What is semollina exactly?

Question

As in couscous? And since it's like a pasta why does it have high protein and low carbs while pasta is opposite? And one more...I'm making couscous and I added feta cheese and light greek dressing.. What else could I add for more protein particularly..what would taste ok with it?

Answer 1

Semolina (sem oh LEEN ah) [Alteration of Italian semolino, diminutive of semola, bran, from Latin simila, fine flour, ultimately of Semitic origin.]

1. a hot breakfast cereal made of the endosperm of soft wheat

2. a wheat product cooked and used primarily for baby food and the elderly

3. any coarse ground grain, i.e. rice semolina, corn semolina

4. gritty by-product the flour made from durum wheat used primarily in making pasta



Couscous (KOOS-koos) [French, from Arabic kuskus, from kaskasa, to pulverize; Berber, k'seksu, of Semitic roots.]

1. a hand rolled pasta made of semolina popular in the Maghreb countries (Morrocco, Tunisia, Algeria)

2. a dish of the same name in which couscous is prepared and steamed over a soup or stew primarily of chicken or lamb with vegetables



(Sources from various dictionaries and encyclopedias.)

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If your associations with semolina is any of the first three definitions given above, then it will be a surprise to learn that semolina is primarily used for producing pasta and couscous - a very unique kind of pasta associated with Moroccan cuisine but indigenous to Tunisia and Algeria as well. Have a look at a box of couscous or any dried pasta and you will find semolina as the main ingredient (some pasta products list semolina and egg).



Semolina is the endosperm or heart of the durum wheat kernel - a hard wheat variety with very high gluten content and high protein to carbohydrate ratio. Durum wheat is more coarsely ground than other flours. The milling process separates the endosperm from the rest of the grain.



Durum flour is finely ground semolina (endosperm). It's amber colour is what imparts the rich yellow typical of semolina pasta which is produced industrially by extruding or forcing the firm dough through metal dies to create the many shapes available. It produces a very resilient product that can stand up to the pasta making process and retain its shape in cooking, even if overcooked.



Don't confuse it though with semolina breakfast cereal, (i.e. farina, Cream of Wheat - US) which is a little finer product and is not made from durum wheat but a softer variety of wheat. It is rather pale, lacking the characteristic amber colour of the true semolina made from durum wheat. In Europe, this breakfast cereal is sold in small packages and called semolina (UK), semolino (Spain and Italy), Griessmehl (Germany) and semoule (France). It is also used to cook desserts and thicken soups etc.. To further confound the issue, farina in Italian refers to flour of any kind.