The Egyptian Kitchen

Dinner: Fasolia wa roz (beans and rice)

2011-12-09T14:50:00.001-05:00

Can you smell that? That burning, smokey air? That's fall. The season I probably despise the most, because what comes after fall? Winter. It's probably about to start now...any minute.

But, we're more than half way through the fall now, and so I suppose I've gotten use to it, and can participate in those cozy fall things people like to do. I don't wear wool, so that's out of the question, but for me, cooking heartier meals is a fall thing. So yay me.

I decided to revisit one of my favourite stews: Basila wa roz (peas with rice). A simple and hearty stew that's easy to flavour and even easier to eat.

As an undergraduate student in freezing cold Montreal, I had a good Lebanese friend. I think my way of trying to connect with people from the Middle East is immediately through food, because the language thing ends as soon as it starts, with some blank stares from my end. And then I usually blush out of embarrassment. In any case, my friend Rasha and I bonded over studying and food. My excitement was heightened at our new friendship when she invited me over for dinner. She told me she was going to prepare something simple, and when I came by she pointed to the stew waiting on top of the stove: fasolia wa roz (beans and rice). "It's one of my favourites" she told me. I think I wanted to pretend I knew it, so I responded with a "mine too".

Luckily, I wasn't too far off. It is more or less the exact same stew both my parents made for us growing up, but as I mentioned, we used peas instead of beans. But beans are a common addition to the stew in Egypt as well. However, string beans or green beans, or 'fasolia' are not native to Egypt, or the Middle East for that matter.

They are native to the Americas, India and China. When the Spanish began their trade outside of Europe, they introduced the green bean to the French around 1597. That's probably why the green beans have evolved over the years into the name of 'french beans'.

The first round of French colonization of Egypt was in 1798, which lasted only three years, so not much time for their culinary influence to seep in just yet. However, the second wave of French colonization of Syria and Lebanon after World War I guaranteed that the French culture found its way into day-to-day cuisine, which was inevitably brought over to Egypt by the Lebanese, Armenian-Lebanese, and Syrians.

When the more recent wave of immigrants trickled into Egypt in the late 1800s, early 1900s, the French and Italian influences were solidified in Egyptian cuisine. The Italians also brought along their love of cooking with the string beans.

To vary the dish a little, I decided to showcase my aunt's rice dish. It's a common way of serving rice in Egypt. Rice pilafs are not very popular in Egypt; the fanciest we get with our rice is often one of three ways: white rice with ground liver and pine nuts, white rice and pine nuts, and white rice with small vermicelli.

The latter is the more popular presentation. Although it may not the fanciest of rices, it still adds a touch of 'I care' in the meal. And it adds a slightly nutty flavour to the rice.

The addition of vermicelli probably came about with the large Italian influx of immigrants in the late 1800s/early 1900s. In arabic, vermicelli is referred to as shaareyah, which comes from the word 'shaar' meaning hair. However, the vermicelli used is normally bought already cut into small pieces. If you can't find that, just buy regular vermicelli and break it yourself.

The rice dish is called: roz bil shaareyyah

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Total preparation and cooking time: 2 hours (including rice)

-can be longer depending on cut of meat

Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS

Stew:
1 tablespoon of olive oil (or butter)
1 white onion
1 lb. of cubed beef (or lamb)
2 cans of tomato paste (156 ml)

1 stick of cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice (if available)
2 cups of water

2 cups of green beans (fresh or frozen)

Rice:

1 cup of short-grain white rice

1/4 cup of vermicelli (broken into small pieces)

1 tablespoon of olive/vegetable/corn oil

salt

1 and 7/8 cups of water

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DIRECTIONS

Stew:

1. Dice onions
2. In a stewing pot, heat oil and fry onions

3. When onions are soft, add beef

4. Brown beef for a few minutes until everything is seared on the outside
5. Add tomato paste and water
6. Add cinnamon and allspice. Salt and pepper to taste
7. Let stew cook for about an hour or more; until meat is tender

8. Cut off stems and ends of the beans

9. When meat is tender, add beans

10. Let cook for another 15 minutes
11. Serve on rice with fresh green onions or sliced onions in lemon juice (or white vinegar) and salt

Rice:

1. On high heat, add oil to pot

2. Add vermicelli to oil and continuously stir until all the pasta has turned brown (but not burnt)

3. Once the vermicelli has changed colour, take the pot off the heat.

4. Add water and salt to taste.

5. Once water is boiling, turn heat to low.

6. Add rice.

7. Stir and keep covered until rice is cooked (about 15 - 20 minutes)

And there you have it. A simple variation on a household staple with some fancy rice.

