exercise our awareness and rediscover the ancient flavours of the meals prepared by Gurdjieff himself.

COUSCOUS - BASIC RECIPE

The preparation of couscous, whilst simple, requires precise treatment: the grains must be swollen, light and detached from each other, so as not to form lumps and not to be heavy. For this reason, it is clear that steam cooking is essential.

The traditional pot, in terracotta, copper or aluminium, consists of a lower part, where the stew is cooked, and an upper part, with a base full of small holes, for the couscous. If you want to try your hand, but you don’t have a couscoussier nearby, you could make do with a steam pan, or a metal sieve that makes a good fit in a large pot.

Before cooking, the couscous must be soaked in a little cold water and worked between the fingers, so as to help prevent the formation of lumps; it should then be poured into the top of the couscoussier an hour before the stew is ready (the stew should already be simmering in the lower part of the pot), and the grains should then be moved by hand, so as to introduce more air and help them to swell, during the first half-hour or so.

After this, the couscous is usually poured into a large terrine, sprayed with cold water and mixed with a wooden spoon to crumble any lumps that may have formed. It is usually at this point that salt is added, and perhaps a little oil, and the couscous is then put back into the upper part of the couscoussier for the remaining half-hour. Couscous can also be cooked in the steam of normal boiling water, whereas pre-cooked couscous, which takes just a few minutes to prepare, should be made up according to the instructions on the packet.