Couscous (as you all know) is the staple dish of the Maghreb, i.e. Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Basically it involves a bowl of steamed cracked wheat accompanied by root vegetables cooked in a soup, plus some meat, spicy mutton sausages called merguez, or (in Tunisia only) fish. The soup includes five basic vegetables: carrots, celery, turnips, onions, and courgettes. You can also add tomatoes or tomato paste, broad beans, chick peas, or capsicum peppers.
I am an expert on couscous, having criss-crossed the Sahara on a camel with my very own Berber tribe, and can tell you there is a world of difference between the insipid Moroccan style couscous you will get at fancy-ass places like Kasbah or Le Petit Chouia and a real Berber couscous. I actually make my own in time-honoured fashion, rolling the dampened and oiled cracked wheat gently under my armpit whilst ululating wildly, then steaming it in a traditional stainless steel couscoussiere over the meat and vegetables in their sauce.
Squatting improves the flavour
If you are making it at home, let me give you a couple of tips: whatever it says on the packet, do NOT prepare the cracked wheat by pouring boiling water over it and leaving it for five minutes! The warm salted water has to be added a little at a time and allowed to swell the grain which is then gently sifted with the fingers (or a fork) to separate them. A little olive oil at some point in the preparation can help lift and separate. When an equal amount of water (i.e. one cup for one cup of grain) has been added in stages, then the grain is steamed for 20 minutes or so, if possible over the soup and vegetables in which you may also cook the lamb or the chicken to add flavour. If you don't have a couscous steamer, you can use a regular vegetable steamer with a layer of clean cotton or muslin in the bottom to stop the grains trickling through. The prepared couscous should be pale yellow and fluffy, with the grains moist but separate. My second tip is, don't buy your merguez at a supermarket. Only a halal butcher (plenty around St Josse or Anderlecht) will supply authentic spicy mutton sausages as well as mutton and lamb.
You may have tried couscous for the first time here in Brussels and been somewhat underwhelmed. There are not many couscous restaurants which get a star rating from me, and those that do will likely be in Marrakesh or Paris rather than Brussels. Real natives (of North Africa, not Belgium) will tell you the best are to be found in St Gilles, all of them on the Rue de Moscou. It's a small street, with four restaurants in it, ALL of which are couscous joints! With some relief I located the perfect Berber couscous at one of them, Le Tizi Ouzou, which is Algerian, as opposed to Moroccan. This does matter, believe me. Tizi Ouzou, or “Tizi” as it is known to its denizens, is the capital of Kabylie, the predominantly Berber coastal region between Algiers and the Tunisian border whence hail Zinedine Zidan, and the fathers of actors Isabelle Adjani and Dany Boon. The restaurant was the first couscous house to open in Brussels over 40 years ago, and despite the competition that has opened up in the street, is still going strong.
Le Tizi Ouzou is an unpretentious little place offering a selection of couscous and tagine dishes as well as classic starters such as “brik à l'oeuf” (a kind of egg roll, make with a type of filo pastry called “brik” in Algeria and “warka” in Morocco), “pastilla” (pigeon pie) and chorba spicy soup Don't bother with a starter before a couscous as it usually comes as an “All you can eat” deal, and they will top up your bowl on request. The grain is light yellow, devoid of raisins or any of that Tunisian frippery, and perfectly fluffy. The sauce is a full-bodied soup with plenty of colour and flavour. The vegetables are not overcooked, and the kick-ass hot paste known as harissa is served in a little pot on the side. The "couscous maison" is served with stewed mutton, which you may never have tasted and is worth a try – it is succulent and melts in the mouth, at a most reasonable 17 euros. The wine list includes such Algerian specialities as Médéa, Mascara and Cuvée du Président, as well as house wines. The restaurant is simple and clean, with typical North African blue and white tiles on the walls. The waitress is a jolly motherly type who pours a mean mint tea, serving it in the traditional silver teapot with a shaker of orange flower water. If you've got any room left after your epic couscous you could accompany your mint tea with an oriental pastry or some fresh dates.
The eyes follow you round the room
We came out, stuffed, having spent 25 euros a head, including wine, mint tea, a tip and a visit to Chef in his kitchen. As I departed I had an overwhelming urge to ululate.
Le Tizi Ouzou
Rue de Moscou 36
1060 St Gilles
Tel: 02 538 1533
