It's time to get out your couscouserie again. Or rather, time to let Farid Zadi get out his. Zadi and his wife and business partner Susan Park are hosting their second annual Couscous Festival, Sunday October 23 from noon to 6 p.m. Last year's festival, you may recall, took place in Pasadena, complete with outdoor whole lamb roasts, tea ceremonies and a couscous demo by Paula Wolfert. This year's festival will be a one-day event and a slightly smaller affair, held at Zadi's new restaurant, Eat. Good. Clean. Food. in Culver City.

Couscous, if you're not familiar with it, is a Berber semolina dish common in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Zadi, who is French-Algerian, says that “couscous is the defining element of all North African cuisines. There is no special event without couscous.”

This year, Zadi will talk about the Berber origins of couscous and demonstrate how to hand-roll couscous. Cookbook writer and cooking instructor Clifford A. Wright will also do a cooking demo, and food historian and former longtime Los Angeles Times food section staff writer Charles Perry will be on hand to discuss the Muslim invention of alcohol and wine poetry from Moorish Spain. Maybe if we're very lucky, Perry will recite some of it too.

As for the food itself, look for Merguez sausage (which Zadi makes); tuna or shrimp brik; smoked lamb and harissa bbq sauce; assorted tagines and couscous; hummus; almond cigars; and various drinks. Additional menu items will be announced later.

Couscous Festival: October 23rd, at Eat. Good. Clean. Food.; 9626 Venice Blvd. Culver City. Tickets are sold for two time slots: 12-3:00 p.m. and 3-6:00 p.m. Buy tickets here. $10 will applied to food and beverage at the event.

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