Mesfouf

Ingredients

Couscous

• 500 gfine or medium couscous
• 1 tspsalt
• About 400 ml warm water, in stages
• 3 tbspsunflower oil
• 80 gunsalted butter or 3 tbsp smen

Fruit and nuts

• 150 ggolden raisins, soaked 20 min in warm water
• 150 gsoft dates, stoned and quartered
• 80 gblanched almonds
• 1 tbspbutter, for frying the almonds

To finish

• 3 tbspcaster sugar, or honey to taste
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• cold lben or a glass of milk, to serve

Directions

1. Tip the couscous into a wide shallow dish, sprinkle over 150 ml of the warm water mixed with the salt, and rub the grains between your palms for 3 minutes until each one is separate and damp.
2. Work in the sunflower oil the same way, then leave to swell for 10 minutes.
3. Bring water to a hard boil in the base of a couscoussier and set the perforated top on tightly, sealing the join with a strip of damp cloth so steam is forced up through the grain, not out of the sides.
4. Steam uncovered for 15 minutes from the moment steam rises through the couscous, then tip the grain back into the dish and break up the lumps with a wooden spoon.
5. Sprinkle over another 100 ml warm water, rake the grains apart with your fingers once cool enough to touch, and rest 10 minutes.
6. Steam a second time for 15 minutes, then repeat the watering and raking, adding the drained raisins with the last of the water so they steam with the grain.
7. Steam a third and final time for 15 minutes, until the couscous is completely tender, light and separate with no chalky centre.
8. Turn out into a warm bowl and fork through the butter until it melts, then the sugar, so the grains stay loose.
9. Fry the almonds in the tablespoon of butter for 3 minutes until golden, then scatter them over with the dates, dust with cinnamon and serve warm, with cold lben poured over or drunk alongside; this is the suhoor dish eaten before dawn in Ramadan and at the spring festivals.

Technique

• Three steamings are not fussiness. Each one hydrates the grain further, and a single steaming leaves a hard core that no amount of butter will hide.
• Sealing the join of the couscoussier is what forces steam through the grain. Escaping steam means unevenly cooked couscous, and a strip of damp cloth or a flour paste fixes it.
• Mesfouf is deliberately loose and sweet, eaten with the fingers or a spoon, and always with cold buttermilk, which cuts the sugar and butter.

Substitutions

• Instant couscous can be hydrated with boiling water and steamed once for 10 minutes; it will never be as light but it is what most households now do on a weekday.
• No couscoussier: a metal steamer basket lined with muslin over a stockpot works, as long as the seal is tight.

Variations

• Mesfouf bel zbib uses only raisins, no dates, and is the plainest everyday version.
• A spring version, mesfouf bel foul, folds in fresh broad beans and no sugar at all.
• Some families add a spoonful of orange-flower water to the last watering of the grain.

History

Eaten at suhoor before the Ramadan fast and at Mawlid; the dry sweetened grain is served with a bowl of lben or fresh milk poured over.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mesfouf?

Mesfouf is a breakfast from Algeria: sweet steamed couscous with raisins, dates and butter, eaten before dawn. Eaten at suhoor before the Ramadan fast and at Mawlid; the dry sweetened grain is served with a bowl of lben or fresh milk poured over.

How long does Mesfouf take to make?

Mesfouf takes 20 min of preparation and 50 min, in three steamings of cooking. The recipe makes 4 to 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mesfouf?

Yes, within limits. Instant couscous can be hydrated with boiling water and steamed once for 10 minutes; it will never be as light but it is what most households now do on a weekday. No couscoussier: a metal steamer basket lined with muslin over a stockpot works, as long as the seal is tight.