In my opinion, the prize for most colorful, balanced, freshest, most delicious, and most exciting of all Mediterranean street foods goes to Tunisian leblebi. A souplike meal-in-a-dish, it consists of a large bowl of torn stale bread covered with long-simmered chickpeas, a boiling rich broth made with the trotters or bones of veal, and medium-cooked eggs, with the whites firm and the yolks still runny. It is served under an ample amount of the famous Tunisian hot sauce harissa, topped with a pinch of capers, a few juicy olives, and roasted sweet red pepper strips. Finally, it’s garnished with ground cumin, a lemon quarter, and, at the last minute, a drizzle of some intensely fruity extra virgin olive oil. The resulting melange, in its colorful abstract beauty, resembles a Joan Mitchell painting.

Leblebi is found in hole-in-the-wall stalls in cities and towns throughout Tunisia. The dish is usually served as a breakfast and is almost always cooked by men for men. I eat it whenever I go to Tunisia, enjoying the atmosphere of male camaraderie, the delicious flavor, the reasonable price, and its aroma so early in the morning.

Happily, leblebi is a dish that travels well. And you can enjoy the leblebi experience at home without veal or lamb trotters or a bunch of Tunisian men smoking as they eat it. Whether I serve it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, people usually ask for more. In the words of Mae West: “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”