Plain or Flavored Couscous?

Plain or flavored couscous?

Occasionally I receive emails asking how to flavor couscous to serve with a particular tagine. It's like asking how to flavor pasta before adding a pasta sauce. Why the seasoning overkill? You wouldn't add raisins to pasta before adding a tomato sauce.

In Algeria steamed couscous is usually served plain as the basic starch component of a meal just as plain rice is served in East Asia. The sauce for couscous comes from the accompanying soup, stew or braised dish. There is no need to serve a flavored couscous in this context.

Algerian flavored couscous

Couscous with steamed and buttered vegetables or legumes such as carrots, peas, fava beans, scallion tips, etc... is eaten with lben or a light broth. A gently sweetened couscous with dried fruits and a light dusting of sugar can be served with lben for a light meal. Or a sweeter couscous can be served as a dessert like rice pudding, not something to serve with a savory tagine or even a sweet tagine.

Meat flavored instant couscous made by an Asian company. The packaging is like instant ramen noodles. I guess the idea is to pour hot water over it and cover with the little flap lid for a quick meal.

Pre-flavored Packaged Couscous

Another question I'm asked occasionally is about European brands of flavored couscous and North African recipes written by the French that refer to spice blends as "curry" or suggest using garam masala instead of ras el hanout. I do know that some Algerians in the diaspora substitute "curry" blends and garam masala if they don't have access to ras el hanout. But I think the primary reason (since these products are not made by Algerians and the recipes are not written by Algerians or North Africans) is that the further away ingredients are removed from their source and internalized by other food cultures there will be a greater tendency towards fusion which is quite normal. I don't have any objections to this.

I would not buy couscous flavored with "curry" spices simply because I don't like packaged flavored couscous, it's like serving rice-a-roni with East Asian dishes and not because I think "curry" spices in of themselves don't belong in Algerian cuisine. Besides remember the spice trade and all the things Arabs learned and transported from South Asia.