Couscous

Couscous (Cous-cous or Cous cous) is a traditional staple food in North Africa; it is also common in Western Africa whence it has spread into Central Africa. Couscous is a pasta, made by mixing flour and water to form a paste which is then formed and dried. Most couscous is made with flour ground from durum wheat, but rice, maize (corn), or cowpea (black-eyed pea) flours are sometimes used. Home-made couscous is rare these days; even in rural Africa most people buy ready-to-use couscous from a store or market.

In Northern Africa the word couscous refers not only the pasta itself, but also to a dish of stewed meats and/or vegetables that is served with the pasta (just as the word spaghetti means both the noodles or a dish of noodles with sauce). The traditional method of preparing couscous is to steam-cook it in a special pot called a couscoussière. The couscoussière consists of two parts: the lower part is a cooking pot, usually rounded on the sides like a barrel, the upper part is a second pot (with a lid) that fits snugly on top of the bottom pot. The top pot has holes in its bottom that admit steam from the lower pot. The stew cooks in the bottom pot while the couscous is steamed on top. (Real couscous is always steamed, never boiled.) Most traditional couscous recipes call for the couscous to be dampened with water (or oil), then steamed, removed and allowed to cool, mixed with butter or oil, then steamed again, and then perhaps cooled and steamed a third time. If your kitchen is not equipped with a couscoussière, you can improvise with a metal colander inside a normal cooking pot and a lid to cover it all. Note: the boxed couscous available in grocery stores, which is prepared by pouring the couscous pasta into boiling water, is really pre-cooked "instant couscous". Cooking "instant couscous" in the traditional method described here may result in mushy, overcooked pasta. Obtain real (not "instant") couscous from a specialty store, or, if using instant couscous, reduce the cooking time by at least half.

What you need

six cups couscous (not "instant couscous")
two cups warm water, mixed with two teaspoons salt
one-half cup cooking oil (olive oil, melted butter, or similar)
chicken broth (or any North African vegetable or meat stew)

What you do

Put half the couscous in a large bowl. Sprinkle half the salted water over the couscous. Rub your hands with a bit of the oil and sprinkle the rest of the oil over the couscous. Use your hands to evenly distribute the oil and water into the couscous. Let the couscous form small pellets, but break any lumps. Add the remaining couscous and continue the process, adding more water and oil to make the couscous uniformly damp, but not wet.
Place the couscous on a clean cloth, cover it with another cloth and leave it to rest for an hour or two. (Some cooks let it rest for a much shorter time.)
Bring the chicken broth (or stew) to a very gentle boil in the bottom pot. Place the couscous in the top pot, cover, and let the couscous steam for about an hour over the simmering broth (or stew). Make sure that the steam is going up through the couscous and not escaping out the sides, especially if you are using an improvised couscous cooker.
Remove the couscous from the steamer and place it in a clean bowl. Massage some more oil or butter into it (careful not to burn your hands) and let it cool for about fifteen minutes.
Return the couscous to the steamer and let it steam for another half hour. Test for tenderness. The last two steps can be repeated.

Even if you don't make couscous the traditional way, now you know there's more to it than dumping it from a box into a pot of coiling water.

Serve couscous with Tagine of Chicken, Preserved Lemon, & Olives or Poulet Yassa. In Northern Africa, couscous (the pasta plus a meat or vegetable dish) is often served with harissa sauce.

COUSCOUS

Method

Wet the finely ground flour with cold water and knead it until flour particles agglomerate.
Force the mixture through a fine screen (1.5 mm mesh).
Place the grains in a perforated pot fitted over another pot containing boiling water.
Put a cloth seal at the joint between the two pots. Heat the lower pot to steam the grains above for about 15 minutes. They will form a single large chunk.
Take out the chunk, break it into small aggregates and transfer them back to steam for another 15 minutes.
Remove the chunk, break it into aggregates and sift them through a sieve (2.5 mm).
Dry and store for future use.
To prepare couscous for serving, sprinkle cool water on the aggregates.
Mix thoroughly with fingers.
Mix the grains with ground baobab leaf powder and other ingredients such as peanut paste, okra, etc. and give it a final steaming for 15 minutes.
Allow it to cool slowly
Serve with sauce or milk, or dry it and use as a convenience food.