Pearl Couscous

Pearl couscous, or Israeli couscous, is a traditional Israeli side dish.  Serve alongside a saucy main dish.

I’ve eaten pearl couscous a lot when served as a side dish to hot lunch when I taught in Israeli schools.   I’ve even had it as part of an on flight meal leaving Israel. Needless to say, it is a popular food here.

Pearl Couscous, called Ptitim in Hebrew, was created in Israel in the 1950s during a rice shortage.  Today, it is still commonly eaten and easily found on Israeli supermarket shelves.

Despite the name in English, this isn’t actually couscous at all.  Instead, it’s a machine-made, perfectly round pasta with a slightly chewy texture.  

Real couscous, on the other hand, is made of crushed semolina durum wheat.  Also, unlike real couscous, it is not served with a vegetable stew poured over it.

How to Eat Peal Couscous

While it is technically a pasta, that is not how it is traditionally eaten. In Israel, it is still treated like rice.

For reasons unknown to me though, outside of Israel, pearl couscous and real couscous are used to make a grain salad.  In the Middle East, they neither are ever eaten like that.

Usually, it is eaten plain or with onions mixed in. Growing up, my mom used to make it with onions, and you can buy bags which have dried onions mixed in. More often than not though, I’ve been served in plain.

According to Wikipedia, pearl couscous is “considered a children’s food in Israel.”  This is not really true.

While it is often served to children and you will find them on children’s menus when you go to restaurants, it is not considered children’s food.  

As a rule of thumb, if it is served as a main course, it is to a child.  However, if it is served as a side dish, it is a general food.

How to serve

When it is served to children as a main dish, it is usually made like Israeli red rice.  Otherwise, it is made and served plain.  

Serve like you would rice.  It’s often used as a side dish to a saucy meat or poultry main dish.