2011-11-24T16:56:00.001-05:00

Haven't forgotten....just a wee bit behind. More to come!

Turkish Coffee (ahwa)

2011-09-05T19:06:00.029-04:00

Eeek, two months already and not an entry, and the summer is done. Horrible; just horrible. But on that note, we can ease into the horror that is the fall with a simple item: coffee.

While there are many ways of grouping and dividing people in Egyptian society, one subtle force comes through the drinking beverage of choice: coffee or tea. This being Turkish coffee, or black tea.

My family for instance is pure coffee. My aunt still cannot understand why someone would want a cup of tea over a nice cup of coffee. When a guest asks for tea, she resorts to the two boxes someone gave her years ago and adds “I’m not sure what they are; but I think they are some kind of tea” In fact, even as a child she hated drinking tea so much that when my grandmother would make her a nice cup of tea when she was sick, my aunt would graciously accept it and quickly dump it into an old shoe; a lot easier apparently then going through the tortuous event of sipping it.

My best memories of my grandmother was sitting on her lap as a child and dipping a petit beurre biscuit into her Turkish coffee and relishing the taste of buttery sugar with a hint of bitterness from the coffee, almost like a hot chocolate. For fun, she would then flip over her cup and wait some time and try to read her future. Many women still do this when they get together and have an afternoon coffee and try to figure out what's in store for their future. I still do this with the hopes I can read something; normally it’s just a big coffee grind mess which makes me a little worried.

Both my dad and my aunt have kept the ritual and routine of Turkish coffee every day. My father has one right after his breakfast, and then again later in the day after his dinner time nap. He never skips a beat. My aunt starts the morning with an espresso and then switches over to a Turkish one before heading out. You can’t beat routine of these two. As a teenager, my dad was the one who taught me how to make Turkish coffee; which oddly enough, is different to my aunt’s method. But they both work out equally fine.

My mother’s family tends to be more on the tea side, which is odd given that she is the one with the Turkish lineage. My mom is the one who taught me about tea making. She makes her tea as if it’s a strong cup of coffee; it’s a very typically Egyptian way of making tea: boiling the hell out of it. Her morning routine is also set in stone: small stove top pot with water and black tea. She boils this for about five to ten minutes, until it is pretty much black. Egyptians don’t add milk or cream to their tea, they add sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. To the strong black tea some will then add mint leaves, and this is the Egyptian mint tea. It’s not as ritualistic or complicated as the Moroccan green tea; but it is a nice way to end a heavy meal.

If you wander around the markets in Egypt, stop into a store downtown, or take a faluka ride along the Nile, you will always see people sipping tea. When it’s hot, you drink tea to cool down. And when it’s cold you also drink tea to warm up. But the hot tea on a hot day does work. Many neighbourhood cafes will make tea or coffee and then send out one of the younger workers to distribute the tea to other stores or people working away from cafes. You will see these boys running around with a tray filled with tea; and sometimes coffee. Tea is the drink of choice during the day, whereas coffee is more when you can sit and savour it. Of course, as a shopper, it’s the first thing you are asked when you enter a store and are about to settle into some bargaining: “would you like a tea, coffee or a coke?” Even when taking a boat ride in Nubia, people are running around making sure everyone has tea or coffee. When I was there, the guide we had shared his tea with me on the boat. Generally, making tea quickly like that outside of the home, an instant tea is used; it has the consistency of instant coffee granules, but it’s tea. Hot water is added and some sugar.

Mint has been cultivated in Egypt since the days of the Pharaohs. The mint oil itself was revered for its medicinal properties. But it wasn’t commonly used as a daily tea until the British arrived in the 1800s and brought with them tea from China and India. There are essentially two types of tea served in Egypt: that from Lower Egypt (Koshary) and that from Upper Egypt (Saidi). Koshary tea is made by simply steeping tea leaves for a few minutes then adding sugar, and sometimes some mint. Saidi tea is made by boiling the tea leaves for a few minutes, then adding lots of sugar (my mom’s tea).

