Harissa is a Tunisian hot chili pepper paste made from roasted red peppers, the local Baklouti pepper, garlic, caraway, coriander, cumin and olive oil. Its heat and flavour come from the chilies, while the oil carries the fat-soluble flavour compounds through the dish. Nabeul on the Cap Bon Peninsula is the main centre of its production, and Tunisia is the largest exporter of prepared harissa. Chili peppers reached Tunisian cooking only after the Columbian exchange, probably during the Spanish occupation of Hafsid Tunisia between 1535 and 1574. UNESCO lists the harissa tradition as part of Tunisia's intangible cultural heritage.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.