POLL: Couscous

[Jenise]

Our friends Susan and Michael had us over for a most excellent dinner on Saturday night, and Susan prepared several brilliant dishes that are worth mentioning for their special ingredients. The salad was baby greens with wasabi peas in a nicely balanced olive oil vinaigrette. Now we love those peas as a snack, but I never thought of putting them in a salad. What a great, hot little crunch they were! I'll be copying Susan's idea in the future. And for dessert, she served a simple Marcella Hazan preparation of vanilla ice cream topped with ground coffee beans and a splash of good Scotch. I skipped dessert but tasted Bob's--GREAT combination. Scotch and ice cream--who knew? Bob has now warned me to plan on doing this at home in the future.

Her main course was baked chicken breasts and baby beets with rosemary and thyme served on a bed of couscous. Now I love couscous and it's always in my pantry, but after having Susan's (which caused serious cravings for seconds which I daintily resisted) I have to admit somewhat sheepishly that it's name doesn't reflexively come up when I'm mentally reviewing the starch options for a given meal. I probably only prepare it twice a year--a paucity of imagination that is silly in and of itself, but especially so considering how easy couscous is to prepare.

Am I alone? How often do you prepare couscous?

Sounds like a great meal!

I love couscous. I used to make it quite frequently, but for some reason, since moving to Montana I haven't made it once. Will have to correct that! Thanks for this reminder, Jenise.

One of the ways that the excellent Della (the chef at my former workplace) served it was as a foundation layer under a rich vegetable beef soup. Not something I would have done before having it, but something I did often after that.

I'm the "never made it voter", yet I do enjoy it and indeed have some in the cupboard, so would very much welcome ideas, cooking tips etc. No great food loves/hates (well I'm assuming braised sprouts, tripe and couscous isn't the done thing ).

regards

Ian

[David M. Bueker]

I prefer quinoa.

I often make it for a quick lunch with homemade eggplant pickle. I recently watched a show on Egyptian cooking (I think) and the chef added blue cheese to her steamed couscous to mimic the sharp (rancid?) butter that's usually tossed through the finished dish. It's a delicious addition!

I voted often. I like it as a sauce absorber. For instance, if I make a veal and pepper stew, I'll put down a foundation of couscous, and then put the stew on top of it. That way, those tasty juices don't go to waste.

I prefer quinoa.

We've been served it at an upscale restaurant when it said couscous on the menu!

We favor the Israeli toasted couscous. I like the smaller variety, as well. It can be used in so many ways and if I am out of one type of grain, I am likely to try the recipe with the Israeli type. I also use it in place of rice. I especially like it in the summer with grilled meats and veggies, prepared with feta, fresh toms, cuke chunks, and a lemon vinaigrette. Our summers are so hot that anything I can make in the morning, put into the refer and serve cold for dinner and yet have big, bold flavor ins on my list.

Interesting that you should post this topic. When I was in DC in January, my nephew wanted to prepare lamb chops. I asked him had he ever tried preparing lamb any other way -- which he hadn't. So, I took him on this little culinary adventure. We bought lamb shanks and prepared them with a honey-saffron sauce. I then made couscous which I tossed with roasted vegetables and olive oil. He was surprised and has made both dishes once a month since I left! But, alas, couscous is something that I just don't prepare often enough. And I always wonder why I don't more often whenever I sit down to a meal of it. Huh!

Sometimes I'll make couscous for my supper. I'll use a can of diced tomatos & chiles, shake on some paprika, black pepper and sea salt, add a touch of balsalmic vinegar and EVOO, and use that for the liquid. Grate a little parm on top, and call it good.

Last week I bought a meal from an African food stall at a music festival. I'm used to couscous that is is fairly fine in texture - like coarse breadcrumbs - but the couscous they served was much bigger. Each 'bead' was about the size of a pearl from Grandma's necklace - much like the tapioca that we used to have in puddings. Tasted the same, though the different size gave a different texture experience. (The rest of the dish consisted of chicken legs stewed in tomatoes and hot spices.)

This entry is for Pierre,

What we call call couscous here in the US is really what the French call, semoule. The grain is semoule and the dish is called Couscous. I once made the mistake of calling semoule, couscous in Pierre's home. I then got the whole detailed lecture about the grain being semoule and the dish being Couscous. After the lecture he taught us how to make Couscous aux sept legumes which I still make. BTW Pierre was born and raised in Morocco and was one of my best friends when I lived in Frnace. I know very anal retentive but it's one of those things your never forget.


