How to make perfect cous cous: Fast Ed

CELEBRITY chef Ed Halmagyi talks about his battle with making the perfect couscous in this week’s column.

Smoked trout and hand-made cous cous.

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PARENTING sure isn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but it just might be the most rewarding.

I’m not talking about those crazy years when they’re toddlers. Those interrupted nights, toilet-training fails and impenetrable throw-down tantrums. No, I’m discovering that it gets both more complex and exciting as they get older, and we start to guide them into adulthood.

Of particular interest, there’s one lesson I’ve learned completely: it’s vitally important to let them fail, and I mean really fail. It’s hard to watch, we feel our parenting skills are being judged, and we harbour deep concerns for the long-term impactof the consequences. Yet failure is the cement that will bind them to their future, because it’s where they truly learn.

You need faith, and you have to trust them.

At Home with Fast Ed Halmagyi in Bilgola Plateau.

As for me, I fail all the time, and it’s where some of the most exciting parts of my life happen. After all, for as long as you want to do something interesting, you need to start with the assumption that it will be challenging and involves a process of learning. You start with failure and make your way to knowledge.

In theory.

Here’s an example. I‘d always wanted to make couscous. I’m not even sure why. You can buy perfectly good couscous at any supermarket, but once I got the idea it stuck in my head.

Batch after batch, failure after failure. From terrible, to poor, back to bad, to fair, and then finally acceptable.

It was a six month process to work out, one that left me red-faced more commonly than not. After all, with 25 years experience cooking, you’d think this was a snap.

But in the end, I made a perfect batch of couscous.

And the smile on my face? Life-affirming. And more than for me, that’s what I want for my kids. It’s what we all want for our kids, isn’t it?

Ingredients (serves 4)

500g semolina

1 Tsp fine salt

2 cups chicken stock

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, sliced

½ cup black olives, halved

4 cloves garlic, sliced

12 sage leaves, sliced

1½ cups mixed cherry tomatoes, halved

Juice of 1 lemon

1 bunch basil leaves, torn

300g smoked trout fillet, in flakes

Method

Combine the semolina and salt in a bowl. Mist with water, stirring with fingers between each addition. You will need approximately ½ cup. Stop adding liquid when a crumbly mixture forms. Sieve into a bowl through a colander to remove any oversize pieces.

Place the bowl over a steamer uncovered and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent clumping. Spread on a tray to cool. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the couscous, cook for 5 minutes, then cover and set aside until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a skillet, then add the onion, olives, garlic and sage. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook until they just begin to soften. Mix in the lemon juice, then fold into the couscous with the basil and smoked trout.