_{My imaginary Steemit picnic in Sidi Bou Saïd, surrounded by local Steemians, Tunisian food and one of the Mediterranean views I would be happiest to share with visitors.}

Hello Steemians,

If the Steemit Team ever came to Tunisia, I don't think I would take them to a fancy restaurant or try to impress them with something complicated, because for me the best way to discover a country is often through a simple moment shared with people, good food placed in the middle of the table, a beautiful view in front of us, and enough time to talk without feeling that we have to follow a strict program.

For that reason, I would organize the picnic somewhere around Sidi Bou Saïd, preferably in a quiet spot overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, because even if this place is already very famous and might sound like an obvious choice, I still think it represents a part of Tunisia beautifully, with its white walls, blue doors, flowers, little streets, cafés, and that particular atmosphere that makes you want to slow down and enjoy the moment.

I can already imagine the scene quite easily: a large picnic cloth on the ground, food boxes everywhere, bottles of cold citronnade waiting in a cooler, someone asking me which dish is spicy, another person taking photos of everything before we are even allowed to touch the food, and all of us laughing because, as usual, I would probably have prepared much more food than we actually need.

What would I serve?

Choosing the food would probably be the most difficult part, not because I would not know what to prepare, but because Tunisian cuisine gives you so many possibilities that it would be very easy to turn a simple picnic into a huge family lunch with enough dishes to feed twenty people.

Since there would be five members of the Steemit Team, as well as myself and a few local Steemians, I would try to prepare several small dishes instead of one very large meal, because I would want everyone to taste different flavors and discover a little bit of our food culture without becoming completely full after the first plate.

The first thing I would put on the table would definitely be slata mechouia, because it is one of those dishes that looks quite simple when you describe it, but once you smell the grilled peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic mixed with olive oil, tuna, eggs and olives, it immediately feels familiar to anyone who grew up eating Tunisian food.

My slata mechouia, with grilled peppers, tomatoes, olive oil and olives, a simple plate whose smoky smell immediately reminds me of a Tunisian table.	Harissa served with olives and olive oil, a small plate that can quickly become a serious test for anyone discovering Tunisian spice for the first time.

And of course, there would be harissa on the table, although I would probably warn everyone before they start adding large spoonfuls to their plates, because I have noticed that when Tunisians say that something is “not very spicy,” our idea of “not very spicy” can sometimes be completely different from that of someone visiting the country for the first time.

I can already imagine myself telling them, “Try a little first, and then decide,” while secretly waiting to see who is brave enough to ignore my advice.

There would also be plenty of fresh bread, because eating slata mechouia without bread would feel incomplete to me, and I know that at some point everyone would start tearing pieces from the same loaf and dipping them into the salad while continuing the conversation.

Fresh Tunisian bread, because once the harissa and slata mechouia arrive on the table, I know this basket would not stay full for very long.	Golden and crispy brik served with lemon, one of those Tunisian foods that I would really enjoy watching the Steemit Team discover for the first time.

The next thing I would serve would be brik, which is probably one of the foods I would be most excited to introduce to someone who has never visited Tunisia before, not only because it tastes good, but also because eating it for the first time can become a small adventure when the crispy pastry breaks and the egg yolk suddenly decides to escape onto the plate.

I think that part could easily become an unofficial Steemit challenge, because we could see who manages to finish a brik without making a mess, although I have to admit that I would not be very confident about winning that competition myself.

For the main part of the picnic, I would prepare some grilled chicken seasoned with Tunisian spices, a good amount of merguez, several mini fricassés filled with tuna, potatoes, olives, egg and harissa, and maybe a few simple salads on the side, because these are foods that are easy to share and do not require everyone to sit formally around a table.

_{A colorful Tunisian salad with cucumber, tomato, onion, tuna, olives and boiled egg, fresh enough to balance all the grilled and spicy food waiting around it.}

And because none of my guests would be vegetarian, this would also be the moment when the grill becomes impossible to ignore.

Tunisian merguez and grilled pieces of meat with lemon, uncomplicated food that tastes even better when everybody is eating from plates placed in the middle of the table.	A generous plate of grilled meat, because whenever I prepare food for guests, I somehow always end up buying enough for several people who were never on the original guest list.

I would keep the portions relatively small, because the idea would not be to give each person one enormous plate, but rather to let everyone try a little bit of everything, and I would honestly be quite happy if, at the end of the meal, someone looked at me and said, “I ate too much because I wanted to taste everything.”

For me, that would mean the picnic had gone exactly as planned.

Something cold to drink

Since the weather in Tunisia can still be quite warm, especially when you are sitting outside near the sea, I would prepare a large amount of homemade citronnade with fresh lemons, cold water and sugar, and I might add a little mint because I like how refreshing it becomes when it is served very cold.

