From: hanene@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Hanene Ben Abdallah)
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: RE: Couscous (Notes and a recipe)
Date: 16 Nov 92 15:44:18 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

>darragh@maths.tcd.ie (Darragh J. Delany) writes:
>>By the way, couscous grains are pre-cooked--at least the various brands
>>sold in the U.S. and imported from France (Al Badia is a nice one) are.
>
>As I understand it couscous originated with the roman who wanted to
>preserve their grain crop and hit upon the idea of pre-cooking the grain
>so that it could be stored and distributed around the empire.
>
>Darragh.


Not according to  the history I've been taught in school back home
(Tunisia). Couscous is THE main dish of barbars: natives of north
Africa. This dish continues to be one of the common most popular
dishes across the now politically  divided people of north Africa.
Some regions eat couscous on a daily basis, especially the rural areas
(because it doesn't cost much.)

As for pre-cooking the finely cunshed grains, yes they are steamed in
the couscousie`re (like a  double boiler with the top pan full of holes in
the bottom). Water is used during this process which is ususally
repeated twice, after which the couscous is sun dried if it is made in
large quantities to store for the winter. (I remember my grandmother
and my mother used to go through this "ritual" during the end of the summer
break when I was a kid. Now, my mother is content with the quality of
the manufactored couscous, but not my grandmother!)

For the daily use (after the steaming with water if freshly made)
couscous is put in the couscousiere with the lower pan containing the
sauce and a LOT of vegetables. You can tell when the grains are ready
(bigger in size and not crunshy any more). The sauce is poured on the
couscous in a bowl (we have a special one for couscous which is from
our barbarian heritage) and covered for about 5 minutes before
decorating with the vegetables and serving.

Here is one recipe for couscous with lamb:
lamb (as much as you want)
2 T olive oil
1 small onion (can subst. scallion)
chick peas 
---- saute and add the following
1 T tomato paste
1 t papprica
1/2 curry
1/2 coriander
1/2 black pepper 
salt 
---- simmer** for a 5 minutes and add water (enough to cook the meat and
for double the amount of couscous; e.g. 2 cups of sauce for 1 cup of
couscous) and put the prepared (see below) couscous on the upper pan.
When the meat is almost cooked, add vegetables (we use carrots,
squash and  potatoes). When everything is cooked, pour the sauce on
the couscous in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes; decorate with meat
and vegetables and fried green peppers, we also sprinkle some black
pepper but this might be too hot for some.

** While simmering prepare the couscous as follows: moist the couscous
with water (not a lot of water because you want it to absorbe the
sauce) and few drops of olive oil (so that it does not stick
together). Before putting in the upper pan, separate/stir the grains (use a
spoon or your hand)

Note: the manufactored couscous tend to require more sauce. I never
measured it, but I drawn the couscous in sauce. The main thing is that
it shouldn't be dry, nor should it be mushy!

-Hanene

P.S. I apologize for the lengthy message, but I couldn't help myself
saying what I know about my favorite dish.