Description

WHAT IS COUSCOUS?

Couscous is regarded as the ultimate comfort food in North Africa and parts of the Middle East.

Like rice to Persian cuisine or pasta to Italians, couscous is considered a sacred food to enjoy every day.

Deriving from the Berber word seksu, which means well-rolled or rounded, couscous resembles a whole grain like wheat or barley, but is actually a mixture of semolina (cracked middlings of durum wheat), water, salt and oil or samna (clarified butter) that gets rubbed together until it forms small granules that are then steamed.

Like snowflakes, every piece of hand-rolled couscous has its own unique shape and composition.

Today, most people only know the factory-produced version that comes in a box with a flavor packet tucked inside. But at its heart, couscous is the opposite of fast food, it is made by hand and savored accordingly.

MEDILIFE Couscous Country of Origin: Tunisia

Experts say that it went back two or three thousand years to our Tunisian ancestors, the Berbers.

In every Tunisian house, there used to be something like home factories where women traditionally produced Pasta by hand, sometimes with the aid of simple equipments such as traditional wire sieve-strainers( Ghorbel in Tunisian dialect ) and Traditional Tunisian steamers (Keskes in Tunisian Culture).

Nowadays, people everywhere consider Couscous as ambassador of North African cuisine and the epitome of the delicacy of Mediterranean culinary art.

With its rich tradition, couscous remains one of the most attractive and mysterious dishes in the world.

How Do You Eat Couscous?

In America, couscous is typically regarded as a side dish – a starch sitting on the side of the plate. But in North Africa and the Middle East, it much more versatile and central to the meal.

It can be served savory or sweet, and either alone or as a component of a larger dish.

In North African countries, it is often accompanied by a meat or vegetable stew.

Tunisians  treasure a couscous dish served with a vegetable stew, typically a mix of root veggies and squashes.

They, often add tomatoes to their couscous stews.

Tunisians like to liberally spice up their couscous with Harissa, and serve it with a brothy fish bouillabaisse.

On the sweet side,Tunisian  serve very fine, fluffy couscous doused with milk and flavored with cinnamon, orange blossom water, sugar, and almonds.

No matter what accompanies it, the most important aspect of couscous is that it is served communally.

It is meant to be shared and savored along with laughter and conversation.

Couscous Types

Europages