As for the Turkish coffee, the history behind it is what makes the drink rather interesting. The initial story behind coffee comes from Ethiopia in the 11^th century and the red cherry-like fruits that their goats would eat. After eating the fruit, the goats would get very energetic. Soon enough, the fruit was thought to have medicinal properties and it was picked, boiled and drunk. With time, and trade quite heavy in that area, the drink soon spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, especially in Yemen where the climate was perfect for growing the fruit. Bear in mind, that it was still the fruit that was being drunk.

With the spread of the Ottoman Empire, Yemen became just another province. The governor of Yemen, Ozdemir Pasha, introduced the drink to Sultan Suleiman in the early 1500s. Apparently it was here in the Ottoman palace that a new way of drinking the fruit was discovered: roasting the beans of the fruit over a fire, grinding the beans and adding it to boiling water. And that is the same recipe used today for Turkish coffee.

This new beverage soon spread from the palace to grand mansions and then to the public. Coffee was purchased, roasted at home and then brewed in coffee pots known as a ‘cezve’, though in Arabic its called the ‘kanakah’.

Coffeehouses began to spring up throughout the city and those stopping through got their first dose of coffee. In due time, coffee spread throughout Europe and then over to the Americas. The Turkish word for coffee was ‘kahve’ and obviously over the years its made its way into other languages as coffee or café or other similar variations.

But, back to Egypt. The Ottomans conquered Egypt in the early 1500s, around the same time that coffee was starting to get recognized in Turkey. Undoubtedly, like many other foods that have made their way into Egyptian culture, Turkish food and habits soon became common in Egyptian households.

The Turkish were fairer in colour and thus seen as the aristocrats of Egyptian society for some time. Therefore marriage amongst the Turkish community was not something that was taken lightly between families as the bride to be had to be well chosen in order to maintain the same socio-economic level. One way of testing out the potential of a bride-to-be was when the groom’s family was invited to meet the bride’s family, the bride-to-be would be the one to prepare the Turkish coffees. If her coffee came out perfectly; meaning with a little cream foam on top and perfectly sweetened, then she was seen as a good match and the groom’s family would then give its blessings.

My aunt used to remind me this as a joke growing up, so that to this day when I prepare coffee for guests, I’m a little concerned if there isn’t enough of a cream foam on top; that could spell the end of a friendship.

Throughout the cities in Egypt, you have the old tradition still of men-only coffee houses. Even to this day many of them are going strong and men go in there to play backgammon or chess, smoke a shisha, talk to friends and sip coffee. Women still haven't cornered this market.

But when you order a Turkish coffee in Egypt, or someone offers you one, there are four ways of having it prepared and all of it have to do with the amount of sugar. The more popular preparation is ‘Mazbootah’, meaning correct, so it has just one sugar. ‘Ziadah’ is with additional sugar, and ‘Areehah’ is a little less sugar than mazbootah. ‘Saddah’ is with no sugar at all. Apparently our last name ‘bissada’ was popular on the play grounds during recess because it rhymed with ‘saddah'. So clever...

At funerals, regardless of religions, there is also a tradition to only serve ‘saddah’ coffee because you don’t want the occasion to be viewed as anything but a sad and bitter ordeal. Also, any floral motif cups are not used as it might lift the spirits of the guests. Funerals in Egypt are generally taken very seriously and are not viewed with any optimism, such as celebrating one’s life. So everything surrounding the event has to be just as serious, including the coffee.

In terms of preparation, it’s the easiest thing in the world. I often make this coffee when camping because all it takes is a pot, ground coffee and sugar. In the mid-east food stores, you can find pre-ground Turkish coffee, or you can get it ground to a fine powder in any coffee store. It’s much finer than an espresso grind.

espresso grind:

turkish coffee grind:

Also, variations coming from the Persian Gulf include cardamom pods ground into it which gives the coffee a wonderful flavour; though it’s not as popular in Egypt. The coffee itself is usually a short shot really and served in a small tea set and always, always served with a glass of water to drink afterwards. But my cousin and I agree that you can throw tradition aside and cheat when you want a big cup of coffee and not a little tease.

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Total preparation time: 6 minutes
Yield: 1 person

INGREDIENTS

Water

1 small teaspoon of sugar

2 heaping teaspoons of coffee

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DIRECTIONS

1. If using a kanakah, fill it with water just to the bend in the pot.

2. If you are using a regular pot, fill the tea cup you are using with water and add that to the pot.

3. Add one small teaspoon of sugar to the pot. Stir it and set it on the burner.

4. Ideally, for the best cup of coffee, you set the burner on low to medium heat. I have little patience for that so I put it on maximum.

