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Rice and pasta are kitchen staples I can't live without. And now, thanks to Blu and the team at Haystac, I can add Pearl Couscous (also known as Israeli couscous) to my list of must-have versatile ingredients.

You can win 1 of 5 packs of Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous to trial in your very own kitchen. Keep reading to find out how!

Peal couscous takes its name from its unique pearl-like shape and size. They're around 3mm in size and made from hard wheat toasted in an open flame oven, which gives them a rich, nutty flavour and a smooth texture -perfect for absorbing sauces, stocks and spices!

I put these to the test and made both a savoury and a sweet dish.

1 small fennel bulb
1 tablespoon butter
1 small leek, rinsed and finely sliced
3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1 litre fish stock
½ litre water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4x 100g smoked cod fillets
4 tablespoons aioli
10 basil leaves, roughly torn
¾ cup Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous

Trim the fennel bulb, reserving the feathery tops, then cut the bulb in half and finely slice it.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the leek and cook until soft, then add the tomato, sliced fennel and stock. Bring to the boil, add remaining water then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and fish and cover. Cook for 7 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

Lift out the fish and add the pearl couscous, stir well and simmer for a further 8 minutes.

Add fish back in and simmer for a few minutes. Divide among four warmed pasta bowls. Ladle the broth over the fish and top with a spoonful of aioli. Garnish with the fennel tops and basil.

Serves 4.

Smoked cod and fennel soup with pearl couscous

I love the simple flavours in this soup. It is almost a bouillabaisse but not as rich. The broth tastes delicate and light and the best thing about this recipe is that the pearl couscous makes it a meal!

I also wanted to play around with spices so poached a cup of pearl couscous in a divine syrup of fruit juices, lemon rind, cinnamon sticks, star anise, vanilla bean and honey, and then once chilled, I mixed it with some fresh strawberries and blueberries. The result was a sublime fruity dessert.

Sweet pearl couscous with berries, French vanilla bean ice-cream and pineapple jerky

Juice of 2 oranges
Juice of 4 apples
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon butter
2 - 4 teaspoons honey, to taste
1 cup of Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split
water, as required
Handful berries, according to personal taste
4 scoops vanilla bean icecream

Combine the juices, zest, honey, butter, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir every few minutes until honey has dissolved.

Bring to the boil, then add the pearl couscous. Simmer for 6 minutes and add water if necessary.

Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid. Allow the couscous to remain covered until cool; fluff with a fork occassionally.

Remove spices and mix through berries (I've used quartered strawberries and whole blueberries). Serve chilled with a scoop of ice-cream.

Serves 4.

I've served these with a slice of pineapple jerky as well, as I've been slightly obsessed with my fruit dehydrator lately... more to come on that shortly!

Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous

Win 1 of 5 packs of Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous
To enter, simply leave a comment below in 25 words or less and tell me what you would use pearl couscous for?

Sorry, for Australian residents only. Competition entry closes on 8/12/09 11:59pm; winners will be announced on 9/12/09. Please use a valid email address so you can be contacted for your mailing address, shall you win.

Good luck and happy eating! x

For more information on pearl couscous, visit Blu's official website.

THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED.

As if having the world's tallest man-made structures weren't enough, Dubai also boasts having the world's largest shopping malls and is proudly home to a diversity of cultures and trend setters.

I only had a limited 2.5 days to spend in Dubai, the last leg of my European eating extravaganza. Hence going about it strategically, I chose to explore Dubai's traditional Arabic cuisine versus their tempting availability of fine dining.

Zen and I were still massively sunburnt from Santorini and Dubai's 42°C+ heat did not help. The summer humidity left us hailing for cabs everywhere.

The hotel we stayed at: City Seasons

City Seasons Hotel: view of lobby from our floor

On the first day, we checked out the Deira City Centre Shopping Mall which was a 5 minute drive from our hotel. There were plenty of international brands and a grande food court which included L'Auberge Restaurant. We were excited by the new currency conversion rate (which made everything look like a bargain in comparison to that in Europe) and hence we over-ordered, over-ate and over-shopped.

I had the spicy grilled shrimps, cuttlefish and hammour (a flaky white fish with a similar texture to cod) and Zen had the mixed grill, both were as tasty as the other. We added a side of tabbouleh and also received a complementary DIY plate of freshly washed greens, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers, and a plate of just-baked pita bread. It was a sublime feast which I am still constantly drooling for. I am actually looking to find a replica in Sydney to satisfy these cravings -does anyone know where I can get a really good grilled seafood and meat plate?

Traditional Arabic lunch at L'Auberge Restaurant, Dubai

Some restaurants in Dubai had private dining rooms for Muslim/Arab couples and families. L'Auberge had these beautiful golden curtains covering up the booths which ran along both sides of the restaurant.

Private rooms at L'Auberge Restaurant

Later that afternoon, we booked ourselves in for a desert safari-a must-do tour in Dubai. We were picked up in a luxury 4WD which featured a roll cage! You can imagine how much of a scare that was to me ;)

Zen and I inside 4WD with roll cage, on Oasis Palm's desert safari in Dubai

Camel farm in Dubai desert

In between the dune bashing, we stopped at a camel farm where I witnessed their strange chewing motion.

Did you know camels chewed sideways?

Camel chewing sideways

I was lucky to have my wide angle lens out when this camel got curious and started sniffing me out!

Wide angle close up of a curious camel

Thankfully, the desert was noticeably cooler than the city and towards dusk, I was able to walk around barefooted without any issues.

