Cous cous is a species of pasta originating in North Africa. Rather than being in the form of noodles or extruded shapes, cous cous is granular. The raw pieces are roughly the size of coarse sugar grains.

What I find most appealing about cous cous, the reason it has been a staple of my diet for several years now, is its versatility. Once you have the basic recipe down, the things which cous cous will do are limited only by your imagination (provided your imagination stretches no further than variants of the pilaf/pilau idea).

There are two basic ways to prepare cous cous:

1. the dry way
2. the wet way

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This method is based on the way cous cous is presented in North Africa. It produces the dry, bread-crumby texture usually served in restaurants and which, if the truth be told, most of those who claim not to like cous cous have encountered.

The technique (which I confess I have never practised) is to soak the cous cous in cold water for a few minutes, then to drain and steam it. This produces separate grains which work very well in mopping up sauces from curries, spicy sauces, and the like. The result also has less flavour than polenta.

The best example of this variety of cous cous that I have had was in an Algerian restaurant in Paris where it was served with various spiced vegetable dishes and sauces, but I would be delighted to hear of readers' experiences of cooking cous cous using this method.

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For those amongst the audience who are cous cous purists, I should emphasise once again something which I have already mentioned in passing: this second method is the only one I use and is all I shall discuss for the remainder of the piece. Please do not take offence, but I like my cous cous this way.

Ingredients

• 2oz (60g) or 1/3 cup dry cous cous per portion
• 7 fl oz (200ml) or 1/2 cup stock or fluid per portion
• 1 tsp oil
• spices and herbs to taste

Method

1. heat the oil in a pan. The pan needs to have a close-fitting lid.
2. fry any spices until coloured.
   Fry whole spices first, then add ground spices, then wet flavourings (eg garlic or chilli)
3. add the stock to the pan, and bring to the boil.
   Depending on your taste, this stock can either be proper stock or a stock cube added to each portion of water. If you use stock cubes, you're unlikely to need any extra salt.
4. add the cous cous and any dried herbs. Take off the heat, stir and cover.
   Dried herbs should be added now to give them a chance to rehydrate. Fresh herbs can either be added halfway through soaking, or just prior to serving depending on the effect you want and the delicacy of the herb.
5. after ten minutes or so, the fluid should have been absorbed. Stir to separate the grains.
6. (optional) add a little butter or oil, stir and re-cover for a minute or two.
7. serve as a side dish

But that, as they say, is only the beginning...

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As I have already related, the thing I like about cous cous is its versatility - it will happily take flavourings based on the traditions of Mexico, Italy, India, even North Africa. All these variants can be achieved by changing the stock, the spices, the herbs, the contents of the initial frying, and so on.

Just remember the core recipe: 7 fl oz of fluid to 2 oz of cous cous.

All of these variants are based on the basic recipe given above and describe only those parts which are significantly different.

Ingredients

• stock: a light vegetable stock
• spices: garlic and black pepper
• herbs: any of basil, oregano, thyme, or bay
• extras: some sliced black olives or mushrooms; fresh plum tomatoes, roughly one or two per portion; a little good olive oil to finish.

Method Variations

1. after cooking the garlic and pepper, fry the olives or mushrooms before adding the stock.
2. slice the tomatoes and add them about half way through soaking
3. add some of the olive oil prior to serving.

Serve with a rich tomato sauce, or as a side dish with practically anything.

Ingredients

• stock: any vegetable stock
• spices: garlic and turmeric, and any of fenugreek, coriander seed, cumin seed, and cardamom
• herbs: coriander
• extras: 1 oz (30g) red lentils per portion; optionally, some peas.

Method Variations

1. cook the spices, then add the lentils to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes.
2. add water to pan to just cover the lentils, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and leave until the lentils have absorbed the liquid (usually about five or ten minutes). You may have to boil off the last bits of water, but be careful not to burn the swollen lentils.
3. add the stock and, optionally, some peas for a bit of extra colour.
4. herbs and finishing are as in the basic recipe

Serve with any curry in lieu of pilau rice.

Another good variant is to omit the lentils, just frying the spices and adding peas to the stock. This produces what I usually call yellow and green cous cous.

Ingredients

• stock: any vegetable stock
  Tip for UK readers: Knorr Mexican Spice stock cubes are a good option here and reduce the need for spice cooking elsewhere (dependent on taste, as ever). Check the ingredients, though, as they used to contain beef stock.
• spices: chilli, garlic, small quantities of coriander seed or cumin
• herbs: coriander
• extras: tinned chopped tomatoes (about half a 400g tin per portion); chick peas; tomato puree (about a tablespoon per portion)

Method Variations

1. drain the tomatoes, reserving the juice. Make up the juice to the required volume of fluid using your stock
2. cook the spices, then add the chick peas and fry until coloured.
3. add the tomato puree, stir in and cook for a minute more.
4. add the tomato juice stock and cous cous in the usual way.
5. stir in the drained tomatoes before serving.

Serve with any Mexican food, such as enchiladas, or use it an alternative filling for fajitas, or have it as a meal in its own right.

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Those are three of my favourite variants, but try other pulses or pine nuts in the initial cooking, try varying the spices or stock (Thai would probably work, for instance), or any number of herbs.

Cous cous is your friend.

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