Couscous bidaoui aux sept légumes — Casablanca, Morocco

Couscous with seven vegetables is one of the best-known versions of Morocco's Friday dish, built around a large red broth colored with tomato and saffron in which meat and a wide mix of vegetables cook together before being served over steamed semolina. The number seven is treated as symbolic rather than a strict rule, and the exact list of vegetables shifts with the season. This version is associated with Casablanca — bidaoui meaning “of Casablanca” — where it is reported as the couscous the city is most closely linked to, served on Fridays after prayers. Lamb shoulder or neck is browned with onion and a base of ginger, turmeric and pepper, then simmered with grated tomatoes and a bunch of herbs in a large volume of water to build the broth that will carry the rest of the dish. The semolina is prepared separately in the two-part couscoussier, steamed over the simmering broth in three passes, with the grains fluffed and moistened by hand between each one so they stay separate rather than clumping. Meanwhile the vegetables go into the broth in stages according to how long each takes to cook — carrots, turnips and cabbage first, then squash, zucchini and chickpeas later — so that everything reaches doneness together rather than turning to mush. To serve, the buttered semolina is mounded on a large platter with the vegetables arranged around it in sections and the meat placed at the center, and the dish is finished with a bowl of the broth and a separate chilli sauce, so diners can adjust the amount of liquid and heat to their own taste rather than having it fixed into the dish itself.