Cookware Review- Couscoussier (Couscoussière)

This is the first in a series of reviews I'm writing about cookware for Algerian cooking. I'll review couscoussiers and tagine cooking vessels from different manufacturers.

A couscoussier is basically a pot with a steamer insert. This is the model I use at home and for cooking classes. It's sold at specialty stores and available online at Fantes . There is no maker's mark on the pot only a stamp stating that it's made in Italy. There are lots of North African and European manufacturers of couscoussiers, this one isn't necessarily "the best" one. But it is sturdy, has a heavy bottom, looks sleek and it works. I've used it in professional kitchens where pots and pans get banged about quite a bit and there isn't a single ding in it. This is important to me because I also use it for cooking classes/demos and I want a polished looking couscoussier for this context. This model keeps up appearances very well. I take it to the school I teach once every six weeks to demonstrate the correct method for steaming couscous.

I don't like recommending cookware or kitchen tools that have limited uses. But I think a couscoussier is worth investing in because it is basically a pot with a steamer insert that can be used for so many applications not just in Algerian cooking, but many other cuisines.

Yes, you can use a pot with a steamer insert for steaming couscous. I have too, but there is something elegant and deliciously feminine about the curves of a couscoussier that a straight sided pot with a steamer insert doesn't possess.

This is a woven couscoussier handmade by Um Yousef's mother in law in Algeria. This is possibly what a prototypical woven couscoussier from West Africa looked like. Note the fine mesh that's sewn on the bottom to keep the couscous granules from falling through.

An antique couscoussier made from copper.

A contemporary couscous pot made from copper. I would love to have one of these. Yes, I accept gifts!

Couscous pots for installation art designed for Italian manufacturer Alessi by award winning Algerian designer Abdelkader ABDI.

This photo is courtesy of Paula Wolfert. It's a Tunisian clay couscous steamer, we make the same ones in Algeria.

couscoussier couscousier couscousiere couscous pot

Comments

[heni@simplicity's table by the sea]

I inherited one of the couscousiers (bottom pic) which due to its poor state now is only a display item for me.

I would love a copper one too loL!

Unfortunately and ironically all the pots here I find the newer ones are rather on the cheap side. I bought one in France much better quality then the aluminum ones sold here in the market;