This style of couscous dish is frequently served with sour pickles. That is cabbage, hot peppers and other items. You ought to find thin lamb cutlets from high end supermarkets such as Carrefour, in their meat department, which are sometimes described as rib chops. They are ideal for grilling or pan-frying.
Crunchy pickles make a superb accompaniment to serve with couscous and they are very easy to prepare. However, you will have to plan a good three weeks ahead to get the maximum taste and results out of them.
Combine your favourite whole or chopped raw vegetables with white wine vinegar, mixed with a little salt and leave to soak in the fridge for about three weeks. The most popular and preferred pickled vegetables in Morocco would be carrots, green tomatoes, hot peppers, white cabbage and garlic.
My introduction to couscous and cassoulet both date back to the 1960’s when I was living in New York City. Thanks to the late legendary chef Henry Hawkins, whose acquaintance I first made in 1965, when my late father took his daughter Althea Josephine’s hand in marriage.
It is to whom I credit my introduction to all manner of food, dining and cooking. The word couscous comes from the Berber word keskas, which refers to the utensil in which the couscous is cooked. In Morocco, what they call “couscous” is actually known as smida and refers to tiny balls of semolina flours made of durum wheat.
This fundamental dish to Moroccan cuisine is cooked in large quantities and is commonly enjoyed on the national Moroccan holy day, Friday. Couscous is usually served in a communal dish and represents the opportunity to gather and share with family and friends. It is hard to trace back the origins of couscous. However, many writers agree that couscous or (“smida” in Morocco) emerged in North Africa, more than 2,000 years ago, with the Berbers (ethnic group indigenous to North Africa).
The Berbers, Morocco’s first inhabitants are responsible for culinary methods and practices that are still alive today. The Berbers have also introduced the tagine utensil and are in fact responsible for the slow cooking and well-known cooking practice.
Couscous is definitely “the” staple meal in North Africa, and while the principle of the dish remains the same everywhere across the region (steamed semolina granules + vegetables/meat/fish + broth), each country and each family has their own way of preparing this much loved dish.
The majority of the couscous that is sold in supermarkets has been industrially rolled, pre-steamed and dried. It usually comes with very easy instructions that allow you to enjoy a warm couscous within minutes. Traditionally, couscous is hand-rolled at home. This means that it is made from scratch with semolina flour and water. The semolina flour is sprinkled with water and hand-rolled to create small pellets, which are then sprinkled with dry flour to keep them separate and then sieved. This process is repeated until all the semolina flour has been formed into small balls of couscous. The hand-rolled granules are then either steamed or dried.
A couscoussière, also known as keskas in Arabic, is the conventional steamer for couscous. Its base is tall allowing for plenty of vegetables and meat to cook in the broth and on top of its base sits a steamer allowing the granules of couscous to absorb the flavors from the broth. A muslin lined colander over a heavy double-boiler bottom makes a fair substitute, provided the two parts of cooker may be fitted so closely that vapor can escape only through the colander perforations. At the same time making sure that the colander does not touch the liquid below. Bear in mind that couscous after steaming, has a very bland, delicate flavor hence the meat and vegetable mixture is often sharpened with additional seasonings such as cayenne or chili; or a portion of the sauce is reserved, fired up and passed around for the stimulation of the more able bodied guests. It is a given that the majority of Arabs are able bodied when it comes to consuming hot sauce.
Serves Four
INGREDIENTS
• 3 tbsp olive oil, 3 onions
• 2 to 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp harissa
• 4 fennel bulbs, stalks removed and quartered (feathery fronds reserved)
• ¼ cup/50g butter
• 8 thin lamb cutlets
• Salt and black pepper
FOR THE COUSCOUS
• ½ tsp salt
• 400mll/1 2/3 cups water
• 350g/2 cups medium couscous
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Knob of butter, diced
METHOD
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy pan, add the onions and garlic and cook until they become translucent. Mix the tomato paste with the harissa and dilute with some water. Pour it into the pan with 2 ½ cups of water. Boil and add the fennel. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Prepare the couscous. Stir the salt into the warm water. Place the couscous in a bowl, cover with the water, stirring. Set aside for 10 minutes. Using your fingers, rub the vegetable oil into the couscous and set aside.
Use a slotted spoon to lift the vegetables from the cooking liquid and transfer to a covered dish; keep warm. Boil the liquid until it has reduced somewhat and set aside. Moving along, melt the butter in a heavy frying pan making sure that the fat does not burn. Add the lamb cutlets to the reduced broth and simmer for about 15 minutes until tender.
Preheat the oven to 180dC/350dFH/Gas mark 4. Put the couscous into an ovenproof dish and arrange the diced butter on top. Chop the fennel fronds and sprinkle over the couscous and cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Put the vegetables in the pan with the lamb and heat through. Fluff up the couscous and then mound it onto the serving dish. Place the cutlets around the edge and spoon the vegetables over and moisten with the cooking liquid and serve.
