The polysemic meanings of couscous consumption in France

International audience ; This article reflects on consumer representations of a typical southern Mediterranean dish thathas remained a centerpiece of cultural encounters ever since it was developed in North Africa:couscous. France – a country whose own cuisine is world-renowned, yet which regularlyranks couscous as one of its top three favorite national dishes, and which hosts the largestNorth African population in Europe – seemed a fertile site for an investigation of thepolysemic meanings attached to couscous, a nomad product embedded in socio-historicalinterrelationships on both shores of the Mediterranean. We found that consumers appropriateand adapt the product in ways that demonstrate some of the major features of Mediterraneanrelationships, with food as a vehicle for creative personal narratives. We emphasize thediversity of representations of couscous that help dissolve the usual northern/southernMediterranean binaries in order to achieve a complex understanding of Mediterraneanconsumer behaviors.