Cùscussú or Cùscus: This is a Sicilian version, and unlike the Tuscan Jewish versions of the dish, uses a fish sauce as an accompaniment to the steamed cuscus.
Ingredients:
- For the cuscus:
- 1 3/4 pounds (800 g) coarse grained cuscus
- For the Ghiotta, the fish sauce:
- 1 pound (400 g) chopped eel
- 10 ounces (300 g) grouper
- 10 ounces (300 g) dentex or cod
- 8 ounces (200 g) scorfano, a fish called rascasse by the French,
- with a large, somewhat armored head (it's a major ingredient in bouillabaisse)
- 6 ounces minced onion
- Small bunch parsley and a couple of cloves garlic, minced
- A nice bay leaf
- 4 ounces (100 g) ripe tomatoes
- A pinch saffron
- 2 ounces (50 g) fresh almonds, shelled, blanched, peeled and minced
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
According to Mr. Correnti, author of Il Grande Libro d'Oro della Cucina e dei Vini di Sicilia, this dish either derives directly from the Arab domination of Sicily, or comes by way of the more recent "commuters" of the Trapani region, in other words fishermen and workers who went back and forth to nearby Tunisia. One thing is in any case certain: the cùscussú of Trapani, is fish-based, completely ignoring mutton, and thus differs greatly from that made in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, despite sharing the common root of tiny semolina balls steamed in the mafaradda, a large terracotta pot.Cus cus is an Arab word that means minced into small bits. And indeed, the cuscus that's poured slowly into the mafaradda, under the rotations of the fingers dipped in salt water, forms up into tiny balls the size of a pinhead. When all the semolina has been worked in the mafaradda, the cuscus is allowed to dry on a white tablecloth.
In the meantime the fish stew is readied; the pinkish pàuru, belonging to the Dentex or Cod families, scorfano, and a preponderance of eel. Begin by setting 2 quarts of water to boil. Then sauté the onion, the parsley, the garlic and the bay leaf in a large pot until the onion becomes golden and translucent. Add the tomatoes, crumbling them between your fingers, and then the fish. Carefully pour in the boiling water, add the saffron, and simmer. When the fish is well cooked and the liquid has thickened considerably, filter out a little less than half the liquid and dilute it with water. The diluted broth will go into the pignata for the cuscus, while the remaining broth should be kept warm with the fish for now.
Now you will need a cuscusera, a special double pot consisting of the pignata, which goes below and contains the broth, which will, when simmered, form a rich steam that draws flavor from the broth, and an upper pot whose bottom is punctured like a sieve, which is lined with a napkin to keep the grains of cuscus from dropping through the holes.
The prepared semolina goes into the upper half of the cuscusera, gets dribbled with a little olive oil and is gently stirred so as to distribute the oil evenly. It's now time to seal the pot; the traditional way to do it is to lay a ring of fresh bread dough between the halves of the cuscusera to serve as a gasket, though a cloth strip tied tightly around the join between the two sections will work as well. It's important that the lid also seal tightly.
The broth shouldn't reach the holes; the cuscus has to be steamed. Steam the cuscus for 1 1/2 hours, then turn it out into a bowl, and sprinkle it with a broth made by taking half the reserved fish stock, filtering it, bringing it to a boil, and stirring the shredded almonds into it. Cover the cuscus and let it sit for a few minutes, swelling and absorbing the heady almond aroma.
Strain the remaining liquid into a sauceboat and serve it with the cuscus, so your guests can add it as they will.
Mr. Correnti suggests you simply discard the fish, because it will have surrendered all its flavor to the broth.
