Couscous

I tried couscous for the first time 2 years ago purely out of curiosity.  I could tell from the packaging it would be similar to rice but it ended up becoming a total game changer for me.  I decided to pick couscous for the blog because I actually knew very little about the dish and looked forward to learning more about it.  I also thought this would be easy to prepare in bulk and I know it is safe to serve at room temperature for the potluck.

Couscous comes in the form of small granules that are very soft and relatively neutral in taste.  It is made by “covering bulgur [a type of wheat cereal] with milk and flour” (263, Celik, et al.).  While the processed version is produced mechanically, the hand-made couscous involves hand rolling to break up the dough into small particles that are subsequently dried.  Couscous is boiled into a dense mass but can be easily fluffed and retains a light consistency like rice.  It can be presented as a bed for proteins, set aside on its own or mixed into any other dish.  In my experience, using chicken stock or liberally applied seasoning are much more preferable than simply boiling in water for plain couscous.  Personally, butter and salt make couscous one of my guilty pleasures I could make an entire meal out of.

Couscous is naturally light in calories at 176 per cup (USDA.gov).  The USDA evaluation of its caloric property excludes several variations that can improve the taste or nutrition.  In a study, the Pamukkale University in Turkey modified the composition of couscous recipes by adding or decreasing soy flour, oat flour and eggs.  Couscous is naturally rich in protein, calcium, potassium and iron but can be enhanced with more parts soy flour (269 Celik, et al.).  Oat flour and egg enhance flavor and aroma (269 Celik, et al.).

In western cuisine, it appears to be mostly used a starch compliment to a dish. While some recipes call for it to be mixed completely in a pasta type dish, Western culture tends to highlight the protein as the star.  Gordon Ramsey’s Sea Bass with Lemon Couscous seats the protein on a bed of couscous reflecting its use as a compliment (ironman.com). 

The origin of couscous is believed to be African (West and North) but is largely depicted in Mediterranean, Turkish and Israeli literature and cook books (Cliffordawright.com).  Of the sources I’ve examined detailing couscous’ history, colonialism and expansion are likely the reason for its migration into the Mediterranean.  The overwhelming attention to areas outside of Africa in the recipes and discussion of couscous’ history causes me to relate it to the Papua New Guineans distaste of their coffee.  Perhaps African cuisine doesn’t prize or use couscous as often as Mediterranean cultures do and the spotlight has been stolen by other cultures.  Would that make the overwhelming usage of couscous in Mediterranean cuisine more significant than in African cuisine or has the African cuisine become marginalized as a result of expansion?  Immediately, I thought of the Lets Cook Thai article by Lisa Heldke as a possible explanation for couscous’ adoption into other cuisines as an “exotic” food and evolving into its current uses.

I have not found anything linking couscous to something as symbolic as an obento or Papua New Guinea coffee, but it nonetheless has some interesting meaning outside of its significance to cultural embodiment.  First, patent US5334407A is the US patent for the dried form of couscous I enjoyed for the first time 2 years ago (USPTO.gov).  Fresh couscous typically takes 20 minutes to cook (with hours of preparation), but this method makes the cooking time less than 10 minutes (USPTO.gov).  Certainly many significant meanings can be attributed to the motivation to make this product such as the patenting of food and the integration of couscous into Western cuisine.  Hearkening back to Lets Cook Thai, the creation of this mechanical process removes the painstaking labor components of producing couscous.  If the labor is seen as part of its identity, all that remains then is the flavor, texture and composition.  This westernized faster way of making couscous could be seen as the modernization of couscous or its colonialist exploitation.  I think it is reasonable to suggest that this form of couscous has a different significance in our American society than hand-made couscous in others.  Perhaps the labor put into making couscous makes its consumption more enjoyable like a slow cooked pot roast over a TV dinner.  I suggest the speed and ease of cooking couscous makes the American experience more about its flavor.  Conversely, perhaps the experience of hand-made couscous is more about the time it takes to roll each individual granule and socializing with others in the process. 

Resources:

Sea Bass with Lemon Couscous - http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2013/06/gordon-ramsays-pre-ironman-regime.aspx#axzz38WAq2NaK (there is no author listed in this web article)

USDA - http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6377?fg=&man=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=&qlookup=couscous

Clifford A Wright - http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/id/34/

US Patent Office - http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/5334407

Ilyas Celik, Fatma Isik & Oguz Gursoy.  “Couscous, a traditional Turkish food product: production method and some applications for enrichment of nutritional value.”  International Journal of Food Science and Technology.