5. When the water starts boiling, take it off the heat, add your coffee to it, mix it and bring it back to the heat source.

6. If you have electric burners, then you can put the pot back on with the heat off. If you have a gas burner, keep the heat on low.

7. Now you want to watch for the coffee to rise. When you see the coffee foam rising and about to spill over, take it off and pour it into a cup. If it just begins to boil again then you should probably start all over, because it is too hot to have a proper foam.

8. Now you can sit back and enjoy your coffee. Because the coffee grinds are still in the cup, it’s not a coffee you can drink fast, otherwise you end up with grinds in your mouth. You need to sip it slowly and when you start getting more grinds than coffee, it’s over. You can flip your cup over and hope someone can read your future.

9. There is another way of preparing the coffee, and that is you add everything right from the beginning and watch it rise immediately for the foam. Both methods are used.

Lunch/Dinner: Stuffed tilapia with onion rice

2011-06-05T01:09:00.029-04:00

Ah sweet summer is back. It only took ten months or so. But that's ok. To mark the return of the season, I wanted to make something a little summery: fish.

I also figured I'd do fish because my mom had been suggesting for a while "why don't you do the stuffed fish? the one I do?" And I'd entertain the idea and forget about it, because, well fish smells and I thought it was going to be this horrid procedure. When in fact it was anything but that. The smell part yes, but everything else was good.

Egyptians do love fish. Especially if you're from Alexandria, you're a fish feind. Up there they have these amazing on-the-sea places where you pick whatever fish they have caught that day and they prepare it for you right there. Fried, or stuffed and grilled. Either one is delicious. The main staple that fish is served with throughout the country is rice. But not just any rice. Special 'fish' rice.

One summer when I was visiting family in Cairo, my cousin's mom had us over for lunch (the big meal of the day). I loved going there because she would always cook things but take her time doing it. I mean really take her time, but she still seemed to enjoy the whole process. That day, she was explaining to me how she would prepare the fish. And then she showed me the rice. She asked me if I knew about it? I said not really. She went on to explain that "you always serve this kind of rice with the fish". "Why?" I asked. "You just do. It goes well together". And there it is.

The rice is simply a mix of sauteed onions, pepper, and a pinch of cinnamon. But because it is so nicely balanced, it goes wonderfully with any type of fish.

As for the the fish, my great-aunt showed me once how to fry the fish in clarified butter, winking at me and saying this is how I can cook for my husband one day; the way to a man's heart, she told me, was through his stomach. While I love her enthusiasm for cooking, I wasn't convinced that I could woo my husband-to-be through heavily fried fish . Instead, I've opted for the traditional stuffing of fish.

Egypt has fish coming from the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Nile; though I don't believe the latter to be as popular any more. Back in the pharaonic days, the Nile was revered because not only was it a source of water for agriculture, but also for its fish. As I mentioned in the last entry on sham el-nessim, one of the main ways the spring is celebrated is with the salted fish fiseekh that is from the Nile. When the spring would return and the Nile would flood, it would be the time for everyone to go fishing. If you venture down the Nile, you always come across many fishermen in their small boats fishing throughout the day. So many still depend on the river for fish; but not as much as they used to.

The Mediterranean coast, west of Alexandria, used to be dotted with little fishing villages. These were pristine little places that the city people used to go visit for a quick get-away from the bustling cities. One area in particular is called Mersa Matruh. My uncle told me about how clear the water used to be and how quiet it was. Now, of course, these areas have been highly developed and there are sprawling condos everywhere, and loud music, and the tranquility of the villages is a thing of the past. Though the water is still amazingly clear. When I went there, I found young guys driving around in their cars, blasting Amr Diab, while families lounged on the beaches all day. It still has a wonderfully sleepy feel to it; like a suburb. But you can still find seafood all throughout the towns that serve amazing food.

The Red Sea resort towns are now teeming with tourists and all kinds of night life. It's one of the main hubs of tourism for the country. Of course, not too long ago, these coast lines were also the picture of tranquility, but alas, once a secret is out, it's hard to hide it from everyone. The water there is clear and warm, and you can see all kinds of sea creatures if you go snorkeling or scuba diving. But just like the north, seafood places are in abundance and are very affordable.

