The warm front is going strong, but I've kind of run out of steam (as it were) with the couscous posts. It's not that we have finished eating it, but I think that I might make it into what we call "couscous soup" for today's lunch. That just means dicing up all the vegetables and meat, and maybe adding some water to the broth to make it a little soupier. On the right is the couscous as we served it a day or two ago. I hadn't yet sprinkled on some broth with harissa hot-pepper paste dissolved in it when I took this photo.
The second time we ate a lunch of couscous, I poured all the meat and vegetables into a big, shallow roasting pan so that we could better see which vegetables we wanted to eat with the couscous grain. Covered with aluminum foil, into the oven it went for a slow reheating. We cooked another batch of couscous grain to have with it.
Cooking the coucous "grain" in a souscoussier
Fill the bottom container of the couscoussier (steamer) pot two-thirds full of water or broth and place it over over high heat.
When the liquid comes to a boil, set the perforated steamer basket containing uncooked couscous on top of the pot. Make sure the two containers fit together snugly so that steam rises up into the couscous grain and doesn’t escape out the sides. If the holes in the steamer basket are large enough that the couscous grains might fall through, line the basket with cheesecloth or a clean, thin kitchen towel.
Put the lid on the steamer basket. After about 30 minutes, take the grain out, pour it into a large flat dish, and let it cool slightly. Oil your fingers and work the grain to break up any clumps. Put the grain back in the steamer basket over the boiling liquid and repeat the process twice, not forgetting to work the grain with oiled fingers each time to to break up any clumps. After the third cooking, dot the couscous grain with small cubes of butter and serve it with vegetables, meats, and the spicy couscous broth. Optionally, mix plumped raisins into the grain.
The above is a loose translation of instructions I found in the 1990s electronic Larousse Gastronomique food and cooking encyclopedia. The older 1960s print edition of the LG gives the following instructions as an easier way to prepare the grain:
Cooking the couscous grain "by spontaneous boiling"
For this method, you don't need a couscoussier pot. Moisten the couscous with a little water and wait for it to absorb the water and plump up. Then carefully pour the couscous little by little into about a liter of boiling liquid, preferably strained couscous broth — or just water, clear chicken or vegetable broth, or milk.
Stir constantly. Cook the couscous for about 15 minutes. When it's done, strain it and and dot it with butter. Serve it hot with stewed couscous vegetables and meats.
The third method is to follow the instructions on the package. For example, to serve two, put a cup of couscous into a saucepan. Pour a cup of boiling water over it and let it soak for five minutes to absorb the water. Stir with a fork to break up lumps. Add a little olive oil or butter. Serve hot. This method assumes you're using quick-cooking couscous grain, which is about all you can find dans le commerce these days. I've looked at amazon.fr for couscous that requires long, slow cooking, but I haven't found any. Here's another take on the whole couscous cooking issue.
The first method of cooking raw couscous is the one I remember, with the vegetables and meats cooking in the lower pot. The grain will absorb the flavorful steam that will give it some good taste.
ReplyDeleteI would understand that if you weren't eating the couscous with broth spooned over it. Sans bouillon ajouté, in other words.
DeleteIt might not be up to your standards, or correspond to your memories (time-enhanced, maybe), but we have enjoyed eating this couscous.
Don't misunderstand me; I didn't say your couscous wasn't good. I just said the old fashioned way to prepare it is probably better, or just like day and night as I read in your last link.
DeleteNon, je te comprends très bien. Ça remonte à quand, la dernière fois que tu as fait ou même mangé un couscous comme ceux dont tu te souviens avec tant de d'ardeur ? Il faut que nous vivions dans le moment présent, sans avoir les yeux constamment rivés sur un passé lointain. Tu me rapelles quelqu'un qui, invité à dîner par des amis chez eux, ne peut pas s'empêcher de faire remarquer à ses hôtes que les plats qu'ils ont préparés pour l'occasion ne sont pas à la hauteur de plats qu'il a eu le plaisir de manger jadis ou sous d'autres climats. Tu as l'air de vouloir donner des leçons. C'est encore une fois l'histoire des carottes... Je te dis ça avec tout le respect que je te dois, et avec mes sentiments amicaux.
DeleteI'd like to hear the story of carottes. ;-)
DeleteLOL. You mean you don't remember? Has to do with choucroute and blanquette.
DeleteNon, tu ne m'as pas compris. Loin de moi de mettre en doute tes talents de cuisinier, je les connais et sais combien ils sont appréciables et appréciés. Ce que j'essayais seulement de faire, c'était une comparaison entre le couscous instantanné et le couscous (graine) préparé de façon traditionnelle. Je ne suis pas le seul à penser que la façon classique de préparer la graine est la meilleure. Dans ton dernier lien, voici ce que disent Ian Knauer et Shelly Westerhausen : "Our fascination with hand-rolled couscous started with a recipe by Moroccan-born chef Mourad Lahlou that Shelley found while searching for couscous that would remind her of the versions she’d tasted in Paris, a city with wonderful pockets of North African influence. With its lighter texture and fresher taste, the difference between this and the instant stuff is night and day."
DeleteDevrais-je être amicalement méchant et te remercier de me comparer à ce truand qui dit à ses hôtes que leur cuisine est infecte?
Yesterday, it was J.L. celebration of life. There were many people, and some I had not seen for up to forty five years! It was very moving.
This is all interesting to me. One day I hope to try couscous in France.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next summer, E. I'll read up on couscous restaurants in Tours or Blois.
DeleteKen, thanks for these three posts about Couscous. Great photos -- you're contributing to the education of a bunch of little American students! LOL
ReplyDeleteI remember that when I was teaching French in the U.S., it was so hard to get up-to-date, relevant information about life in France. Nowadays, with the internet and blogs, not to mention other social networking sites, maybe all that has changed.
DeleteWell the couscous soup sounds great. Because of these posts I picked up whole wheat couscous at our local Trader Joe's. Will try to get other half to cook it Mexican style with tomatoes, onions, cilantro and green chile.
ReplyDeletePS whole wheat was all they had, so I don't know how that shifts the equation.
DeleteWhat are the cooking instructions on the package?
DeleteWhole durum wheat semolina. I large saucepan 1 cup water, 2tbsp butter and 1/2 tsp sale. Bring to boil and remove from heat Pour 1 cup dry couscous into saucepan. Stir. Cover. Fluff.
ReplyDeleteThose are the standard cooking instructions for couscous nowadays. And serving it Mexican-style, with tomatoes, chiles, cilantro and onions sounds delicious.
DeleteI went to Intermarché yesterday and tried to find some couscous that is not "instant" and would require long cooking in a steamer. There isn't any available. Those days are over, I think. There were 5 or 6 brands of quick-cooking couscous on the shelves.
DeleteI also saw this comment about steamed couscous on a web page written by a Moroccan cook: "The couscous itself, while tender and light, doesn’t have too much flavor..." It's kind of like other forms of pasta in that way. It takes a good sauce or other flavor ingredients to be tasty. One commenter points out that preparing couscous the traditional way is an inordinately time-consuming task.