kerouac

Please explain, IMDonehere.

And PalenQ, be careful with taboulé/tabbouleh. The North African version, which is the most eaten in France, is indeed mostly couscous grain with tomatoes, mint leaves, olive oil, lemon, etc. But the Lebanese version is dominant in the world and it is mostly chopped flat parsley (called Italian or Lebanese parsley) with tomatoes, mint leaves, onion and just a tiny bit of couscous or bulgur.

I like both kinds, but claiming that one or the other is the "real" one can bring many people to fisticuffs.

bvlenci

Grits are made with corn, not wheat. They don't resemble couscous in any way, other than the size of the grain. In my opinion, they're even better than couscous. Love them with just butter and grated cheese. Cream of wheat as eaten in the US is very different from couscous; I'm not sure why, because it's also made with semolina. Maybe it's ground finer, or maybe it's just cooked longer.

I thought tabbouleh was made with bulgur wheat rather than couscous, but I'm not an expert. Bulgur is coarser than semolina, and always whole grain. It's another grain that I prefer to couscous.

I mostly used couscous for quick meals, especially if I had some left-over stew or something. Since it has little taste of its own (like rice) it goes well with many other flavours. I've tried it since living in Italy, but my husband doesn't care for it; he thinks that anything that's good with couscous would be better with rice.

Bulgur and grits have a taste of their own. Cream of wheat doesn't, but I can't see cream of wheat used as a base for a stew. We always ate it sweetened, for breakfast. It was a preferred early food for infants.

Envierges

Thanks for the grits correction. I realized my mistake after I hit the submit button . . .but thought no one would catch it. I should have known better.

kerouac

Couscous (in France at least) is sold "fine" or "medium" - medium is only a bit finer than bulgur.

It is steamed, never boiled (except by idiots).

bvlenci

I often just poured boiling water over my couscous and let it sit for a few minutes, as someone mentioned above doing when making tabbouleh.

By the way, Kerouac, are those chickpeas in your couscous?

IMDonehere

Please explain, IMDonehere.

Cous cous can be a vulgar euphemism for a female's anatomy.

kerouac

<i>By the way, Kerouac, are those chickpeas in your couscous?</i>

Yes, chick peas are an integral part of the dish.

Have never heard that about couscous, IMDonehere. Which culture says that?

FuryFluffy

I have only eaten couscous from CROUS. Admittedly you can't ask much for that price, but the student memory is so strong it tainted my conception of couscous. Not in a positive way, apparently. Perhaps it's time to move on and try Le Petit Bleu.

PalenQ

Have never heard that about couscous, IMDonehere. Which culture says that?>

Nor has Google it seems -IM's culture is small I guess.

I suppose Donald Trump may know?

Keren

He might, since he visited Israel last week.
Just half of that word, yes. But the word has been reclaimed by women, I use it myself sometimes.

IMDonehere

It is Israel but also a vulgarity in some Arabic societies.

kerouac

Google told me in less than one second that 'kus' is the vulgar word for female genitalia. If some people need to snicker when just one syllable of a different word sets off their dirty minds, they should just get a job telling jokes in a club in Peñiscola, Spain.

WoinParis

'If some people need to snicker when just one syllable of a different word sets off their dirty minds'

Exactly.

US and Brits spend their own time telling the world they have a small one : 'A little bit ... '

The river Kwai has to be pronouced properly too.

Eine Kunde is not exactlty a client in CZ.

etc.

Wonder what Tagine might mean in Swahili ...

IMDonehere

Of course elevated French life forms, never laugh or raise an eyebrow at an unexpected double entendre. Wait that is the language origin of that phrase?

kerouac

This is after all the year of the cock for the Chinese. Ha ha ha ha ha.

WoinParis

Double entendre ?

Probably a US origin - means nothing in French as such.

kerouac

It's another one of those bizarre invented terms. WoinParis, did you know that "à la mode" means "topped with ice cream" in the United States?

PalenQ

It is Israel but also a vulgarity in some Arabic societies.>

Thank Allah I have been boycotting Isreali couscous they sell at my local Co-Op -who knows what may be in it?

As long as on phrase origins -where did the Americanism "pardon my French" for swearing or saying something obscene come from?

WoinParis

No Kerouac, I didn't.

Ils sont fous ces américains...

copyright Obelix respected :

http://www.legorafi.fr/2013/08/12/as...ande-dessinee/

annhig

merci, WoinP. I wonder if we're no longer allowed to say that "all roads lead to Rome", or "when in Rome" or is it just the mildly derogatory phrases they object to?

I never knew that Italians are so sensitive.

While we're talking about linguistic misunderstandings, the Rolls Royce Silver Mist never did catch on in Germany.