Alexandra's Moroccan Couscous - Date, Pistachio & Moroccan Spice product reviews

After previously trying the Alexandras Moroccon Couscous Sundried Tomato and Olive I was looking forward to trying this variety. I love nuts and dried fruit and I could see all the pieces as I was looking into the packet. It smelt good too I picked up on maybe some curry. I had been unsure of my cooking efforts with the sundried tomato and olive so I was careful to look again at the instructions on the packet with this.

I followed the stove top instructions to bringing the couscous to the boil and then reducing heat covered before removing from the heat and allowing to stand. After the stated cooking time I again noticed there was still a bit of fluid left so I tried to leave on the heat for a bit longer this time to absorb more of the water. After standing for a while the coucous was still quite wet and had like a sauce to it so I am sure I am doing something wrong.

Couscous I have had in the past has had a rice type consistency certainly not as moist as I achieved with this couscous so I am guessing I am doing something wrong when I am cooking it. This time the consistency was a bit better the couscous pearls had softened more than the last time and weren't as chewy but it still wasn't something I could get my head around.

I was excited about the date and pistachio pieces but found after cooking the dates kind of disappeared so instead of getting chunks it had dissolved through the couscous. I did find this variety quite bland so having the sweetness of large chunks of date would of made it more interesting.

When I received Alexandra's Moroccan Couscous with date, pistachio and moroccan spice I was pretty excited. At first glace it looks very intriguing. With all the ingredients out on display through the clear packaging you can easily see what you are going to get. The natural ingredients listed on the back is nice, short and simple - it's always a plus when you can understand the ingredients list.

We seem to have couscous at least once a week at home, it's just kind of become the go to item with it being so easy to cook and easily goes with a lot of different types of meals. I had originally planned to have this with some lamb chops but for some reason I completely forgot and we ended up just using this as a side with some satay chicken instead.

Most other couscous I've bought didn't have a lot of flavour on it's own so I wasn't sure what expect with this but I shouldn't have been worried. Every bite had a mouthful of flavour and depending what was on the fork every bite tasted different too. The dates really added a surprisingly nice sweet taste. My husband decided it tasted way better on it's own than with the satay chicken because the satay chicken flavour took over and he couldn't really taste the couscous. I think next time I'll have it as a main and leave the meat out, or even better, I'll have it with the lamb I originally wanted with it but make sure the lamb flavour goes with the moroccan flavour.

The only downside I found is that because of the way this product is put together with the ingredients at the top of the bag and not evenly mixed through it would be hard for someone to seperate this out and cook it at separate times - I found the quantity in the package to be very generous and would feed a decent number of people, 2 adults as a main for dinner plus 2 adults for lunch the next day too or even more as a side. I would have liked to be able to only cook what was needed for my husband and I and keep the rest for another meal on a different day.

Having tried another of the couscous range, I was eager to also try this variety and see how it matched up to my previous tasting (I loved my first couscous from this brand range). The packaging is lovely and simply, and being clear plastic you can see exactly what you're getting and the ingredients listed on the back give us just half a dozen items put into the making of this dish, I love that it isn't a huge long list of who knows what. Also on the back there are cooking instructions, nice and clear, easy to follow and pretty fool proof.

One big love of this product is that even though some of the couscous became stuck to the bottom of my pot, it was so easy to clean off and left nothing behind. The instructions state to use oil twice, once at the start of cooking and a drizzle on it after, however I did not put oil on it at the end as I let it oily enough. The kids each had a small taste but all gave it a thumbs down. I decided to try some with salt and some without, without salt it tasted ok but I preferred it with some salt. Meanwhile, my mum enjoyed it sans salt and happily had seconds.

This produces a good amount a food, this gave my mum and I two helpings each and still left us with enough for my mum to have it with two more meals. Not a preferred variety of couscous but good value.

My family can't have gluten so I decided to whip this up one evening just for me planning to have the leftovers for lunch the following day. Little pat on the back here for such wonderful planning and foresight! First up I love the minimal packaging of these products. I loved eating Morrocon food in Morocco so I was really excited to try this. The ingredients are all natural with no extra additives, preservatives etc so this immediately gets lots of ticks from me.

It is very easy to prepare. Heat up some oil throw in the packet contents add water and let it cook. After about 15 minutes this lovely pot of deliciousness was ready. I succeeded in cooking it without ending up with a burnt pot so this gets top marks for ease of preparation. Oh my goodness this is food for grown ups. Just such a delicious combination of flavour and texture. It is very sweet mainly from the dates but the spices create this amazing gravy. I actually have to buy this again because I want to serve it with slow cooked lamb and steamed beans and carrots. But anyway since I wasn't organised I had this by itself and it is so incredibly delicious. I really loved the flavour. The amount this prepared was easily enough to serve four adults as a side and gave me a dinner and two lunches.

I can't rave about this enough. At this price I will definitely be putting some packets of this in my shopping trolley. If you want to impress dinner guests this is definitely a great product to have on hand and the perfect accompaniment to lamb or steak or fish.

I can definitely recommend this and I will definitely be buying again. Taking this into work certainly made me the envy of my workmates and I am looking forward to going to work tomorrow just to have my lunch!

This couscous comes in a clear plastic bag, with a cardboard tag. On the front of the tag, you have the Alexandra's name and the flavour of the couscous. I was interested to try this one, as I like dates and pistachios as well. The tag also confirmed that the couscous is made in New Zealand, which I really like. I do like supporting New Zealand businesses.

The back of the tag has the ingredients, nutritional details and importantly the instructions. They were really clear and easy to follow. Opening the package was a little tough. It has notches in the sides of the bag, but when you use them to rip the bag open, it's got an extra seal to it. So I did need to use a knife to get in. That said, at least I knew the product was safe and fresh. When the bag was opened, the smell of cinnamon and dates was really strong, it almost smelt like a dessert.

We had this couscous last night for dinner. I served this as a side with roasted kumara, some mixed vegetables and chicken. My kids were not too interested in the couscous, which I expected. My husband's first mouthful reminded him strongly of cinnamon. He actually asked if we owned cinnamon or if it had come in a packet. He thought that the mix of flavours went really well together and the texture was good.

I thought it was delicious. I didn't get a lot of the pistachio flavour, but the cinnamon and the date flavour was really nicely combined in this. I do wonder if you could make it up like a rice pudding as well. Maybe an experiment for next time. I suspect that as long as you cooked it with a creamy milk, an maybe added a little sugar, it would come out just as good as a dessert.

After having a crazy day with appointments and girls activities it was a late night by the time I got home. We had Roast Pork last night and had some left over and the plan was to put some vegies on and have another roast meal but looking at the clock as I walked in the door that idea got scrapped straight away. So I opened the pantry and spotted the Moroccan Couscous - brilliant I could have a meal prepared in less than twenty minutes.

Quickly put olive oil in pan covered the couscous in it added the hot water and salt and let it boil as I got the pork out. Once boiling I stirred and reduced to let it simmer, while I cut the remaining roast pork from the bone, sliced up some onions by that time the seven minutes were up moved off the element to let cook it its own steam and I fried up the onions and pork with Barkers Barbecue Jerk Sauce and then as the timer went off dinner was ready.

So simple, so yummy, so easy. Seriously from having no plan at all to having a completed meal just over fifteen minutes brilliant. It was delicious! Out of the four flavours I have tried now with the couscous this is my favourite. Not sure if it was the dates or the postachio but something was really nice and sweet and I loved having that taste explode in my mouth. This is one flavour I will be having in my pantry from now on. I just love how easy it is - great side dish to any meal.