In praise of pearl couscous

I can't work out how I managed to live for so many years without stumbling across pearl couscous. It's delicious! And has the coolest texture. When en route to NZ a couple of months ago, the vego dinner option on the Air New Zealand plane was pearl couscous and some sort of vegetarian casserole. Nom nom:

then a week or so later I encountered it again in dinner at the Rutland Hotel in Whanganui:

On returning to Australia I bought a packet and have now served it several times alongside, for example, a vegetarian tagine. A happy discovery.