What Semolina Really Is

• Semolina is a type of wheat also known as durum. It is described by cooks as a coarse flour that is pale yellow, almost white in color. It looks a lot like cornmeal with a very similar texture, but a much lighter color. Semolina cream is a thick dish made of milled semolina boiled until it becomes a thick, creamy, pudding-like substance. This is semolina cream.

Sweet Uses

• Semolina cream is sweetened with sugar or honey and used as an American and British breakfast dish. Butter is often added as well. Semolina cream has been used as a base for desserts such as Semolina filo pie, apple cake and sweet Semolina cake. The flour is also used to make dessert pancakes and many other European and Middle Eastern sweet dishes. Semolina adds moisture to any dessert that flour cannot achieve alone.

Savory Uses

• Semolina cream without the sweetness is used in many countries in Europe and the Middle East, from a crusty Moroccan bread recipe to the Greek herbed skordalia croquettes and even an Indian dish known as Dhokla. Semolina cream is paired with meats such as the Italian ox tail. The stewed ox tail is placed on a bed of steaming semolina cream. Many stewed meat recipes use this same setup, as do vegetable main dishes.

Other Uses

• The gluten content in Semolina cream is so high that it becomes elastic when made into a dough. For this reason, a thicker version of semolina cream can form the basis for pasta. Semolina is also the what couscous is made of, the small pellet-like pasta pieces that are essential to Middle Eastern cuisine.