The Tunisian meal is not divided into starter-main-dessert: it is organized around a shared central dish (often couscous on Fridays, a stew on weekdays), accompanied by homemade bread (khobz tabouna), a drizzle of Sahel olive oil, and a touch of harissa that each person doses to their taste. Raw salads (slata) whet the appetite, fruits and honey sweets close it, and a large glass of Cap Bon citrus juice often punctuates the day. Everyone eats together, from the same dish, using bread as a spoon.

Harissa — a paste of dried chilies, garlic, caraway, and coriander bound with olive oil — is the soul of modern Tunisian cuisine; paired with olive oil from the Monastir and Sfax region, of which Tunisia is one of the world's largest producers, it marks almost every dish on Bourguiba's table.