In Cairo, among all the street-food vendors, there are seafood fast-food type of places. I came across one a couple years ago. It was tucked into a small side street in Heliopolis and was packed. It was the type of place where you point out which sea-creature you want, tell them quickly how you want it, and they kill it, and grill it for you on the spot, wrap it up and send you on your way. Delicious. And cheap.

Stuffing fish is done differently throughout the country, but it still relies on four main ingredients: fresh coriander leaves, onions, garlic, and lemons. Coriander, or as some may know it, cilantro, has its roots in ancient cuisine in China and all across the Mediterranean. Coriander seeds, which have a completely different taste all together, have been found in pharaonic tombs, so we know that the ancient Egyptians have been using coriander in their cooking for many, many years now. But it doesn't grow wild in Egypt, so many believe the ancient Egyptians began cultivating coriander themselves. It is native to North Africa, Southern Europe, and Southwest Asia.

As for the type of fish, one of the most popular fishes eaten there is called 'el bolti' or tilapia in english. It's a meatier white fish, that doesn't have too much of an overly fish taste and works well when you grill or roast it. Apparently, tilapia was seen as a symbol of fertility and renewal of life, possibly because of how resilient they were to disease and thus able to reproduce fairly easily.
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Total preparation and cooking time: 1.5 hours
Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS

FISH
3 whole tilapia, cleaned and flayed open
1 half a head of garlic
1 white onion
2 bunches of fresh coriander

2-2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 lime
salt
olive oil

RICE
2 cups of short grain rice
4 cups of water
1 white onion
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of butter/oil
salt

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DIRECTIONS

Fish

1. If you can't do it yourself (I can't), ask someone at the fish counter to clean and cut the fish open - flay it open
2. As you can see, I tried it myself and cut it up the back; it works but just means you have more bones to eat through.

3. Peel all the garlic
4. Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, add the coriander, garlic and a squeeze of lime juice.
5. Keep mixing these ingredients until it forms a type of paste; add more lime juice if it is still rather dry.

6. Slice the onions into rings
7. Slice the limes.
8. On a baking tray, set out the fish and sprinkle the inside with some salt and cumin.

9. Afterwards, add some of the paste to each fish.
10. Add a few slices of onions and limes to each fish.

11. Cover the fish with foil and put in the oven at around 350F

12. Check on the fish in about 20 minutes.
13. The fish are done when the meat is white in colour and flakes easily with a fork.

Rice

14. While the fish is in the oven, you can start preparing the rice.
15. Dice the onions.
16. In a pot, add about a tablespoon of butter or oil and sautée the onions until they are soft.
17. Add the water and salt to taste.
18. When the water is boiling, add the rice and cinnamon.
19. Mix everything and lower the heat to minimum.
20. Cover and check on rice in about 20 - 30 minutes.

And you will find this fish to be so moist and flavourful, but not at all too fishy. When eating this dish, most families will have some bread and salad on the side to accompany this and maybe a nice glass of beer.

Sham el Nessim / Easter: Armenian Choreg (brioche)

2011-04-22T16:11:00.030-04:00

Ah the sweet smell of spring is kind of, almost, in the air. At least on this side of the world. Back in Egypt, they have finished celebrating the Sham el-Nessim festival. This year, that holiday was today, on April 25th, 2011. It is a holiday that literally translates into 'smelling of the breeze'; the new spring air, and it is one that has no origin in either Christianity or Islam. Therefore it is celebrated by all Egyptians on this day. It's a day when families get together and picnic outside, stroll by the zoo and generally do whatever they can do stay outside and take in the changing of the season.

It is a festival that can be traced back from nearly 4500 years ago when the Ancient Egyptians would celebrate the warm winds returning which would signal a new growing season. It was known then as 'Shamo', meaning a renwal of life. The date of the festival would vary each year and it would be announced the night before at the foot of the great pyramid, when the day of feasting would begin.

The festival was celebrated through certain foods that were either eaten or offered to the gods to ensure a good harvest would be had that year. Salted fish (fiseekh), coloured eggs, termis (lupin beans), lettuce and green onions are all the major foods that are still in practice to this day.

Fiseekh is a salted a fish whose recipe is handed down from generation to generation. When the Nile waters would fluctuate by season (pre-Aswan dam), fish would be in abundance a few weeks prior to the festival and thus easier to catch. They would then be dried in the sun, and then salted awaiting the day of the festival to be eaten. According to my parents, the fish are notoriously smelly and really are far from a treat to be eaten. Further to that is the problem of botulism if the fish are not properly dried. Apparently this festival has led to people getting poisoned from the smelly fish. One article I read quoted a lady using canned tuna as a healthier alternative.