-mike

It's a rare thing for me to make it. Before I had kids, I used to go backpacking and couscous was a favorite to bring along. It was light, prepared easily with just some boiling water, and felt good after a long day's hike. I tend to resist making it at home, though, and I can't really say why. I guess I just like other starches more. I do like the idea of using it as a base for serving something stewed or braised and I'll try to keep that in mind.

Last week I bought a meal from an African food stall at a music festival. I'm used to couscous that is is fairly fine in texture - like coarse breadcrumbs - but the couscous they served was much bigger. Each 'bead' was about the size of a pearl from Grandma's necklace - much like the tapioca that we used to have in puddings. Tasted the same, though the different size gave a different texture experience. (The rest of the dish consisted of chicken legs stewed in tomatoes and hot spices.)

Matilda, you had Israeli couscous! I *adore* it!

I fall into the occasional or perhaps seasonal category. I mostly cook whole grain corn polenta, bulgur wheat, and like that. Whole-grain couscous (I’ve tried only the Trader Joe’s version) is soggy, so I don’t use it. Frying ordinary couscous in a bit of olive oil before adding liquid definitely adds flavor and a slightly resistant texture.

Like other pasta, it tastes like whatever sauce is added.

But it is a handy breakfast meal base for backpackers, as Michael Filigenzi pointed out, and I’m throwing it in my food bag for this weekend’s overnighter to Lamont Peak.

Because couscous is a staple of the North African diet and thus, largely because of immigrants from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, of the Israeli and Palestinian diet, it is a dish on which I dine regularly. As a grain on its own, couscous is much valued but of course the couscous most valued is that known as couscous complet - that is to say, the couscous served piled high in a separate bowl, accompanied by all kinds of fatty meats including various cuts of lamb and sausages (merguez by definition being the best of those), along of course with the indispensible chickpeas, and alongside that the soup containing what will become the sauce and the mixed vegtables in that. Alongside of that of course are two, three or four different hot sauces, At times the dish will be served already composed in a single plate but that is seen as definitely inferior.

The very best couscous does not come in ready to use form but must be hand-rubbed before use. Alas, the instant and pre-rubbed versions have become more popular.

I rarely (haven't done it in a decade) make couscous complet at home because it is too readily available in truly fine form at many restaurants. I do, however, use couscous as a grain as a side dish quite often (one of my favorites is grilled salmon fillet accompanied by one plate of butter rich couscous and another of pumpkin puree)

A sad truth: The best couscous in the world is no longer to be found in either North Africa, Israel or Palestine but in Paris (either in the area of the Marais or the Bastille)


Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

Last week I bought a meal from an African food stall at a music festival. I'm used to couscous that is is fairly fine in texture - like coarse breadcrumbs - but the couscous they served was much bigger. Each 'bead' was about the size of a pearl from Grandma's necklace - much like the tapioca that we used to have in puddings. Tasted the same, though the different size gave a different texture experience. (The rest of the dish consisted of chicken legs stewed in tomatoes and hot spices.)

The Israeli couscous Karen mentioned is that tapioca size you are referring to.

[Jenise]

I like it as a sauce absorber. For instance, if I make a veal and pepper stew, I'll put down a foundation of couscous, and then put the stew on top of it. That way, those tasty juices don't go to waste.

Right, much like rice. And that brings up a key point: I asked a friend who is a pretty good if somewhat staid cook yesterday if she ever uses couscous and she said no. Her reason was that she finds it rather plain and thinks it needs a pat of butter--point is, she tried to use it as a substitute for mashed potatoes or some other starch in a standard three-plop presentation rather than understanding it's usefullness or best purpose as an underlayment in a layered dish. Probably a typical American misunderstanding.

Definitely sounds one to try when I do a game stew - which can have a very strongly flavoured sauce (well especially so if I bung 1/2 a bottle of Barbaresco in the pot!)

My wife has been on a quinoa kick lately, both for health(nutritional) reasons and because she feels that it is easier to prepare. I generally prefer coucous as it seems to me that coucous absorbs sauses better.