Couscous The couscous [1] or cùscusu (in French : couscous ; in the Arab Maghreb : كسكس ; in Berber : seksu ) is a typical food of North Africa and Sicily west, consists of agglomerates or granules of semolina steamed (the diameter of a mm before cooking). Generality Traditionally the couscous was prepared with durum wheat, Triticum durum , the grainy flour that can be produced with a coarse grinding mills using primitive, but today with this name also refers to foods prepared with different cereals, such as barley , millet , sorghum , rice or corn . Usually it accompanies stewed meat and / or boiled vegetables (on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea also fish stew). Can be made spicy accompanying it with harissa (used especially in Tunisia ). This dish is the traditional food of the whole North Africa, to the point that it could be called national dish of the Berbers . In much of Tunisia , Algeria , Morocco and Libya is known simply by the name in Arabic : طعام , Taam , food. As well as in the Maghreb , it is very common even in West Africa , in France (second favorite dish from the French [2] ), in Belgium and also in the Near East (particularly in Israel among Jews of North African origin). In Jordan , Lebanon and Palestine is called maftūl (twisted). In Italy the couscous à prepared in Trapani , in Sicily ; is steamed in a special clay pot glazed, but the dressing, unlike that magrebino, is a broth of fish soup . The name in the local dialect is cuscusu. From Sicily, the couscous was brought to Livorno (lamb couscous) and Genoa [ citation needed ] . History One of the first written references to the couscous is by the anonymous author of a cookbook of al-Andalus , the Spanish Muslim of the thirteenth century , the Kitab al-tabīkh fī al-Maghrib wa l-Andalus , which gives a recipe for couscous. The dish was created in Morocco [ citation needed ] . The couscous was also known in the Sultanate of Granada of Nazari . Also in the thirteenth century Syrian historian of Aleppo cites the couscous on four occasions. These quotes show that such ancient couscous spread rapidly, but in general it was especially common in the West until the Islamic Tripolitania , while further east, from Cyrenaica , the kitchen was especially Egyptian type, in which the couscous was only an occasional dish. Today, the couscous is known in Egypt and the Near East , but in Morocco , Algeria , [3] and Tunisia , couscous is the base-plate. Catalan appears in the novel Tirant lo Blanch (1464) with the name of cuscusó. One of the earliest references to couscous in Northern Europe is in Britain , in a letter dated January 12 1699 . But long before it had made its appearance in Provence , where the traveler Jean Jacques Bouchard writes of eating it in Toulon in 1630 . African origins There is increasing evidence that the cooking process typical of couscous, particularly the steaming of the grains on the edge of a pot in terracotta, may have originated before the tenth century in an area of West Africa that embraces current Niger , Mali , Mauritania , Ghana and Burkina Faso . Ibn Battuta traveled to Mali in 1352, and in what is today Mauritania had a couscous of millet. He also observed a couscous rice in the area of Mali in 1350. It should also be remembered that for centuries the Berber nomads resorted to black women to cook the couscous, which could be a further indication of the origin of the food sub-Saharan Africa. Preparation The grains of couscous are made with semolina (coarsely ground durum wheat) or, in some regions, by miles coarsely ground. The semolina is sprinkled with water and worked by hand to make pellets, which are sprinkled with dry flour to keep them separate, and then sieve. The pellets that are too small to constitute couscous grains pass through the sieve and are again sprinkled with semolina dry and handmade. This process continues until all the flour has been transformed into tiny grains of couscous. This process requires a very prolonged process. In traditional society women were wont to gather in groups for several days to prepare together a large amount of couscous grains. These last, sun-dried, then they could last for several months. Nowadays, the production of couscous is largely mechanized, and this product is sold in markets around the world. Similarly can be prepared the balls of berkukes , which differ to be larger grains of couscous normal. Cooking The couscous should be passed to the steam two or even three times. When it is cooked as it should is soft and light, it should not be gummy or lumps. Couscous that is sold in Western supermarkets is usually steamed past a first time and then dried, and the instructions on the package said to add a little of boiling water to make it ready for consumption. This method is quick and easy to prepare: just put the couscous in a bowl and pour over boiling water or broth, then covering the bowl with a plastic sheet. The couscous swells and within a few minutes it is ready to serve, after having remixed with a fork. The pre-cooked couscous takes less time to prepare than the pasta or rice. The traditional method of North Africa is to use a container for steaming called taseksut in Berber , kiska: s in Arabic or couscous ( couscoussier or couscoussière in French ). The base is a metal pot elongated convex shape in which you cook the vegetables and meat stew. Above this base is placed the container from the perforated bottom where the couscous is steaming absorbing the flavors of the broth below. If the joint between the edge of the pot bottom and the upper vessel is not sealed, is often place a damp cloth to not allow steam to escape from the sides. There are many archaeological evidence of an ancient custom of couscous, but it may be that this is to be the fact that the ancient couscous pots were made of organic materials, destined not to survive. In Tunisia , Algeria and Morocco , couscous is generally served with vegetables (carrots, turnips, etc.) boiled in a broth more or less spicy, and some type of meat (usually chicken , lamb or mutton ); in Morocco, the couscous you can also find fish in sweet and sour sauce with raisins and onions; in some regions of Libya are also used fish and squid . the broth of the flesh in Tunisia is red, with tomato and chili, while in Morocco is usually yellow. In Morocco sometimes couscous is also served at the end of the meal or by itself, as a delicacy called seffa . The couscous is cooked several times, and then worked with meat and vegetables, until it becomes very soft and pale in color. At this point spreads over almonds, cinnamon and sugar. It is traditional to serve this dessert with milk flavored with orange flower water, or you can serve in a bowl alone with whey as a light soup for dinner. The pot is now also popular in the former colonial power in North Africa, France, where for couscous usually means the couscous with its outline. In stores and French supermarkets are often packs containing a box of pre-cooked couscous of fast food and a can of vegetables, usually with meat. There are even recipes Brazilian which provide the couscous boiled put in a form with other ingredients mo flan . Couscous Trapani In Sicily , in Trapani (territory with frequent social and historical ties in the last two centuries with Tunisia and Libya) and the surrounding areas as Favignana , and San Vito Lo Capo , couscous ( cuscusu dialect) has become customary almost daily. The semolina is incocciata and then steamed in a special pot holed glazed clay. But the dressing, unlike the Maghreb, is the Ghiotta , a fish soup mixture of redfish red , black rockfish , grouper , dory , Vopa , gurnard , louvar and eel of salt marshes in the area, along with some shrimp or escape [4] . Another version in that area (particularly in Marsala and Mazara del Vallo ) are the frascatuli balls of semolina mixed, accompanied with fish broth. Inland Trapani couscous or frascatole are cooked also accompanied by a cauliflower soup, beans, carrots, chickpeas and vegetables. This dish also exists in Sardinia , cooked in the same way and called Fregula . The couscous Trapani is inserted between the traditional Sicilian food products recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry , at the proposal of the Sicilian Region .
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 07:26:24 +0000
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