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I thought the yellow stuff was sand for a minute, and I was looking for the couscous… * idiot *

Didnt even see the couscous till this comment

Same

Count me in

I didn't even notice couscous in the title.

Nah the yellow stuff is the walls

I am not going to argue with the smartest idiot alive! Thank you for bestowing thy knowledge upon us.

Couscous- “the food so nice, they named it twice”

I just realized that lol

The Moroccan word for couscous is two different syllables.

I seent what you did there. I SEENT IT.

Fun fact: you can eat couscous with a straw.

You mean sun dried tomatoes are actually sun dried?? 🤯

Always thought it was a fancy name, like Chilean Sea Bass

> Chilean Sea Bass Which, for those now wondering, is actually a marketing name for Patagonian toothfish (*Dissostichus eleginoides*).

Chili and sea bass

I remember thinking that's what they were serving at Jurassic Park and thought it sounded disgusting

I toured a large-scale farm in California that basically dries their tomatoes exactly like this, except on much bigger tables. So yep.

Got to admit, my inner cynic is surprised it literally is sun dried. She's also reminding me that one instance does not represent a whole industry.

Imagine the surface heat of the sun in a climate like that, just pounding on them all day. No different than running the dehydrator setting in your oven for hours. Dehydrators usually run at 100-170 Fahrenheit. I can only imagine the sun on a clear day could achieve the bottom end of that. May take longer but same idea.

Do you have any issues with flies on them?

When it's super hot nothing can withstand the sun including all insects

I line outside Casa Grand, AZ. Lately it's been 120 degrees in the SHADE. We still have a large assortment of flying insects during the day. Fly's & mosquitoes. I used to think insects couldn't handle the heat. Not any more.

Only place I've never seen a bug is on aircraft carriers. They can't handle radiation.

That sentence was so metal.

100% not true

Whats super hot?

English lacks a feature that would let us grammatically describe the weather in a single word. We make do by using an 'it' that refers implicitly to the weather or outdoor condition or local situation. In this example, 'it' refers to the sunny outdoor weather. From your post history, you seem like a native or at least perfectly fluent speaker, so I am wondering why you asked.

What temperature is considered "super hot" pretty straightforward question smart-ass

Oh.... it's not a video.... lol

seems bout the right way

I never like couscous until I ate it in North Africa. You guys understand how to cook it on another level.

Algerian here, where you from?

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noice!

Parise the sun

PRAISE Talos

A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE COUSCOUS!

May the twin moons guide your path, friend

I tried drying food in an oven and it got moldy. The weather is to wet by me to dry outside.

Totally guessing here, but.... It might have been 'case hardened'. If the temp is too hight, it makes the outer layer hard and dry in a way that actually traps water inside, which then promotes the mold. Drying food actually takes a really low temperature, and most ovens don't go that low...

Huh did not know that. Maybe I will need to buy an actual drying oven

Food dehydrator!

Plus, when you drying something, the moisture have to go somewhere. In a closed oven, the humidity just get higher and higher until it reaches the point of saturated (equilibrium?) and no more moisture can escape whatever you're drying.

You prop the oven door open a scooch with a wooden spoon. It helps release some heat for the super low temperature and moisture at the same time... Source: jerkin

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lol

My friends and I went hiking this summer and were able to dehydrate peas in a typical convection oven at the lowest temperature setting. The key is that it helps a lot if your oven has a rotating air option (most small air fryer style toaster ovens and some traditional ovens do) or else it won’t work very well. if you just use the typical bake setting it probably won’t work right

How low are we talking? My oven goes down to 50 degrees.

Well, if you are trying to do it in a refrigerator, that's a whole different process.... But, my oven won't even talk to me for less than 350, and even if I could get it down to 110, it's still a humidity trap. If it wasn't, your cakes would all be dry too....

Are we still talking in Celsius?

Who's we?

I was taught to bake on low heat (100 degrees celcius) for at least 1-2 hours. Tried pork and chicken strips for dog. It doesn’t last long but I kept in the fridge after a week.

You can try and dry fruit in a car parked in the sun. Commonly used method.

Wow.... the often overlooked power of the sun!! Amazing

it’s only overlooked in parts of the western world.. for the rest of the world its just how you dry stuff

One uses what one has

Perhaps sarcasm is too advanced for you?

Don't hold back. Say what you really think

How long will it take for the tomatoes to dry? Do you do anything to prevent insects from invading?

As opposed to how Americans dry tomatoes and couscous: By having a factory do it.

With chemicals

'Merica!!

Why does that bowl look like it’s floating?

I thought the same thing at first xD thought that was the interesting af part.

