Starters are an art in themselves. Mechouia is a salad of diced tomatoes, green and red peppers, hard boiled egg, tunny fish and capers, soaked in olive oil and lemon juice. Cous-cous, another favorite, is a robust stew of lamb, poultry, or fish with vegetables on a bed of steamed grain semolina. The Tunisian Mediterranean is full of fish. Sea bass, bream, grouper, red mullett, sardines, giant shrimps, squid and succulent lobsters.
Tunisian sweets tend to be just that, often pastries based on nuts and honey.
Tunisian wine is a revelation. Hearty reds like Haut Mornag, Magon and Sidi Saad. Thibarine is the elegant liqueur. And local Celtia beer is light and cooling. No, it isn't France, nor Spain, Italy or Greece.