Lupin beans and lettuce are harvested just at the end of winter and early spring. They are believed to represent the hopefulness that comes with the spring. Many households may grow a little pot of beans and/or lettuce in anticipation of this holiday.

The pharaohs believed eggs represented a regeneration of life. Thus they were boiled and coloured, and then hung in temples. The tradition of colouring eggs seeped into the Christian celebration of Easter, and seems to be going strong today, and world wide it would seem.

The use of onions (green onions), apparently comes from the belief that they ward off the evil eye and prevent envy. The story behind this belief comes from one of the pharaohs in the 6th Dynasty whose only son was loved by the people, but was ill for many years. One day, a doctor prescribed slicing an onion and putting it under the boy's nose so he would breathe in the vapors. The prince soon recovered and the people were so happy to hear of this news that as a gesture to honour the king, onions were hung over the doors of their houses.

Following the Ancient Egyptians, the Coptics continued this tradition as the festival often falls on or near Easter. Hence many of the traditions associated with Easter in Egypt stem from the celebration of Shem el Nessim. In fact, after many years, the official date of Sham el Nessim is now the day after Coptic Easter.

One such tradition that has fused both Shem el Nessim and Easter is the baking of Armenian Choreg, a very indulgent and sweet bread. Many countries bake a very rich and sweet bread following the end of lent to mark Easter. The growing Armenian community in Egypt since the early 19th century brought many of their culinary traditions to the country. Their easter bread, or Choreg as it is known (or brioche), is one such contribution to Egyptian culture.

My maternal grandmother, whom I never got to meet, was known to be an exceptional cook and baker according to my mother. With the coming of Sham el Nessim, she would whip out her Choreg recipe and bake this bread. She would braid it and bake it with the coloured eggs in keeping with the spring festival traditions. The interesting thing is that my mother's side of the family does not celebrate Easter; but the Aremeninan influence in Egyptian culture has become so ingrained that many households have incorporated different traditions into their own. And this is one bread everyone should have a chance to taste at least once.

The secret ingredient in this bread's flavour is the mahleb; the ground sour cherry pit that was also used in making the kahk cookies.

So in addition to the salted fish, onions, beans, lettuce and coloured eggs, this bread has also woven a place into celebrating both Easter and Sham el Nessim. It's a bread that requires a bit of patience to make, but once you smell it baking in your home, and you take that first bite; you'll think twice before you share it with others...
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Total preparation time: 3.5 hours
Total baking time: 20-30 minutes
Yield: 1 large loaf or three small loaves (minimum 8 persons)

INGREDIENTS

yeast mixture:
2 packages dry yeast (each package 8g/1/4 oz)
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons of flour

dough:
1 1/4 cups + 1 teaspoon white sugar
8 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons ground mahleb

7 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup warm milk

glaze:
2 egg yolks whisked

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DIRECTIONS

1. Add the yeast mixture to a bowl and mix until all ingredients have dissolved.
2. Allow it to stand for about 10 minutes until it has completely foamed.

3. While the yeast mixture is foaming, in a separate bowl add all the ingredients except for the flour and warm milk.

4. When the yeast mixture is foamy and airy looking, add it to the dough mix.

5. Mix everything well.
6. Begin adding a bit of milk, followed by about 2 cups of flour at a time.
7. Continue this process until all the flour and milk has been used.

8. Use your hands to mix the dough properly.
9. On a floured surface, get the dough out of the bowl and begin kneading.
10. You need to knead the dough until it feels a little springy; kneading it for about 10 minutes should do the trick.
11. Grab a big bowl (try to find one that is non-metal) and grease it with vegetable or olive oil.
12. Form the dough into a big ball and place it into the bowl.
13. Make sure the dough rolls around in the bowl so it is greased all over.
14. Place a kitchen cloth on the dough ball in the bowl.

15. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
16. Leave the bowl in the oven (oven is not on at this point).

17. Allow it to rise for at least three hours. If you let it rise longer, it's ok too.
18. After three hours, check on the dough.
19. If it has risen, punch it down and let it rise again for another 10 minutes.

20. Take the dough out of the bowl.
21. Now you can preheat the oven to 350F.

22. If you are going to do a traditional braid loaf, you need to section the dough into three equal parts, and roll out each part into long sticks.

