Couscous ~ Seksu

Today was the day for couscous. The entire family gathered around 2pm, there were about 15 people. The food was served in two rooms: One for the men and another for the women. This was more the convenience than for religious or misogynist reasons: There were just so many people to serve that we had to be divided into two groups.

Couscous is the traditional dish of North Africa, most closely associated with Morocco. The term "couscous" ("seksu" in Berber) describes the pasta grains used in the dish as well as the stew that is poured over the grains.

The couscous stew is traditionally made with seven vegetables. Today's seven vegetables were carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, turnip, chick peas, and onions. Couscous comes in many forms: It can have very small pasta grains or very large ones, it can be made with meat

(usually lamb) or with fish, it can be savory and loaded with vegetables or sweet and sprinkled with almonds, cinnamon, and sugar. The couscous grains are often made at home from semolina, but they can also be bought at market or in stores. The grains are steamed over the couscous stew until they are light and fluffy. This requires the grains to be wet, steamed, tossed to keep them form sticking, and then steamed again three times over. Once the grains are fully steamed, they are arranged in a circle inside a large wooden bowl. Meat and vegetables are then arranged and equally distributed inside the circle of couscous. Finally, broth is poured over the grains, vegetables and meat, and the dish is served at a round table.

Everyone eats couscous with their hands, although large spoons are provided for those who do not wish to eat with their hands. How do you eat couscous with your hands? Well, there is a special technique that is easy to master. It involves gathering to your portion of the large bowl (the area right in front of you) all the various ingredients: couscous grains, potato, meat, chick pea, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, onion and then mashing them together with your fingertips. (You always use your right hand for rolling couscous into balls.) Once it is all well-blended, you scoop the mixture into your hand and begin to squeeze and roll the ingredients to form a ball. Then, you pop the ball into your mouth, without touching your mouth to your hand. My friend Habouba graciously allowed me to film her demonstrating this technique:

I got curious about the history of couscous and I found this very informative site on the web.

Here is our dish after we were done eating: