In Sicily, especially in Trapani and in the surrounding areas as Favignana, San Vito Lo Capo, the “Cous cous” ( “Cuscusu” in Sicilian dialect), is used almost daily. The semolina is mixed ( “incocciata” ) and then steamed in a special perforated glazed earthenware pot. But the sauce, in contrast to the Maghreb, is “Ghiotta”, a mix of seafood soup (red scorpion, black scorpion fish, grouper, vopa, gurnard, luvaro, Anguilla of Trapani Salinas, with some shrimp or escape). The original version of the Couscous requires, in addition to the big grain semolina, some special tools, including the “mafaradda” ( a special container of clay coated curved walls, with a flat bottom, in which the grains of semolina are mixed) and the cuscusiera, or the “pignata di cuscusu”, (which is a kind of painted clay pot with many holes).
Ingredients
- 250 grams of precooked couscous (you can find it at the supermarket)
- 1 kg of fish broth of various qualities (groupers, snappers, mullet, bream, shrimp, etc..)
- Olive oil
- Butter
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- 2 onions
- 1 clove of garlic
- A sprig of parsley
- A bay leaf 3 – 4 ripe peeled, diced tomatoes (or the tomatoes into the tins)
- Saffron
- 50 grams of ground almonds
- Salt and pepper, as you like
- A pinch of paprika
- Chilli, if you like it