23. If you don't want to braid the dough, you can section it however you would like. Some people do mini-rolls, others may just do a loaf.
24. Line an oven tray with parchment paper or silicone sheet and place the bread on it.

25. Glaze the bread with the egg yolks.
26. Put in the oven (not the bottom rack) and leave it for about 15 - 20 minutes; but do keep an eye on it.
27. The bread is done when it is golden in colour but still bouncy in touch.

28. Take out and enjoy with a bit of butter and some jam. Or just a slice on its own!

Dessert: Kahk (cookies)

2011-03-28T14:30:00.041-04:00

My mother asked me the other day what I was planning on making for my blog and I responded proudly: "Kahk". "Why?" She asked. "It's too hard, and complicated. Make something easier!" Surprisingly, it's a cookie that is not hard to make, and is well worth the time. And it's a cookie that is so well-known and extends back so far in history that it would almost be a sin to not even try to explain what these cookies are all about.

I remember my first Kahk experience. It was Easter, I was about 16 years old, and we were visiting my father's cousin in the morning. We were all given a little drink, some Tia Maria, I believe to toast for Easter. Right after, a box of these cookies came around. They were all delicately wrapped in wax paper. My Uncle asked if I had ever had a Kahk. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said these are special cookies that are only eaten at Easter or Christmas or any special occasion really. I took a bite and I was hooked.

Since then, I've noticed them everywhere. Bakeries here in Canada and back in Egypt. Homes of my family and my friends. They are everywhere. And they are not hard to make. But why are they so popular?

Apparently an Egyptian poet, Fouad Haddad, claimed: “Oh kahk, master of generosity … we will never stop making you.” It's a cookie that has its origins in Egyptian history from the days of the Pharaohs. And it's a cookie that makes a yearly appearance for Egyptian Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan and bi-yearly for Egyptian Christians to mark Christmas and Easter. Basically, it's a cookie to mark any major festival. And it's a cookie that is so filling, that you only need one. It's commonly called Kahk al-Eid, meaning a cookie of the feast.

Back during the days of the ancient Egyptians, these cookies were made as a snack. There are drawings in some of the Pharaonic temples in ancient Thebes and Memphis (close to Cairo) illustrating the making of kahk. Some drawings, also found on the walls of 18th century dynasty tombs show honey being mixed with butter over a fire, after which flour is added to making a soft and malleable dough. They would mold kahk into different forms or press them into elaborate flower or animal shapes. They were often stuffed with dates and figs and embellished with dried fruits. The image of the sun goddess, Amon, would be added to the cookies. Larger kahk pies, known as shurik, were often made before visting tombs during religious feasts. The idea behind this was the pies served as amulets, thought to boost magical powers.

With the end of the pharaonic period, many of the rituals were kept intact through the Egyptian Christians. Kahk was still a popular ritual, but instead of adorning the cookies with Amon, an image of the cross was added. However, the Amon sun-disc image made a come back when Islam spread into Egypt and the Kahk-making was introduced into Muslim rituals. Regardless of the event, it's usually made by groups of women who get together and whip these out. It is a delicate process, and each woman has her own secret to successful kahk.

Kahk, also extends into other Middle Eastern countries. The word 'kahk' means cookie or biscuit in arabic and can be found in the Levant as the same type of cookie but often made with semolina flour. In other countries, such as Iraq, kahk is a doughnut style hard biscuit that is covered with sesame seeds and eaten as is or with tea. It is known as Kahk bi loz, or almond bracelets. In the Gulf countries, Kahk is known as Mammoul, and is only stuffed with dates.

Don't be put-off by any of the ingredients in this recipe. Kahk can come filled with dates (agameya), walnuts, pistachios, or simply not filled at all. It's all a matter of what you want to do. I love all three, so I made all three fillings.

This is one of the easiest cookie doughs you will probably make. All recipes call for ghee (clarified butter) and butter. But since my last bout with ghee, I've sworn it off, so I opted for vegetable shortening instead, and it worked out wonderfully. If you have access to a middle-east food store, then you will be able to find the key ingredient: Mahlab. This is the seed of a sour cherry pit. It is a spicing that is used in many sweets throughout the Middle East. I will be using it again for an upcoming bread. The other key ingredient is called Rehet al-Kahk. This translates into the smell of Kahk. It sounds a bit complicated, but it is merely three ingredients blended together. I bought it already mixed at the store, but if you can't find it, it is equal parts of fennel seeds, anise seeds and mahlab. That's it. That's the big secret. Another thing which is useful is a mold. I found a traditional one made out of wood in the mid-east food store.

