1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (175 page)

Couscous lends itself well to a variety of dishes.

A snowy mound of tender, toothsome, rice-sized bits of pasta, suffused with a robustly aromatic stew of vegetables, spoon-tender chunks of lamb, rabbit, chicken, squab, or fish, and toppings of softly boiled chickpeas, dried pumpkin, and raisins, each portion doused with a ladleful of lush broth, fired with spicy harissa sauce … A must-have dish in any Moroccan restaurant, and in many French bistros as well, couscous is
really an event, as much about the elaborate preparation as the serving and the eating. Its foundation is the tiny, granular pasta, couscous, which gives its name to the dish and to the metal steamer pots it’s cooked in, dubbed
couscoussiers
by the French. Traditionally, the only utensils used to eat it are the fingers of the right hand, which squeeze together bite-size balls of couscous that soak up the stew. For those reluctant to dig in with their hands, fork and spoon are always available.

At first glance, the cooked couscous resembles coarse semolina grains, and in fact it begins as semolina flour, sprinkled with water and worked by hand until it clumps into tiny pellets, which are then pushed through a sieve or basket. It’s a task that demands considerable skill; fortunately, pot-ready dried couscous is ubiquitous. It’s not as good as homemade, of course, but it’s a fair trade-off, considering the years of practice and hours of labor that go into hand-formed couscous.

After it is formed, the slightly dampened couscous goes into the steamer basket of the couscoussier, while in the pot below, vegetables such as tomatoes, zucchini, turnips, carrots, eggplant, and cabbage simmer along with onions, garlic, meat (usually), and broth, seasoned with spices that might include coriander, cumin, thyme, cinnamon, saffron, and hot and sweet peppers. The stew sends up the fragrant steam that cooks and fluffs the grains of couscous and whets the appetite.

Variations abound, including a Moroccan dessert couscous flavored with cinnamon and sugar and served with butter. A delicate, saffron-bright chicken couscous made with tiny new artichokes and other vegetables in a creamy sauce is a beloved springtime lunch of the Berbers, an indigenous North African ethnic group that gave couscous its name. On home ground, a couscous feast is almost always served as an epic lunch, akin to the Brazilian
feijoada
(see
listing
) and the Italian
bollito misto
, as it is considered much too heavy for the evening meal.

Where:
In Fez, Morocco
, Palais de Fes Dar Tazi, tel 212/661-147-268,
palaisdefes.com
; Restaurant Al Fassia (in the Sofitel Fes Palais Jamias), tel 212/535-634-331;
in Marrakesh, Morocco
, Al Fassia Gueliz, tel 212/524-434-060,
alfassia.com
; Al Fassia Aguedal, tel 212/524-381-138,
alfassia.com
;
in Paris
, Le Mansouria, tel 33/1-43-710016,
mansouria.fr
; Timgad, tel 33/1-45-74-23-70,
timgad.fr
;
in New York
, Mémé, tel 646-692-8450,
memeonhudson.com
; Barbès Restaurant, tel 212-684-0215,
barbesrestaurantnyc.com
;
in Washington, DC
, Marrakesh, tel 202-393-9393,
marrakeshdc.com
;
in Boston
, Kasbah, tel 617-539-4484,
kasbahrestaurant.com
.
Mail order:
For couscous, Marky’s, tel 800-522-8427,
markys.com
; Zingerman’s, tel 888-636-8162,
zingermans.com
; for couscoussier, Williams-Sonoma,
williams-sonoma.com
; for individual spices, Penzeys Spices, tel 800-741-7787,
penzeys.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Arabesque
by Claudia Roden (2006);
The Food of Morocco
by Paula Wolfert (2011);
food.com
(search traditional north african couscous);
cookstr.com
(search fluffy couscous); for classes in preparing couscous and other Moroccan dishes in Marrakesh, Souk Cuisine, tel 212/673-804-955.
Tip:
Some North African restaurants, both stateside and abroad, require couscous to be ordered twenty-four hours in advance and have a set minimum for group size.

No
diffa
, or celebratory feast, would be complete without this richly complex soup, a leaner version of which is served to break the Ramadan fast each day at sundown. The flavorful broth, made from both chicken and lamb, is bolstered with giblets, lentils or chickpeas, onion, celery, and tomatoes, and spiced with cilantro, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, and bracing shots of lemon and hot chiles in the form of Morocco’s incendiary
harissa
paste. At its most lavish,
harira
is thickened with broken lengths of fine vermicelli pasta, simmered in the soup, and beaten egg yolks, which impart a satiny texture to the rose-red soup.

Serves about 8 as a first course; serves 4 or 5 as a main course

⅔ cup dried lentils or chickpeas

2 pounds chicken legs or thighs, with skin and bones

1 pound chicken giblets trimmed and cleaned

1½ pounds lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut in ½-inch cubes

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil or unsalted butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup canned crushed tomatoes with their juices

2 ribs celery with their leaves

5 to 6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

3 sprigs fresh cilantro, plus chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

1 cinnamon stick (2 inches long)

1 teaspoon turmeric

Pinch of powdered saffron or saffron threads

½ teaspoon harissa (Moroccan or North African chile paste), or ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, plus harissa for serving

1 cup broken uncooked vermicelli, in 1-to 1½-inch lengths

3 extra-large egg yolks

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1.
Soak the lentils or chickpeas in cold water to cover for about 6 hours. Rinse, drain, and set the lentils or chickpeas aside.

