Merchant Gourmet Moroccan Couscous review

Merchant Gourmet Moroccan Couscous review

A little while ago, I managed to bag myself a free sachet of Merchant Gourmet Moroccan Couscous in a giveaway on the brand's facebook page. It comes in a sachet very similar to the Uncle Ben's/Tilda microwaveable rice so is absolutely perfect when you need something on the dinner table in a hurry. You just snip the top off the sachet, zap it for a couple of minutes in the microwave and it's ready.

Merchant Gourmet describe the product as "a wonderfully aromatic Moroccan couscous packed with tasty dried fruits, fragrant spices and nutty chickpeas". In terms of flavour and appearance, it's spot on. The spice blend tastes authentic and gives great flavour to what can sometimes be a fairly bland dish. The couscous comes out perfectly cooked - not at all soggy, and it didn't stick together in lumps as it sometimes does when cooked in water. The only thing that we thought let it down slightly was that the chickpeas were a bit too hard.

We ate this as an accompaniment to chicken and salad, but the website also suggests mixing it with roasted vegetables or adding it to salad leaves and using it to stuff pitta pockets, both of which sound lovely. I think it would also be perfect for stuffing peppers, tomatoes or courgettes. 

Each pouch contains two 125g servings, which contain 209 calories, 7.1g of protein, 34.5g of carbohydrates (of which 7.3g sugars), 3.5g of fat (of which 0.6g saturates) and 5.8g of fibre. 

It's ideal if you're looking for a quick and tasty alternative to rice, potato or pasta to go with your meal. I might let it cook for an extra minute next time to see if the chickpeas soften up a bit though !