Morocco's medieval culinary tradition reveals couscous recipes far more diverse than today's familiar version, ranging from fava-bean couscous and turnip-green couscous to preparations made from bread crumbs or even stuffed inside a roasted sheep's belly. Couscous is Morocco's emblematic dish, a guest that appears on nearly every Friday table. In 12th-century Morocco, couscous was already a staple of Almohad cuisine, the vast empire that stretched across Morocco, North Africa, and parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Made from steamed semolina grains, today's familiar couscous is generally served with vegetables, broth, and meat or chicken. But couscous has a long history, shaped over centuries into variations that still survive in Morocco's rural regions. Yabiladi brings together some couscous preparations you have likely never heard of. Couscous al-Fityani This couscous recipe comes straight from 13th-century Marrakech. It appears in one of the earliest and most enduring Maghrebi-Andalusian culinary manuscripts: Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh fī al-Maghrib wa al-Andalus fī ʿAṣr al-Muwaḥḥidīn (The Book of Cooking in the Maghreb and Al-Andalus in the Almohad Era), written by an anonymous author. A typical Marrakchi couscous of the Almohad period, the recipe begins with the usual steamed couscous «known among all people», as the manuscript states. The meat is cooked separately «in the usual manner», then removed along with the vegetables. The broth is strained, returned to the fire, and once it begins to boil, the cooked couscous, rubbed by hand, is added. It is left over gentle heat until it absorbs the broth completely. The couscous is then poured into a qaṣ'a (an earthenware couscous bowl), leveled, topped with the cooked meat, and finished with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. Closer to today's standard couscous, this Almohad version is described as a variation of the «usual couscous», which at the time commonly referred to couscous served simply with vegetables. Couscous Made from Bread Crumbs Another surprising variation noted by the same author uses crumbs of darmak bread, fine white bread, turned into couscous. The crumbs are rubbed by hand in a bowl, «as one kneads porridge», and must be used lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. They are placed in a perforated pot and steamed. Once steamed, the couscous is moistened and served with gueddid, strips of cured, sun-dried meat, along with its broth. The author adds with a rather unusual couscous variation which included : «couscous topped with chicken and ghee. It was a special delicacy, and it contained Toledo turnips and cow's eyes», A delicacy indeed. Bayssar Couscous Another striking recipe is couscous with fava beans, only fava beans. It appears in the 13th-century Fiḍālat al-Jiwān fī Ṭayyibāt al-Ṭaʿām wa-l-Alwān (The Excellence of the Table), written by the Murcia-born scholar Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī, a key witness of Almohad cuisine. The recipe begins by preparing fine-grained couscous «as usual». Dried fava beans are boiled in a clean pot filled with fresh water or rainwater, without salt. After being washed thoroughly in hot water, the beans are cooked again and rubbed with pure oil. The mixture is beaten vigorously until it thickens into a smooth, paste-like broth (bayssar). Hot water is added as needed, and salt is adjusted. When the bayssar comes to a boil, the couscous, worked with good butter, is added and left to absorb the mixture fully before serving. A modern echo of this dish still survives in rural northern Morocco. One example, shared by Moroccan Alia Al Kasimi in her Flavors of Morocco, steams fresh or frozen fava beans with lemon slices. Once tender, the beans are mashed together with steamed couscous, olive oil, salt, cumin, and chili powder, and served hot with lben, traditional Moroccan buttermilk. Awssay (Afrass) Couscous Equally unusual is Awssay, or Afrass, a traditional couscous from the Souss region made with turnips and their tender greens. The couscous is coated with olive oil, moistened with water, allowed to swell, and steamed. Meanwhile, turnip greens are washed, chopped, and cooked with onions, diced turnips, salt, olive oil, and hot water. Hot peppers are added halfway through. Once steamed, the couscous is topped with the cooked vegetables and drizzled with argan oil, as per Soussi tradition. A Reversed Couscous Featured in Fiḍālat al-Jiwān, this recipe flips the usual couscous on its head. Instead of topping couscous with meat, the meat is stuffed with couscous. A fat sheep's belly is cut open, its contents removed and cleaned thoroughly. Inside, it is filled with minced fat mixed with the spices typically used for stuffing. The couscous, once cooked, is rubbed with ghee, cinnamon, and a little mastic gum. This mixture is then used to stuff the sheep's belly, which is sewn shut. The stuffed belly is roasted until perfectly done. The couscous is then placed on a serving dish, garnished with pieces of the sheep's meat, and sprinkled with cinnamon, a festive, lavish preparation reflecting elite medieval cuisine.
