• 1 kg brown round eggplant
• 1/2 kg savory minced beef
• 2 cups tomato juice
• cooking oil
• salt and pepper

Ingredients for Savory Minced Meet (Lahma mu'assaga)

• 1 kg beef
• 2 onions, chopped very fine
• cooking oil
• salt and pepper

Directions for Savory Minced Meet

Mince the beef coarsely. Fry the onions until pale gold, then add beef and seasoning and cook until the juice is reabsorbed. 

Directions for Musa''a'a

Slice, peeled or unpeeled eggplant and spread on smooth surface. Sprinkle with salt, and allow to stand for at least one hour. Squeeze gently to drain moisture, pat dry, and deep fry the eggplant in sizzling oil. Then remove onto \absorbent paper. 

Line the bottom of a baking dish with half the eggplant slices, spread savory minced beef on top, and cover with the remaining half of the eggplant slices. With the tip of a knife, make several deep dents in the eggplants. Season tomato juice and pour over eggplant. Bake in center of moderate oven for about 30 minutes.

With its location at the northeast corner of the African continent, Egypt is truly a crossroads of Middle Eastern and North African cuisine.  Very few foods are completely unique to Egyptian cooking and perhaps the most unusual of these foods is the green known as Melokiyah. 

The plant commonly known as melokiyah to the Egyptians is known in the botanical realm as Corchorus olitorius and is known in English as Jew’s Mallow.  A member of the plant family Tiliaceae, it is common around the world as secondary source of the fiber crop, dark jute.

In Egypt, Melokiyah prepared as a soup is believed to be an ancient peasant soup from the time of the pharaohs and is portrayed in tomb paintings.  Every peasant had a small plot of land for his own use and in the summer months, this was used exclusively for the cultivation of melokiyah, with its dark green leaves and small, yellow flowers. This custom is continued today, making melokiyah a staple food in contemporary Egypt.  And no wonder, considering the nutritional value of this vegetable plant. A low calorie food with 43-58 calories/100 gms, C. olitorius contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, beta-carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and ascorbic acid.  The folic acid content is substantially higher than other folacin-rich vegetables. It is eaten as a medicinal vegetable from Tanzania to Egypt, providing folk remedies for ailments such as aches and pains, dysentery, enteritis, fever, pectoral pain and tumors. Elsewhere, the leaves are used for cystitis and gonorrhea.  A cold infusion of the leaves is believed to improve appetite and restore strength.   

Today, melokiyah is still a food of ordinary people. Egyptians find it hard to believe that foreigners would be interested in sampling such a common dish, much less develop a fondness for it.  The best Melokiyah is found in Upper Egypt, in Aswan and Luxor.  And at that, it maybe difficult to find, as many restaurants will always have a pot going on the cooker in the kitchen for the staff, but it will not appear on the menu.  Don’t be afraid, just ask your waiter for a fresh bowl of Melokiyah and he will be happy to oblige! 

Because of its popularity as a baladi or home-style dish, there is a variety of ways to prepare the melokiyah leaves.  Fresh is best, however finding them may prove difficult for the Westerner.  If you do find yourself acquiring a taste for this gelatinous soup – the properties of  melokiyah are similar to okra – you will do best to look for it dried or frozen, from Middle Eastern specialty markets or the international department of very large supermarkets.  

Fresh melokiyah leaves can be chopped very finely. An alternative method is to shave the leaves, which is called mahluqa.  This is accomplished by using a very sharp knife to shave the leaves into very thin strips and is well liked by connoisseurs of the plant. 

Melokiyah is generally considered to always be prepared as a soup, unless the recipe specifies Melokiyah Burani, where the leaves are cooked and served whole with beef cubes.  It may also be prepared “bil-samak” – with fish. 

Basic Melokiyah soup is prepared with a good meat or vegetable stock, onion, lemon juice, cardamom and ta’liya, which is garlic fried with salt and coriander in cooking oil.  A tasty but less mucilaginous substitute for melokiyah is spinach. 

Basic Melokiyah

•  2 pounds frozen or dried Melokiyah

• 1 onion, cut in half

• 1  bay leaf

• 4-5 cardamom grains

• 5 pound chicken ( or 2 smaller chickens)

• 15-20 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 Tb coriander powder

• 1 Tb lemon juice

• cooking oil

• salt

• cooked rice

Boil water with onion, salt, bay leaf and cardamom tied in a muslin bag, then add the chicken and cook until tender.  Remove chicken, cut into neat joints and fry. 

Discard the muslin bag and mash the onion.  Boil the soup stock, add the melokiyah, adjust the seasoning and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Do not overcook, as the melokiyah will lose its ability to be suspended in the broth and fall to the bottom of the pot. 

