Listed on the UNESCO list.. Learn about the most famous dishes of Mauritania

Although she knows how to prepare it well, she decides to buy it ready-made from Valle, a couscous seller in the neighborhood.

Fala sits every evening in her usual place in the neighborhood, where most of the residents go to buy their needs from couscousAfter spending most of her day preparing it.

Valeh explains to “Sky News Arabia”, the method of making Mauritanian couscousShe said: “I buy pure, which is small grains of wheat paste. I use the flour to roll it in a large plate until the couscous takes its final shape, then I sprinkle it with oil and put “taqiya” (powdered mallow leaf) on it and leave it to simmer over the steam.

Falah repeated placing the couscous several times in the semi-circular dish with large holes, in which she makes a transparent cloth that allows water vapor to pass through, and after making sure that it is ready, she carries it to her council to sell it to customers.
Selling couscous is considered a source of livelihood for a large segment of the uneducated women in Mauritania, especially from the “class” category.Haratine“.

way to prepare

Aisha cooks some meat with a little onion, leaves it to soften, then pours the hot broth over the couscous and covers it until the small grains absorb it and gain its delicious taste.

Unlike the Mauritanian way, couscous is distinguished in other countries Maghrebnot only with Yaa affixed to his name, but also relying on vegetables more than meat.

Moroccan Khadija Al-Ghelmi, a restaurant owner in Nouakchott, says: “In Morocco, seven types of vegetables are required with couscous, which are onions, tomatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, zucchini, pumpkin or honey squash, with a little meat or with chicken.”

Khadija explains to Sky News Arabia: “The difference between couscous in Mauritania and Morocco is that the Mauritanians twist it and rely on meat in large quantities and put ghee on it, while in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia we use the manufactured couscous and steam it, then we make it a mixture of raisins and chickpeas and add parsley, pepper, olive oil as well as spices. Such as ginger, turmeric, saffron and cinnamon.

wedding meal

Couscous in Mauritania is considered the main meal for weddings, and even a meal for all occasions..and from old habits That the daughter-in-law is obliged, on holidays, to “enjoin” her in-laws with a fine plate of couscous that she sends to them at noon on the day of the feast.

On the World Heritage List

On September 16, 2020, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, included couscous on the World Heritage List, after a joint file submitted by Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, ending a debate that had been raging for a long time about the right of each country to own the most popular dish in the North Africa.