Just an area of pride, check out bullet #11. Keep in mind, if you don’t poke around the site, ND is the World’s leader in production of Durham wheat. 
The couscous we buy in the shops here and cook this way is quick-cook couscous or instant couscous. It’s actually part cooked and dried when we buy it. “Real couscous” is cooked by long (and sometimres repeated) steaming.
I’m not sure that’s correct, or at least there appears to be more than one basic type of it available here; there’s ‘quick cook’/‘easy cook’/‘instant’ couscous, which often comes in meal-sized packs and often includes bits of dried vegetable and flavourings, then there’s ‘couscous’ - which is just a bulk pack of the dried granules themselves.
I looked yesterday behind the link of robcaro. Then I came to ask for info about it at home and have as result of this odysee that the description of time-consuming preparations behind that link are found to be accurate.
So what you people have as “couscous” to be cooked or warmed up or whatever seems to count for a poor attempt to give a taste of the real thing
Salaam. A
I suppose the same could be said about many things; fresh-baked bread is a poor attempt to duplicate the experience of ploughing a field, planting the grain, harvesting the ripe wheat with a hand-sharpened scythe…etc.
Showing the difference between the preparation of a food as how it should be done in comparison to the fake products that give you the impression you have “the real thing”, has far or nearby nothing to do with the far sought “comparisons” you now tear into this discussion.
For your information: I trust the one who prepares it for us to be absolutely well informed about this, as it is the case about the preparation of all sorts of food. Since that person is a professional cook.
I can’t say that about someone who pretends to know that there is no difference between the real thing and what you can buy in a supermarket posing as the real thing.
Salaam. A
I think the term ‘fake’ is rather inappropriate here; Kraft cheese slices are ‘fake’ cheese, Carob is ‘fake’ chocolate, but couscous is just little balls of dried dough; it isn’t complex enough to warrant the distinction (any more than dried pasta should be called ‘fake’ in comparison to fresh pasta)
I refered to the result of the whole preparation, which is faking the real thing and already starts with the use of a substance that is only a shadow of what is required to have the foundation for the original preparation.
Salaam. A
Well, then we’re back to anything being ‘fake’ if you didn’t prepare if from scratch.
I got my box of “instant” couscous out last night and tried an experiment.
According to the directions on the box one does not “cook” or “boil” this stuff. One boils the water first, THEN you turn off the heat and ONLY then do you add the couscous. Depending on how accurately you’re measuring and the local humidity, this results in something between edible and delightfully fluffy and comparable to professionally prepared couscous I’ve eaten in ethnic eateries in Chicago.
If you put the couscous in the water, THEN boil it, you get a sludgey disgusting mess.
So, as usual, following the direction has benefits.
You know, your statements in this thread would carry a heck of a lot more weight if you yourself were a cook. You’ve already admitted that you’re not, that you’ve never prepared this dish yourself, and are wholelly reliant on others to do this for you. Pardon me, but I am skeptical. Mind you, I have know problems with someone being a little chauvanistic towards their heritage but methinks thou dost protest too much in this case.
Well, I prefer to trust our cook in the explanation that was given to me. I’m aware of the danger of such a blind trust… Maybe the day will come that I drop dead and don’t know why.
I must also confess that the period I was a common kitchen visitor in order to witness the mysteries there happening is to be situated a bit back in time.
Yet this helped me somehow to survive hard times as poor student far from home. I then practiced such tricks as named “au bain marie” involving mysterious ingredients. However, even during that desperate period I never came to “cook” something that should resemble couscous after handling it with care following package instructions. So I confess I’m truly unexperienced in the pre-cooked versions, but they are nevertheless said to be worthless… Heheh… :).
Salaam. A
That’s correct; when I stated earlier that it was “cooked,” I just meant the steeping in boiling water. It was not accurate to say it was cooked “just like rice,” which is left on low heat while the grains absorb the water. And the results may not be exactly the same as the fresh article–which I assure you I have had–but it’s very, very close.
I think the " not being boiled" property is part of the argument for it not being pasta. I don’t actually believe anyone in the thread thinks boiling is the right way to go. Well, I should hope not! Whether it is a good argument for whether or not it is pasta is another matter.
As for instant tasting the near enough the same as fresh. Once again, I’m with Aldebaran on this one. Steamed is significantly better. Though I wouldn’t go along with him saying that instant is worthless. It’s just not as good, but okay for a quick snack when you’re in a rush and not being fussy.
And the original questions. I think it depends on whether you use “pasta” as a category for all foods made of certain ingredients, or whether it refers to a certain style of food and its preparation methods, usual spices etc. (i.e. using it in “what’s for dinner?” type situations) Personally I’ve always done the second thing. To me, therefore, the question of whether couscous is pasta makes as much sense as asking whether pasta is couscous; they’re two different things.
I think the difference is that pasta dough is kneaded, which causes the gluten to, er, do whatever it is gluten does when it is kneaded. Couscous (at least the traditional kind) hasn’t gone through the kneading process, so the texture and quality of the both the dough and the cooked item is different. This is also probably the reason why the former is boiled while the latter is steamed.