Home> News> Events> San Vito lo capo. Cous cous fest

There's nothing like food to get people talking around a table. And if feasting is a form of diplomacy, then Sicily must be one of the world's best-stocked embassies. It has a rich and lively culinary tradition deriving from the diverse cultures that have dominated the island over the centuries: Greek, Roman, Norman, Arab and Spanish, not to mention an interesting Jewish influence. The annual Cous Cous Fest, currently running in the northwestern fishing village of San Vito Lo Capo through Sunday, is a joyous example of reaching out through gastronomy. This year, the competitors include Tunisians, Moroccans, Palestinians, Israelis, Algerians, Ivorians and Senegalese, as well as the Sicilians themselves. In each of them, couscous has evolved over time and adapted to local tastes and ingredients. "Cuisine is part of a wider cultural heritage that embraces sociology and economy," said Zergui Ghizlane, one of the two chefs representing Morocco. "In my country women are the guardians of the couscous tradition, and this has implications for industry as well as consumption in the home. The peoples of the Mediterranean basin communicate easily, and here at San Vito Lo Capo we can establish all sorts of precious contacts and exchanges." The basic ingredient of couscous is semolina flour made from durum wheat lightly dampened, hand-rolled into small grains that are steamed free of enzymes and germs, then dried to ensure perfect preservation. The size of the grain can vary, the finer variety being generally preferable for fish couscous. Nowadays ready-to-cook couscous is available and saves cooks from having to hand-roll each grain. But the precooked variety is far from the real thing. The sauces accompanying the dish are wonderfully varied. Couscous originated with the nomadic Berber peoples of North Africa, the "imazighen" or "free men" whose herds provided them with most of what they needed. This included meat, which accounts for the version of the dish that still prevails in the Maghreb. On the Ivory Coast, a spicy couscous is available on every street corner and often contains tuna or cod. Fish also features in the traditional Sicilian dish, along with finely chopped almonds mixed with the grains. in San Vito Lo Capo a traditional Berber al waha, or oasis, has been erected beside a clump of palm trees on the gleaming, pale pink sands of the beach. Against the backdrop of a gloriously azure sea, dark tents embellished with rugs and bright printed cloths provide participants with a meeting place during the day and a venue for regional dance and music events until deep into the night. From this focal point, the streets of the fishing village span out amid a profusion of scented jasmine, bright purple and pink bougainvillea and hibiscus so proud and happy that it has metamorphosed from garden plant to ornate tree. The houses are low, painted in pale colours that reflect the sparkling light. And between one row and the next is the apotheosis of street food: pristine white booths selling every imaginable variation on the theme of couscous, cooked on the spot by chefs who treasure their country's diversity and take evident pleasure in sharing it with others. "People know little about Algeria, and even that is often far from the mark," said Chabi Thouria, who with Sid Ali Lahlou was representing Algeria. Thouria is a food historian and researcher by profession, and Lahlou a producer of organic couscous. "Our aim in working here together is to present a peaceful Algeria, whose inhabitants are uniquely hospitable," explains Thouria. "Our country is particularly well equipped to produce organic foods," Lahlou added. "We have just the right hot, dry climate, and the years of civil strife impeded industrialization to the extent that people across the country still demand the flavours of traditional food that is properly made." "This has important implications for the future health of a nation, especially with the rise in allergies and food-related sickness perceptible in advanced industrial economies." The thousands of people who flock to San Vito Lo Capo for this event sample and savour the familiar and strange as their noses and palates lead them. By contrast, a sedentary international jury observes the formalities of objective adjudication around a U-shaped table to which the competing platters are borne one by one and with due ritual and applause. Balance, the jurors would agree, is the true art of the couscous - and indeed of diplomacy. Innovation is possible, even welcome. But not if it entirely subverts tradition. And as the chefs in their wondrous diversity wait in the wings to see how their creations have been received, they chat and shake hands to give one another courage. There's much to be learned from them.

By Kate Singleton Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/

Inserted on 13 giugno 2008 - Events
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