Cous-cous

[SiuWonfung]

Is cous-cous a good option for food?


exhibit A _cous cous with a pinch of cilantro>
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[Tha Wookie]

Cous-cous rocks the house. I have yet to find a more filling, tasty, easy-cook-and-clean meal than those little pasta balls. Might I suggest "wild forest mushroom" from Fantastic Foods?

The way I always eat it it the following:

make a burrito with pepper-jack cheese, fresh green onion (keeps for 2-4 days in a pack, depending on temps), always some fiery hot sauce (preferably Matouk's scotch bonnet variety), and occasionally some tomato-paste-pasta sauce leather for special occasions (like a full moon).

It's tested and tried for thousands of miles (www.thawookie.com)

Time for lunch (12:41 here in the west indies)!

[Mags]

Gotta agree with Mr. Wookie..cous cous is a great base for any trail meal. Besides the other advatages Wookie listed, it cooks fast, too. When you are hungry and want a hot meal a quick cooking time is great!

[chris]

Couscous is about the ultimate trail food. It doesn't weigh much, packs a lot of calories (with olive oil), takes little water, cooks quickly, and has infinite potential for variations. Be warned: A double box can be a challenge to eat, even for a thruhiker, but a single box isn't quite enough.

Matouk's Calypso is about as good as it gets for hot sauce, but the only place I can find it is Canada. Going to Vancouver this weekend to pick up a three month supply of the blessed stuff.

[gravityman]

Is cous-cous a good option for food?


exhibit A _cous cous with a pinch of cilantro>
. :.:: .`
`.:`. .: `. `

Everyone is different. My wife and I couldn't stomach the cous-cous after one meal of it although we love it at home. Too bland and salty with those added flavor packs. But you might be able to find a better brand than we had.

Gravity

[Mr. Clean]

unfortunately, everyone else thinks so too! Always had someones spoon in my pot. Try the Mediteranean style.

[Footslogger]

Everyone is different. My wife and I couldn't stomach the cous-cous after one meal of it although we love it at home. Too bland and salty with those added flavor packs. But you might be able to find a better brand than we had.

Gravity

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The wife and I are split on the couscous. She loves it and I just as soon pass it up. Guess that's why we often cook separately on our hikes. To me it's like eating paste. I guess I could get over it if I tried but there are just so many other things one can eat on the trail and enjoy.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[kncats]

We love cous-cous and when making it with plenty of olive oil it passes our calorie per ounce requirement. But a whole pot of it for dinner gets a little overwhelming. Stay away from the breakfast cereal cous-cous mixtures though. Enertia Trail Foods has a couple that we thought were pretty horrible.

[Moon Monster]

It's also about the most amenable starch for the Ziploc bag cooking method. Pack the couscous and flavor packet into Ziplocs. On the trail, empty the flavor packet into the bag and bring ~2/3 of the water the box recipe calls for to a boil. Pour the water into the bag and let the whole thing sit (preferably insulated in clothing or a windscreen) for a few minutes. Eat out of the bag or make a burrito and the pot stays clean.

[highway]

Cous Cous is absolutely great with a small, dry-cured chorizo sausage cut up in it, the kind not requiring refrigeration. Not only does it add meat to the dish but it releases the sweet Spanish paprika that the chorizo is cured with into the dish as the water boils. It is one lip-smackin', backpackin' treat

[neo]

cous-cous is excellent,i just started using it,i take a pound of cous-cous $1.79
mix it with a pack of chopped dehydrated spicy black beans,i add finely chopped
sun dreid tomatoes,currypowder,cilantro,sea salt,cummin,i add a cup to cup and a half boiling water,i stir it and let it set for 10 minutes,excellent, neo

[grrickar]

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To me it's like eating paste.
'Slogger
AT 2003

I'm with you on that one. It's not the taste, it is the consistency that I didn't care for. No matter how you flavor it, it will still have that consistency.

[RenaissanceMan98]

Cous Cous is awesome, especially when prepared with your own recipes.Try Quinoa as well, it's a delicious, very nutritious quick cooking "grain". For trail use, boil water, add Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) along with spices and whatever else, cover pot, turn off stove, let sit 10 minutes. It's yummy.

Nutritional info, recipes, etc :

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshel...2C74%2C00.html

[Nameless]

Cous Cous!!!

Deffinatly my favorite trail food. I dont buy it in boxes with flavor packets, it costs a lot more, and is so salty. Its usually in bulk in the bulk bins of the grociery store. You can litereally add anything to cous cous, or add it to anything. I usually add it to my breakfast drink, hot coco most of the time, and eat the cous cous after i am done drinking the drink. Gets some simple real food into me.

Add some oil or butter and some cinamon sugar for breakfast too (some people like milk inthis mixture)

Throw it into your dinner, it will take on the flavor of anything you cook and gives it more bulk and calories, leaving you fuller. Bring along some cooked meat, raw vegies. Meat then couscous the vegies in a cup, add hot water, and let cook. You have hot meat vegies and cous cous to fill you up. add tofu for some protien. Coffee for flavor if you like it (i dont like it myself...) rice and chicken dinner? rice takes forever to cook...

i could eat it days on end without complaint, i esspecially like it plain or with a little butter or oil. Course this is comming from a girl who thinks a good cold breakfast on the trail is plain outmeal (never the packets, to salty, fake, and taste bad) mixed with a bit of brown sugar (wow, that works with cous cous too) and eaten dry is great... hate cooked outmeal with a passion.

Pink

[neo]

Cous Cous is absolutely great with a small, dry-cured chorizo sausage cut up in it, the kind not requiring refrigeration. Not only does it add meat to the dish but it releases the sweet Spanish paprika that the chorizo is cured with into the dish as the water boils. It is one lip-smackin', backpackin' treat

highway,were do you find this dry cured chorizo sausage,sounds great
neo

[highway]

All supermarkets in my area of Florida carry them-Publix, Winn Dixie. They are not refrigerated and are usually hanging either near the cold-cut, meat or deli section and sometimes in the aisle where foreign foods are. Goya is one producer and they are sold in packages of either 2 or three, sealed in a bright yellow cellophane material. There are other manufacturers, too. I generally remove them from the original packaging and just carry them in small baggies in the food bag.

Their origen is Spain and they are frequently found here because of the large Hispanic (Central, South American) population in Florida. They are dry-cured and will keep for years without refrigeration, like a good southern, country ham and add tremendous flavor to any quick-cooked, dried, backpacking food.

[Doctari]

I love it on the trail!

Cooks almost instantly, tastes great, goes with almost anything

I usually get plain, add my own seasoning, less salt. Tuna is great mixed in, I like the chicken of the sea Herb & Garlic.

Doctari.

[Seraphim]

It's great with tofu sauteed with herbs in olive oil, on a pita or wrap.... Slice some cheese and veggies and it's a feast!

[neo]

i had cous-cous and spicy blackbeans with melted mexican cheese,and hummous

on whole wheat tortilla today for lunch,i love it on or off the trail neo

[Cookerhiker]

I bring it on every hike including the section hike in SW Virginia I'm starting the day after tomorrow. Can't beat the short cooking time and efficient water usage.