Sunset on Dubai desert safari

Buffet at desert safari camp

The tour included a dinner buffet of skewered camel meat, beef, chicken and lamb, salads, curries, rice, sweets, tea and coffee -yup, we were well catered for :)

Traditional Arabic cuisine

Belly dancer at Dubai desert safari

I wish I had been warned about how terrifying it is to ride on a camel! This is me screaming with fear:

Zen and I riding on a camel

While stocking up at the Dubai Outlet Mall (Dubai's answer to Australia's DFO and 5x the size), we ate at Automatic, a popular grill restaurant chain store. Zen and I shared my favourite fattoush salad, a brilliant salad which uses up stale pita bread, it is a seasonal mix of radish, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, onion, fried pita bread, sumac, mint, and plentiful salt, olive oil and lemon juice. We also had a mixed grill of tender skewered meats, some pickled vegetables, raw greens, flat bread, fresh mango juice, a honeydew milkshake and an addictive plate of fried eggplant, cauliflower and potatoes. This robust meal was exactly what we needed to power up the strength to drag our shopping to the cab chauffeur serviced car.

Lunch at Automatic Grill Restaurant in Dubai Outlet Mall

The second day saw us doing more mall-sight-seeing and shopping. Once the sun was down, we hit the markets! I unfortunately missed the spice souk because I was so indecisive at the gold souk. How can I be blamed -there were shops after shops and window after window of glistening delicate pieces.

At the Dubai gold souk

Golden displays at the gold souq

By night, we had driven past the Mall Of The Emirates (where you can find Ski Dubai, the indoor skiing field). Its entrance of parked luxury and sport cars was almost as intimidating as the high-end designer shops within it. We didn't have time to stop by because we were meeting up with our dear friend, Doyle, an expat living the high life in Dubai with Emirates.

So we got lost inside The Dubai Mall together and had an amazing dinner at Switch, a restaurant designed by Karim Rashid (a blog post on this to come soon!). The Dubai Mall features an ice-skating rink, an aquarium and just about every fashion brand in the world.

Inside The Dubai Mall

Designer section in The Dubai Mall

Ice-skating rink in The Dubai Mall

Inside Switch Restaurant

We're all coincidentally dressed in white! Zen, me and Doyle

I sure miss Dubai's opening hours! Most malls open from 10am to 10pm and until midnight on Thursdays through to Saturday.

L'Auberge Restaurant
http://www.laubergerestaurants.com

Oasis Palm Tours
http://www.opdubai.com/desert.htm

They say jet-lag depends on the number of time zones crossed and not length of flight. Well, after 26 hours, the whole flight from Sydney to Thailand to Dubai to London was a blur... I watched all the latest movies (including a new find which I loved -The Ramen Girl, starring Brittany Murphy), played multi-player games, fell asleep, woke up and ate, and then fell asleep again.

It has taken me a week to get over the jet-lag, so finally, here are the first photos of this 32 day eating extravaganza to Europe.

Shortly after take off, we were served drinks and biscuits. The salty crispiness of the biscuits were addictive, and they looked adorable too, like miniature baguettes.

House white wine and biscuits

Lunch was a hot smoked salmon salad, seasonal salad with dressing, New York cheesecake, cheese and biscuits, chocolate and a choice of grilled steak with tomato ragout, broccoli sprouts and baked fries or pesto tortellini topped with a rich three cheese cream sauce, roasted capsicum relish and steamed broccolli. The steak was too well done to be tender but the cheese sauce on the tortellini was creamy and warm.

Dinner of hot smoked salmon, seasonal salad, beef steak, New York cheesecake, cheese and biscuits, water and chocolate

Dinner alternative with pesto tortellini

Falling asleep was easy thanks to Emirate's installations of twinkling stars on the ceilling panels.

Starry night sky inflight on Emirates

In between Bangkok and Dubai, we were served our first breakfast of orange juice, fruit, croissant and a choice of Spanish omelette with roasted cherry tomatoes, blanced sugar snap peas and sauteed potatoes or wok-fried noodles with chicken and seasonal Asian vegetables.

I had the omelette which was rather bland in contrast to Zen's stir-fried noodles.

Breakfast of orange juice, fresh seasonal fruit, spanish omelette and croissant

Breakfast alternative with stir-fried egg noodles

Dubai to London, we were served our next breakfast. This time, the continental breakfast included a freshly baked and still warm croissant, a muffin and fruit salad. Refreshing!

Continental breakfast of fresh seasonal fruit, croissant and muffin

Lunch was a choice of country style chicken casserole with buttered gnocchi (which unfortunately ran out), lamb curry cooked in a medley of spices, served with vegetable rice and garnished with fried cashew nuts and onions and spinach and ricotta ravioli tossed in a creamy and chunky fresh basil and tomato sauce.

The lamb curry was surprisingly spicy and the fried onions made the meal slightly more authentic.

Lunch of salmon and vegetable terrine, seasonal salad, lamb curry, dessert of green apple and almond dream, cheese and biscuits and chocolate

An hour stopover at Dubai provided an opportunity to admire the amazing architecture of the airport and city. I can't wait until the last days of this trip where I'll be spending a few nights in this city.

Inside Dubai Airport

An aerial view of Dubai was even more fascinating. The fortress-type houses, dry desert and similarity of buildings was unfamiliar and strange.

Aerial view of Dubai

And an aerial view of London was spectacular. Spot the London Eye and other popular monuments in the below photo.

Aerial view of London

Inflight camera of landing at London airport

Stay tuned for more :)