Couscous, recognised in 2020 as intangible heritage of humanity, is a common heritage of the Maghreb countries, the first traces of which are more likely to be found in Algeria than elsewhere, where it comes in an infinite number of dishes as subtle as they are original, capable of granting it the international prestige it deserves.

An emblematic dish of North Africa, the couscous dossier was presented for classification to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), under the theme of "know-how and practices linked to the production and consumption of couscous", after rounds of meetings between Maghrebian experts in order to arrive at a "common and unifying" project.

And it was Algiers which hosted, in 2011, the first regional conclave and then the first meeting of Maghrebian ministers of culture in May 2018, recalled Slimane Hachi, former director of the National Centre for Prehistoric, Anthropological and Historical Research (CNRPAH), in a speech at the end of this classification.

For his successor at the head of the said Centre, Farid Kherbouche, cereal growing goes back to prehistoric times (5000 years), arguing that fossils of wheat and barley grains have been found in a cave in Galdamen (Bejaia) and that there was "a quasi-industrial production of wheat during the reign of Massinissa, part of which was exported to Greece, Rome, Macedonia, etc.", he told APS.

The expert deduced that "there is a very strong probability that couscous existed at that time, as it is a very complex and ancient technique, even predating Massinissa", noting that in view of the financial stakes that this ingredient represents today, the idea of its being classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site by France and Italy had been floated before the Maghreb states did so.

Numerous foreign writings, such as the specialist in Turkish and Maghrebian culture, Alain Modelet, and the Greek historian, Polybius, also attest to the commercial boom in this cereal, under the impetus of the Berber king.

For the historian and archaeologist Abderrahmane Khelifa, the geographical scope of couscous extends from Siwa in Egypt to Tripoli (Libya), via Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, i.e. from "the west of the Nile to the Atlantic shores", evoking the reply of the father of sociology, Ibn Khaldun, to a question about its origin: "I come from a region where we cut our hair, wear burnous and eat couscous!

He added that, since Massinissa, the presence of couscous has been reported by a number of authors from Andalusia since the 10th century, noting that, until the 16th century, couscous was prepared in a white sauce, as tomatoes had only arrived in the Maghreb from Peru during this period.

For his part, the intangible heritage researcher Abdelhamid Bourayou describes the regional classification of this know-how as "logical", but considers it "difficult" to pinpoint the exact location of its birth in North Africa.

Yasmina Sellam, a chef and culinary art enthusiast, has undertaken in-depth research into this heritage, which continues to be the subject of "overbidding" as to its paternity, despite the UN classification. She recalls that during the French colonisation of Algeria, the Italian industrialist Daniel Ricci was the first exporter of Algerian couscous to France, thanks to the setting up in 1853 in Blida of a system for drying couscous by artificial ventilation, before this town saw the birth of the first mechanical couscous rolling machine in the world.

"This shows the immense contribution of Algeria to this heritage, thanks to which it has conquered the world and today has the international reputation that we know," she says proudly, assuring, moreover, that she has found in the archives of the French War Department, the inscription of the first international medal awarded in 1849 to an Algerian couscous, at the end of a competition organised in Paris.

Originally from Mila, the manager of the traditional restaurant "Dar Djeddi", in reference to the ancestral nature of the dishes on offer, lists, among others, the one typical of her native region, stewed and cooked over a low heat, in dried meat and accompanied by fresh vegetables, or the one soaked in rose water, served to the bride's family the day after the wedding.

"Amazed, a Spanish chef asked me for permission to present this dish on his return to Spain," she says, noting that couscous with fish "is not exclusive to eastern Algeria, contrary to popular belief", citing, among other ancestral dishes, couscous with camel meat which, once cooked, is crushed and presented on top of the serving dish.

MamP's

© Photo Credits : Les Joyaux de Shérazade

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