Creation of the Devil

I know it's hard to credit, but every so often I try, again, an ingredient I've disliked before. Semolina is one such. A variant of this which gives me the gag reflex even just thinking about it is couscous - so bad they named it twice. It always tastes to me as though it's slightly off and has the texture of sawdust.

Semolina I first encountered in the pudding form at school; it was the horrible white viscous liquid into which you put jam in the vain hope that it would magically transform into something edible. It never did - we called it frogspawn, and with the jam, bloody frogspawn. (Go to the head's study, boy, and request three; three whacks across the top of the thigh with a slipper - very very painful.) Yet another reason to hate the verdammt stuff. There was a small group of fellow pupils who loved it and the rest of us hated it; boy was it fat time for those who did.

But I've found a satisfactory use is to coat something with when you want a crispy crust without the pain of making breadcrumbs. It also has the advantage over breadcrumbs (proper ones) in that if you're putting it onto something damp, it doesn't soak all the dampness up and become claggy, if you're frying straight away. I'd heard of this before on TV cheffy programmes and I have to say, this wheeze works rather well.