Couscous tfaya — Fez, Morocco

Couscous tfaya — Fez, Morocco

Fez, Morocco

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This version belongs to the family Couscous, which holds 2 versions placed elsewhere. None is presented as the original.

In Fez, couscous is topped with tfaya, a jam of onions slow-cooked with honey, cinnamon, saffron and raisins. The meat — chicken or lamb — cooks in a fragrant broth, the grain is rolled and steamed three times, and everything is mounded into a dome: the semolina, the meat, the caramelized onions, the chickpeas, with fried almonds and hard-boiled eggs for decoration. The result is sweeter than vegetable couscous, closer to festive fare. It's the couscous of ceremonial Fridays and homecoming meals after a pilgrimage.

Preparation

  1. 01

    Fry the chicken with one onion, the ginger, saffron, salt and pepper. Cover with water and cook for 45 minutes. Add the chickpeas at the end of cooking.

  2. 02

    Prepare the tfaya: cook the remaining onions over low heat with a little broth, the honey, cinnamon and raisins, until soft, jammy and golden, about 45 minutes.

  3. 03

    Moisten the semolina and steam it three times over the broth, fluffing it and moistening it between each steaming. Butter it at the end.

  4. 04

    Mound the semolina into a dome, place the chicken on top, cover with the tfaya, and decorate with almonds and hard-boiled eggs cut in half.

Where this version sits

A single, final coordinate: Fez, Morocco. Another version of the same dish, elsewhere, gets its own point.

Photo: Samarrows — CC BY-SA 4.0

Other versions of Couscous

Couscous — , which holds 2 versions placed elsewhere. None is presented as the original.

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