Carrying Africa in a box.

Couscous. A very cool word for a dish if there ever was one. Couscous... It rolls of the tongue quote naturally and I remember the first time I ever heard of it was when my Mom was trying something new for dinner, way back in the late 1970's. She called it Biafran Couscous, and perhaps in her mind it was somehow associated with the short lived African state of that time....or maybe it was newly marketed that way, I don't know. I don't think I had seen or eaten it it again until while on a trip in the early 1990's that found me at the northern edge of the African continent in Tangiers, Morocco on a photo assignment. I have to say here that although technically a part of the African continent, I won't truly have considered visiting there until I can see an Elephant in the wild. A good goal I guess, but one that the possibility of is sadly vanishing.

I remember sitting in a very large, ornate and especially grand Moorish restaurant. It was an awesome occasion with music and dancers and waiters swirling around carrying large platters to the various tables with allot of flair. A grand dish of what I believe was camel (I would have been none the wiser either way if it was or not), was topped along with olive, dates onto a large and generous pile of vegetable and spice infused Couscous. Eaten while seated on intricate, padded carpets around a large, low square table as a group, with the hand (right of course) and a piece of unleavened flat type of bread, it was a very festive gathering and simply was just allot of fun.

The Couscous we have available here in my local area of the U.S, is a premade dried variety and is vastly different from the one served that day in Morocco, but is something readily found and is still a dish that is interesting, fun and opens our pallets in a new way. Hayden loves it and I was glad to be able to include it in our meal.

Today, I prepared chicken, browning it in herb infused olive oil and butter and setting it aside while I sauteed onion, garlic, tomatoes, olives and lemons in the same oil, adding the chicken back into the pot and then baked it with the other ingredients to seat a glaze onto/into it.

As was the tradition that day long ago, I topped the Couscous with the chicken and sides, adding a dab of Greek yogurt as fresh dipping sauce to it all.