Book of Days Tales

Today is the feast day of St Augustine of Hippo who died on this date in 430.  I do not have many Christian feast days represented in this work but Augustine is a special case.  His understanding of time still resonates with scholars, as does much of his philosophy. He deserves his day.

Augustine was a Berber from North Africa when the area was part of the Roman Empire.  It is not possible to make an adequate guess concerning Berber cuisine in the Middle Ages, but lentils and barley would have figured heavily.  Some historians believe that couscous was a Berber invention although probably later than Augustine’s time. Couscous is traditionally made from semolina, the hardest part of the grain of durum wheat. It is rolled to small pellets, and, therefore, is a form of pasta.  Basic cooking is as follows:

Use a ratio of 1 cup couscous to 1.5 cups liquid. Use water or the broth of your choice.

Boil the liquid in a small pot while placing the couscous grains in a skillet.  Boiling separately avoids clumping. Pour the boiling liquid over the couscous and cover the skillet.

Wait 10 minutes, uncover the skillet, and fluff the grains with a fork. From there the choice is yours for flavoring – lemon, olive oil, cumin, cilantro are all traditional.  It is also common to add some boiled vegetables including roots and tubers – carrots, parsnips, turnips.  Modern recipes all incorporate the numerous imports from the Americas but to honor Augustine I’d keep the dish to African cultigens