During his Algerian and Tunisian years, Fanon shared the rhythm of the Maghrebi meal: one first breaks the fast with a hot, fragrant soup (chorba), then comes the great communal semolina dish (couscous), and the conversation lingers over Moorish coffee. Flatbreads and dry provisions accompany travel. I have slipped in a sweet memory of his Martinican childhood, like a thread stretched between Fort-de-France and Blida.

A paste of dried red chilies, garlic, caraway, and coriander, mounted with olive oil. In the Algeria and Tunisia where Fanon lived, a spoonful of harissa melted into the broth awakens both chorba and couscous: it is the spicy red thread of the mid-20th-century Maghrebi table (the chili, originally from the Americas, had long been acclimatized in the Mediterranean).