Mix crushed garlic with salt and coriander (ta’liya) and fry until golden. Toss into the boiling melokiyah and simmer for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice. 

Place the cooked rice at the bottom of the serving bowl, add a piece of chicken and cover with the soup.  

+

Another Meal 

Egyptian topping 

Lamb & Eggplant

Ingredients:

1   medium eggplant

1 1/2   lbs lamb shoulder

3   tablespoons butter

1   medium onion, diced

1   teaspoon marjoram

1   pinch dried thyme + salt and pepper

1   cup consommé

1   cup rice

1   can tomato (2-1/2 cups)

Instructions:

1. Peel and cube the eggplant soak in salted water for 15 minutes, rinse and drain well.

2. Cut lamb into 1-inch squares and sauté in butter until brown on all sides.

3. Place in a casserole.

4. Fry onion in the skillet until golden brown.

5. Add onion and eggplant, seasonings and consommé to the casserole.

6. Brown raw rice in a dry skillet and blend with canned tomatoes and their juice.

7. Pour over the contents of the casserole.

8. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until lamb is tender, about 90 minutes.

+Another meal

Fig and Date Bread

A Good Bread for the Suhoor,

or very early morning Ramadan Meal

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pitted dates

1 cup chopped dried figs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the dates, figs, butter and baking soda. Pour in the boiling water, stir well and let stand for 15 minutes.

Beat the sugar, walnuts and eggs into the date mixture. Combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the date mixture just until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

+A dessert

Basboosa - Semolina Cake with Honey and Lemon

Ingredients:

Syrup 

2   cups sugar

2   cups water

1   whole lemon

3   teaspoons honey

Basboosa 

3   cups semolina

1   cup flour

1 1/2   teaspoons baking powder

1   cup sugar

1   cup oil

1   cup milk

Instructions:

1. To make the syrup: Peel the lemon with a potato peeler to get flat strips of peel.

2. Juice the lemon.

3. Bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil.

4. Throw in the rind of the lemon.

5. Boil until the lemon rind is hard or the mixture is a runny syrup consistency.

6. Add the honey.

7. Set aside while you make the basboosa.

8. Mix the semolina, flour, sugar, and baking powder.

9. Add the oil and mix until all the batter is well blended.

10. Grease a large cookie sheet tray (10 x 16 inches).

11. Add the milk just before you are about to bake.

12. Dot the mixture into the greased pan by spoonfuls.

13. Level the mixture with your hand (dipped in milk).

14. Shake the tray to level.

15. Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.

16. Cut into squares and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes.

17. Pour the syrup over the basboosa immediately after you remove it from the oven the last time.

    S E RV E S 4

A soup for garlic lovers! If haricot beans are unavailable, you can use canned cannellini or flageolet beans instead.
2x435 g (15 oz) cans haricot beans
1 liter (1 3/4 pints) vegetable stock salt and pepper to taste
150 ml (1/4 pint) quality olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
25 g (1 oz) chopped parsley
parsley sprigs to garnish

1 - Drain the haricot beans, rinse well and drain. Put half of them in a large pan with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

2- Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth, adding a little water if the soup is too thick. Return to the pan, season and add the remaining whole beans. Reheat.

3 - Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a separate pan and fry the garlic slices until golden. Add to the soup with the remaining oil and chopped parsley.

4 - Serve garnished with parsley sprigs.

Number (1)

In her book, Memories of a Lost Egypt, Colette Rossant’s recounting of various family events and activities always includes a sumptuous description of the food served at these special times, as well as recipes.

From this book, we are featuring a recipe for Kofta (meatballs) with Apricot Sauce, which was served in Rossant’s Grandmaman’s house as part of a wedding feast.

1-Apricot Sauce

Soak 1 cup dried apricots in water to cover for 2 hours. Drain the apricots and place them in a food processor or blender and puree. Then, with the motor running, slowly add 3 cups of chicken stock. (Note: I found that 2 cups of chicken stock was sufficient.) Add salt and pepper to taste, transfer to a saucepan and simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes.

2-Kofta

• 1 pound of ground lamb
• 2 small leeks, cleaned and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon raw rice
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• salt & pepper
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Mix the ground lamb with the leeks, rice, eggs, oil, cilantro and salt & pepper to taste. Form balls the size of walnuts. (If you have a cookie scoop, use this and you will get uniform sized meatballs.)

Place the meatballs in a large saucepan with the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes, adding water if necessary. Drain the meatballs and cool.

Roll the meatballs in flour and melt the butter or margarine in a large skillet. When the butter is hot, add the meatballs and saute for 5 to 6 minutes, until nicely browned.

Pour the Apricot Sauce on the Kofta and serve. Makes 4 main dish servings. This recipe may also be served as an appetizer (mezze) or used as a filling for a pita sandwich with salad greens.