Fresh citronnade with lemon and mint, which I suspect would suddenly become everybody's favorite drink after the first serious encounter with harissa.	A traditional tea moment with fresh mint, because for me the best conversations often continue long after everyone has finished eating.

I would also make sure there was plenty of water, because after tasting harissa, merguez and brik, I suspect at least one person would suddenly become very interested in finding the nearest bottle.

After the meal, however, I would definitely prepare traditional mint tea, preferably with pine nuts if I can find good ones, because for me sitting around with a small glass of hot tea after eating is not really about being thirsty, but about extending the moment and giving everyone another excuse to remain seated and continue talking.

And dessert... obviously

I don't think I could organize this picnic properly without adding something sweet, because no matter how full people say they are after lunch, dessert somehow creates a little extra space that apparently did not exist five minutes earlier.

I would bring makroudh, because I would like the Steemit Team to discover the combination of semolina and dates, and I would also add some good Tunisian dates to the table, especially because they are simple, easy to share and connected to an important part of our food culture.

_{Makroudh filled with dates and covered with sesame seeds, the kind of sweet ending that makes people forget they were saying “I'm full” only a few minutes earlier.}

Since we would already be close to Sidi Bou Saïd, I would also bring bambalouni, because eating a warm, sugary bambalouni while looking at the sea sounds like such a good idea that I would probably include it even if nobody had asked for dessert.

To be completely honest, this part of the picnic might be as much for me as it is for the Steemit Team.

My shopping list

I would prefer to buy most of the ingredients from local shops and markets rather than getting everything from one supermarket, because I think the preparation itself could become part of the experience, especially if I had enough time to walk through the market, choose the vegetables, talk to the sellers and make sure everything was fresh.

_{IA generated}

For the slata mechouia and the other dishes, I would need tomatoes, green and red peppers, onions, garlic, lemons, parsley, potatoes and some seasonal fruit, and I would probably buy most of these from a local market, where the vegetables are displayed everywhere and you usually end up buying one or two things that were not originally on your list.

Then I would need eggs, tuna, olives, harissa, olive oil, malsouka sheets for the brik, tea, sugar and pine nuts, while the chicken and merguez would come from a butcher I trust, because for a picnic like this I would rather buy a smaller amount of good meat than try to save a little money and regret it later.

The bread would have to be bought on the same morning, because fresh bread is one of those small details that makes a big difference, while the makroudh and other sweets would come from a traditional pastry shop where I know they are prepared properly.

I know myself well enough to say that I would probably start with a reasonable shopping list and then come home carrying enough food for several extra guests, because in Tunisia there is always this little fear that somebody might still be hungry, which usually means preparing much more than necessary.

Would I invite other Steemians?

Of course I would, because I think the picnic would become much more interesting if the Steemit Team could meet several Tunisian Steemians instead of spending the entire afternoon listening only to my explanations.

I would invite:

kafio

I imagine that once everyone started talking about the food, we would quickly have different opinions, because one person might insist that their family makes the best slata mechouia, another could start explaining which region has the best makroudh, someone else would probably add far too much harissa to everything, and before long we would have one of those completely normal Tunisian food discussions where everybody is convinced that their version is the correct one.

For me, that would actually be perfect, because the Steemit Team would not only discover the names of the dishes, but also the memories, habits and little disagreements that come with them, which is often the part of food culture that you cannot really understand by reading a menu in a restaurant.

One small Steemit idea

At the end of the picnic, I would like to do something connected to Steemit, but I would keep it very simple because I would not want to turn a relaxed afternoon into a formal activity.

I would give each person a small card and ask them to write down their favorite Tunisian dish, the food that surprised them the most, the spiciest thing they tasted and the one thing they would happily eat again the next day, and once everyone had finished, we could compare the answers and take a group photo together.

I think it would be funny to see whether brik, makroudh, merguez or slata mechouia became the unexpected winner, and I am almost certain that somebody would mention harissa in the “spiciest thing” category.

What I would really want them to remember

If I think about this picnic seriously, I realize that the food would only be part of what I would want the Steemit Team to remember, because the thing that matters most to me would be the atmosphere created around it.

I would want them to remember sitting together for a long time without anybody checking the clock, sharing bread from the middle of the table, laughing when someone struggles with a brik, hearing different stories from Tunisian Steemians, watching the light change over the Mediterranean, and eventually hearing somebody say that they are completely full before taking another piece of dessert a few minutes later.

That kind of moment feels very familiar to me, because food in Tunisia is rarely only about eating; it is also about sitting together, talking, sharing, offering more than people need and making sure that nobody leaves the table feeling like a stranger.

So if the Steemit Team ever comes to Tunisia, I already know what I would tell them before the picnic starts:

Come hungry, because saying “no, thank you, I am full” will probably not save you from being offered another plate. 😄🇹🇳