2.
Place the chicken parts, giblets, and lamb in a 6-quart pot and add water to cover. Add the salt and pepper and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate and let simmer for about 15 minutes, skimming off the foam as it rises to the surface.

3.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil or butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the browned onion to the pot with the chicken and lamb. Add the tomatoes with their juices and the celery, parsley and cilantro sprigs, cinnamon stick, turmeric, saffron, harissa or red pepper flakes, and the drained lentils or chickpeas.

4.
Let the soup simmer gently but steadily, partially covered, until the chicken is falling from the bones and the lamb is tender, about 1 hour. As the soup cooks, add enough water to maintain the original level of liquid.

5.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and lamb from the pot. Trim all of the skin and bones from the chicken and discard them,
along with the cooked vegetables and the cinnamon stick.

Cut or shred the chicken and lamb into spoonable pieces and return them to the soup. The soup can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours. (Before resuming, if you prefer a lean final result, skim any congealed fat from the surface.) Let the soup come to a simmer before continuing with the recipe.

6.
About 20 minutes before serving, add the vermicelli to the soup and let it simmer until soft, about 7 minutes.

7.
To thicken the soup, beat the egg yolks with the lemon juice in a small bowl. Using a ladle, slowly trickle some hot soup into the egg yolk mixture, beating constantly with a wire whisk. When you have added about 2 cups of the soup to the yolk mixture, turn off the heat and slowly pour the yolk mixture into the soup, beating constantly with the wire whisk.

8.
Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice as necessary. Let the soup heat for 5 minutes but do not let it come to a boil. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle each portion with parsley or cilantro, if desired. Pass harissa at the table for those who want a fiery accent.

Variations:
Canned lentils or chickpeas can be substituted for the dried. If you are using these, rinse them under cold running water and add them to the soup, about 10 minutes before the vermicelli. If you prefer, either the chicken or the lamb can be eliminated, in which case double the amount of whichever meat you use.

Where:
In Paris
, Timgad, tel 33/1-45-74-23-70,
timgad.fr
;
in New York
, Boulud Sud, tel 212-595-1313,
bouludsud.com
;
in Boston
, Kasbah, tel 617-539-4484,
kasbahrestaurant.com
;
in Chicago
, Shokran, tel 773-427-9130,
shokranchicago.com
;
in San Francisco
, Café Zitouna, tel 415-673-2622,
sfcafezitouna.com
.
Mail order:
For harissa, Zingerman’s, tel 888-636-8162,
zingermans.com
; for individual spices, Penzeys Spices, tel 800-741-7787,
penzeys.com
.
Further information and additonal recipe:
moroccanfood.about.com
(search classic moroccan harira); for classes in preparing harira and other Moroccan dishes in Marrakesh, Souk Cuisine, tel 212-673-804-955,
soukcuisine.com
.

A welcome component of every course but dessert, the North African and Israeli relish
matbucha
is fiery in color, aroma, and flavor. It may appear as a sparkling meze appetizer, a dip for bread, a spread for pita sandwiches, or a condiment for salads and grilled or roasted fish, chicken, or meat.

Based on softly cooked tomatoes slowly simmered in olive oil with grilled or sautéed green peppers, onions, and garlic, until the ingredients meld together, the lush puree gets final touches of pine nuts, cumin, and a heady sprinkling of crushed, hot red peppers or a dash
of the hot sauce harissa. Ideally left to ripen for five to eight hours before being served, it is best appreciated at room temperature.

If prepared in large quantity, matbucha can also be used as the base for the baked egg dish
chakchouka
(see
listing
), the spicy crimson sauce lending a pungent accent and mingling with the eggs’ runny yolks.

Given the current taste for hot-flavored foods, it would not be surprising to see matbucha join the ranks of other international hot sauces as a fashionable garnish for hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta, various barbecued meats, and even pizzas. A little stirred into a lentil or bean soup would not go amiss either.

Where:
In New York
, Mémé, tel 646-692-8450,
memeonhudson.com
.
Further information and recipes:
A Taste of Morocco
by Robert Carrier (1997);
The Food of Morocco
by Paula Wolfert (2011);
gemsinisrael.com/matbucha
;
kosherfood.about.com
(search matboucha);
allrecipes.com
(search matbucha).

Succulent lamb requires multiple butter bastings.

In a recipe that dates to the mid-twentieth century, Madame Z. Guinaudeau, a French ophthalmologist who lived and worked in Morocco for many years, begins her instructions for
méchoui
with rather gory and specific directions for slaughtering a young sheep (including “plunging a knife into the carotid”) before roasting it on a spit. Nowadays, méchoui is just as likely to refer to a nicely spit-roasted leg of lamb, no elaborate butchery required. Essential to its flavor and succulence, however, are frequent bastings with butter spiced with both hot and sweet paprika, black pepper, coriander, salt, and sometimes ginger. Some cooks allow the meat to marinate in the butter mixture for several hours and then may insert slivers of garlic under a thin layer of fat, a seal to prevent loss of the delicious juices. As the meat turns slowly on a spit (cranked mechanically or by hand), it develops a pungent, crackling crust while the interior turns rosy red and absorbs the hot and sweet flavors of the seasonings. The challenge is to keep sneaky fingers from pulling off luscious chunks of the spiced meat as it roasts.