Couscous is a traditional food throughout the Middle East and North Africa. There are two varieties. Traditional couscous is made by coating semolina wheat in flour, which results in very small grains. Israeli couscous, also called pearl couscous or maftoul, is made by coating hard wheat in flour, and is significantly larger than its traditional cousin. In both forms, it fits well in recipes where one might use rice.

It is not clear where couscous originated. The first documentation of couscous is in The book of cooking in the Maghreb and Al Andalus, dating to the 1200s, and refers to couscous as an already well-known dish. The word comes from the Berber word k'seksu.

Traditional couscous takes several hours to cook, and is steamed repeatedly. It is often cooked in a steamer basket that is placed above the vat used to cook stew. In many Western countries, instant couscous is the most prevalent variety, and can be cooked in five minutes on a stovetop.