Morocco, Algeria, Liberia, Israel, Tunisia - Couscous

by Yushra Mughal

ABOUT THE DISH

There are many dishes that have made its mark all around the world. These dishes are eaten everywhere and are loved the same. The dish which I am about to tell you about is also considered among those dishes. Couscous is an Maghrebi cuisine also known as a North African cuisine. It is a grain product made from semolina which is mixed with different spices and stew. Couscous then absorbs these stew and get a flaky rice type texture which is essential. Lastly the couscous is served with an protein. This protein varies from place to place as if you go different parts of the world they have their own style of couscous and if you visit many different African regions you will see that they are using proteins like chicken, lamb, beef etc. This is what makes this dish so great. It is unique everywhere and the flavor it produces also is impeccable. Not only the ingredients are different there but the style of cooking it is also different all around the world. In some African regions it is cooked in a steamer yet in some other parts it can be cooked simply as well. It is very demanding in the restaurants and it can be served as starters as well. It is a very old dish which goes back centuries. It may look easy but it is not. It is a very difficult dish to master and very easy to destroy. Sometimes the couscous can become mushy and can destroy your dish so you have to be careful while making it.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Like many other dishes the true origin of couscous is still unknown but there are many possibilities regarding when it could have been first made. In the Arabic cookbooks of the 14th century there are many mentions of dishes like couscous. An food Historian named Charles Perry wrote a book about couscous and mentioned in it that book that by looking at all those dishes in the Arabic cookbook we can make an assumption that couscous was first made in between the end of the 11th century and start of the 13th century. Another historian specified that it was made during the Hafsid era. There was also an Historian of the same time which wrote that he found three recipes in the Arabic cookbooks which resembled couscous. One of these books were called Kitab al-Wusla ila al-Habib and another one was called Kitab al tabikh .

Another food historian by the name of Clifford Wright says that couscous was first made in 12th century and it was made with barley and acorn flour. There are also many reports which say that there were utensils found in the tomb of the Berber ruler King Masinissa of the 3rd century. Researchers say that these utensils were same as those of today which are used to make couscous. This indicates how old this dish really is and also Masinissa was the one who united Algeria , Libya and Tunisia so this clearly shows that this dish originated in these Maghrebi countries.

VARIATIONS

There are many variations of couscous depending on the place where you are eating it. These different variations are as follows and along with its country.