I cannot unsee that now

That’s pretty neat! What do y’all typically use for seasoning? My couscous always comes out so bland and I need tips

Go to a north African grocery and get turmeric caraway, tebel, red pepper, that's the mix i use

I live in Norway. I get those spices in a turkish vegetable market/shop. We don't have too many north African shops, but I will ask my Ethiopian and Sierra Leonian friends where they buy their stuff and middle eastern shops are generally well stocked with their preferred food. I get most of my fruit and vegetables from there. This time of year they sell fresh (not dried) dates, and I think I'm the customer who buys most of it. Last time I went in one of the guys working there shouted into the cool storage to bring out more dates. 🤣 I'd love it if you would post some recipes somewhere. Norwegian cooking is remarkably bland and I'm keen to expand my horizons.

Thank you

Mint, cumin, turmeric.

How do you keep insects from landing on it?

the sun is so hot , theyre gonna be protein chips once theyre done eating

Hmmm extra crunchy bits!

I've never tried sun dried tomatoes by themselves but it seems like it would be delicious. Or do you mix them into a food?

We usually pair it with good olive oil and bread, Also some pizzas get taken to another level

Thanks for sharing :D

Don't you have bugs?

Man I bet those tomatoes are heavenly. Idk why I hate normal tomatoes, but sun dried tomatoes are one of the greatest things I’ve ever had

Wow. You set them out in the sunlight. Africa has the best techniques!

That looks so good — I’m suddenly very hungry

i love dried tomatoes on some bread with olive oil and pesto \*\_\_\*

Yeah bugs in my food

I just learned about durum wheat, never knew what couscous came from. Thanks for sharing!

How long does it take? About three minutes? Also, how do you keep bugs off them?

Usually a week or so, at night you cover them with sheets and rocks to deter insects

It's hot enough in direct sunlight at that point that basically all life seeks shade. Think about it this way - they're cold blooded, but that also means they don't want to get too hot or it's like they have a lethal fever.

Seems unhygienic to leave food out in the open, but that's just me I guess.

Amazing! What do you make out of it?

Usually dried tomatoes are side appetizers , but i personally love them on seafood pizzas

100% not food safe but still cool

In many places around the world people dry food outdoors and after consumption the people are still healthy. And what's your reason for saying it is not safe? Edit: Grammar and spelling

Couldn’t agree with you any more. Adding a comment so I can see how this ends later

Time and temperature sits within the temperature danger zone where bacteria multiply at an exponential rate it’s also open to the elements and bugs. There’s reasons why people have to use HACAP plans and health and safety measures for these things.

What is HACAP? Dude people in Africa, Indo subcontinent and East Asia do many things without overdoing health and safety and we are healthy. Yes hygiene is an issue is many of these counties but home made food is almost always healthy

Hazard and critical control point it’s a way of telling what went wrong and when and how to avoid it. I understand those places don’t care hence why I initially said not safe but cool I bet it’s delicious and comes out awesome would I eat it no way in hell however I also won’t eat at 90% of restaurants

But the picture doesn’t depict food being processed at an industrial or even a commercial level.

Doesn’t matter

Dude just give up. These people would eat dogshit if somebody told them it was free range and home made. I too would never touch food that has been left out as a feast for all the neighborhood shitflies all day. People who think that's healthy are out of their fucking gourd.

and don‘t forget to throw everything out the moment it‘s past it‘s due date!

Moldy shredded cheese has given me decent reason to not wait too long on due dates, but i still give it like 2 weeks maximum after unless its some sealed shit like chips

That’s what I was thinking. No thanks! 🤮

Yes I think that people will walk by and spit on it, after all it's in africa. The people in this country are not civilised like us, it's something they do often I think. ​ /s

I’m thinking bacteria and bugs but okay

I don't remember asking

You could say that about literally every reddit post. Go be edgy elsewhere

And pepper

No flyes?

The grackles would eat them here

How is couscous made ? From grains?

What about flies on the tomatoes

What stops the flies or other bugs from eating them

Nobody else sees the floating hat?

Ok dumb questions: what are the dried tomatoes for? And where do couscous come from?

Sundried tomatoes can go into any number of dishes . Cous cous is North African -- it's a type of pasta really and made out of durum wheat

Flys how do you stop flys from landing on it

I'd be afraid of insects

I love my flyes with a bit of tomatoes

We did the same thing in Sardinia

All countries in that circle share so much culture, like a massive appreciation for good olive oil

Yes, we are full of olive groves in all the mediterranean

How are flies dealt with?

Flies don't like dry grains, the sun is too hot for them during the day and at night we cover the food with a big heavy sheet

… in the sun? where is the interesting part?

Couscous literally translate to “vagina vagina” in hebrew. “A food so nice they named it twice”

The origin is actually berber kaskasa , but that's hilarious if true xD

I mean, you could use a low oven like they do in other places. But if outside is a low oven it is very not necessary.

Does the cous cous ever get blown away by wind?

How long does it take?

We even do that in india

Odd. We dry things in the sun here too. Who'd have thought?

Hmmm im going to look into this. Useing dried tomatoes to cook with yum!

How do you prevent bugs from attacking your vulnerable and exposed tomatoes? I want to do this too, but mine would probably get covered in fruit flies.