Giant Couscous

giant couscous

What is it?
This semolina based grain is a larger version of the familiar couscous. Each uncooked grain is about 5mm across.

Where does it come from?
It’s not Moroccan, it is also known as Israeli couscous but it doesn’t come from Israel either. Tracking down its Arabic name Moghrabieh, lead me to its origin: it’s Lebanese.

What do you do with it?
I have found several ways to cook it, either soak in water for about 8 hours or overnight, drain, rinse and dry in a tea towel and then use as you would normal couscous.

You can also add it to stews and casseroles early on in cooking similar to a lentil or other pulse.

You can steam the couscous over a aromatic broth, I have found an old Lebanese recipe  which steams the couscous for about 3 hours.

You can cook in a pan of just over double the volume of liquid for about 45 minutes, it can be a bit soggy this way

What does it taste like?
It tastes just like conventional couscous! It is great at absorbing the other flavours around it, and the large grains add a new touch to any couscous dish.

Recipe

Maroque's giant couscous salad

 

 

This very easy salad is refreshing and light. It makes a great accompaniment to barbecued food

200g Giant couscous (soaked overnight in cold water) 1/2 Cucumber, seeded and chopped 1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped 2 sticks of celery, chopped 1 tbsp parsley chopped 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste

1. After soaking the couscous overnight or at least 4 hours, rinse well in cold water and put in a colander to drain. I have found this is the easiest way to deal with the giant couscous. If the couscous still looks a bit wet, turn it out onto a clean tea towel to dry.

2. Add the cucumber, pepper, celery and parsley to a large bowl and mix in the drained couscous.

3. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil together and add to the salad, salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve with grilled meats or fish, it also make a nice salad for a lunch box. You can change the parsley for mint or fresh coriander if you fancy a change.

Serves 4

For more recipe ideas visit www.maroque.co.uk