nostalgic retelling of multiculturalism. If you're going to Tunisia, you probably know that this land has been marked by a 'mosaic' of migrations – of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Arabs, Ottomans, Italians, Spanish, Maltese, French, and, of course, our North African neighbours.
To me, what is much more interesting than glorified images of conquest is how contemporary migratory patterns are still making their mark on the food scene in Tunisia, despite the government's collusion with extreme anti-migrant policies pushed by Europe, whose borders are now entangled with our own.
This looks like:
Ivorian women at the Bousalsla Sunday market selling hibiscus and ginger juices, spice mixes, and Attiéké (fermented cassava pulp), or
the Japanese couple behind Bistro Nippon, who first came to Tunisia as cooks in the cantine of a Japanese ceramics factory before opening their restaurant in La Marsa.
'Expat' cafes are exciting sites as well, especially if you need Wi-Fi, a well-equipped bathroom, or alternative milk options:
Sabato for sablé biscuits,
Bleue Deli for Rafram Chaddad-curated sandwiches,
Les Indécis for fish, and
Ben Rahim for coffee.
Thank you for bearing with me. Now, let's move on to some recommendations!
Marché Central: A Pilgrimage to Tunis's Vibrant Food Market
Marché Central is a living temple of Tunisian food culture, worthy of pilgrimage and full of sensory splendor. Beyond the gorgeous shrines of fresh fruit and vegetables, you'll find specialty pantry items to bring home, such as fresh olives for preservation, handmade pasta, or date molasses.
Where to Begin: Cafeteria Ben Yedder
As stimulating as the market is, I recommend starting your visit at Cafeteria Ben Yedder, located just around the corner (they also have a toilet). This iconic Djerbian family business is Tunisia's long-standing coffee monopolist.
Ask for the Arabica upgrade for a premium brew.
Order a direct if you want a milky, foamy coffee.
Add a splash of zhar (orange blossom water), available on the serving counter.
Marché el Halfaouine: A Vibrant Market at the Heart of Tunis
Marché el Halfaouine begins at the foot of a majestic mosque, where you’ll encounter a fripe (second-hand clothing market) bustling with life. The market threads through narrow paths until it reaches Bab Souika, where you’ll be greeted by Tiraji, the beloved mascot of Espérance, one of Tunisia's two leading football clubs.
Café Sidi Amara: A Perfect Pause in Place Halfaouine
Start or end your visit at Café Sidi Amara in Place Halfaouine. Grab a plastic chair by the fountain (which rarely runs these days) and order:
a very bitter coffee Tunisian coffee
a very sweet tea, or
In winter, a perfectly tart fresh orange juice.
Place Halfaouine is a reminder of the importance of public spaces. I always reminisce about when the Choufthouna queer feminist festival transformed this square for a night with femme-centered music and dance.
Marché Sidi el Bahri: A Hidden Gem for Bottarga Lovers
From Bab Souika, pass by Fripe Hafsia (there’s also a lovely square here to take a breather), and either weave back into the Medina or exit towards Sidi el Bahri. If you’re lucky, you’ll find the only vendor in the area selling bottarga, a prized delicacy of salted, cured mullet eggs – and the price reflects its rarity.
How to enjoy bottarga:
Slice it thinly and pair it with Boukha (a Jewish Tunisian brandy made from distilled figs) and a slice of lemon.
Shave it onto pasta, or sprinkle it over any dish you want to bless with the punchy taste of the sea.
Explore Nearby Markets: La Marsa & La Goulette
For more culinary delights, visit the enticing municipal markets in La Marsa and La Goulette (Halk el Wed).
The latter market's entryway is adorned with a Carthaginian-style fish mosaic, a sign of what to eat in this historically cosmopolitan fishing neighborhood.
In Part 2 of this guide, we’ll dive into Yasmine’s recommendations on where to eat in Tunis like a proper Tunisian. If you fell in love with Tunis, make sure to subscribe and share widely!
Yasmin Houamed is and assistant researcher at SOAS University of London. Together with artists Emily Sarsam and Aziza Gorgi, she runs the Tunis-based project BROUDOU (@broudoumagazine), an independent collective, publication, and research platform. Yasmin is also a forever part-time employee at her family's restaurant, El Harissa, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University and a Master's in Anthropology of Food at SOAS, University of London.
Salivating and can't wait for Part 2. Back in Tunis in October and this is getting me ready for it.
Hello. Where’s part || ?