If you can't find one, don't worry, just leave them as is, or use something around the kitchen like a fork to create a pattern.

__________________________________________

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Yield: 12 large cookies I

INGREDIENTS

dough

500 grams (4 cups) flour

250 grams ghee (1 cup ) (or vegetable shortening)

50 grams (1/4 cup) soft butter

1.5 tablespoons icing sugar

16 grams active yeast (2 heaping tablespoons or two packs of instant dry active yeast)

100 grams lukewarm water

1 teaspoon kahk extract

1 teaspoon mahlab

filling #1
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 teaspoons icing sugar

1 tablespoon rose water

filling #2
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
3 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

filling #3
250 grams dates (you can buy already pitted and mashed dates)
25 grams butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

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DIRECTIONS

Filling

1. Prepare the walnut filling.

2. Add all ingredients to a chopper or food processor and set aside.

3. Prepare the pistachio filling the same way, and set aside.

4. For the dates filling, use a pan on medium heat.

5. First add the butter.

6. When it has melted, add the dates and cinnamon.

7. Continue stirring until all the butter has been absorbed.

8. If the date mixture still seems very dry, add a bit more butter.

Dough

9. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, butter and shortening.

10. Mix together until the batter is lumpy and all the flour has been used.

11. If you have bought unground mahlab seeds, you can grind them easily with a mortar and pestle.

12. Mix together the kahk and mahlab and sugar.

13. In a small container, add the lukewarm water. Make sure there is enough room (at least half) for the yeast mixture to rise.

14. Add the kahk mixture and yeast to the water.

15. Keep the mixture loosely covered and at room temperature for at least ten minutes.
16. When the mixture has at least doubled in size, add to the flour mixture.

17. Mix using hands until all the ingredients have been worked in and it is a ball of dough.

18. Set oven to 375F

Stuffing.

19. Grab a handful of dough.

20. If you are using a mold like this, then press the dough into it, making a little dip in the middle to put the filling into.

21. If you are not using a mold, use your thumb to create a little dip in the dough to add filling to.

22. Add about a teaspoon of any filling of your choice.

23. Pinch the side pieces of side together to cover up the filling.

24. Lay on a non-greased baking sheet. Or you can use parchment paper.

25. Once you have finished making all your cookies, put in the oven for about 2o minutes.

26. The cookies are ready when they have turned slightly golden.

27. Take out and dust with icing sugar.

Then make yourself a nice cup of tea and grab a cookie and enjoy!

Lunch/Dinner/Snack: Taameya (falafel)

2011-02-20T22:46:00.006-05:00

For those of you who actually read my blog, I apologize for not updating it yet this year. It's not at all because I've forgotten; on the contrary actually. I've been trying out one recipe but it took me a while to finally get it right. Yay me.

I also wanted to dedicate this entry to the success of Egypt's revolution! If you haven't been watching, then you should know that the Egyptian people, through their stubbornness, peaceful ways and dedication, decided to put an end to the Mubarak's 30-year presidency! Who knows what's in store for the country now, but small and significant steps for a large nation.

Anyhoo, today's entry will thus be dedicated to a dish or snack that has its roots in Egypt: taameya or falafel. That's right, though the Levantine countries have the better business minds to export falafel to the masses around the world, it does originate from Egypt and there is a key difference in its preparation: the beans. It's the beans that make a world of difference.

In Egypt, green broad beans are used. In the Levantine version, it's chickpeas. Now, for the green broad beans, they are loosely translated into english as 'fava beans'. I made the mistake of assuming these fava beans were the same ones used in ful mudammas; BIG mistake. Now I know that fava beans and broad beans, or green broad beans are two entirely different things. And these broad beans are readily available outside of Egypt in fresh, canned, frozen or dried versions.

But where did the taameya idea come from? There is evidence of dried broad beans from pharaonic tombs. One book I read sourced pharaonic cooks as making bean fritters using mashed broad beans, garlic, onions and spices.

That could be the precursor to how taameya became incorporated into the diets of Egyptians post-pharaoh rule. The Coptic people, often seen as descendants from the ancient Egyptians, still maintain a few practices from those days. One has been eating taameya as a substitute for their fasts, mainly during the time of lent. The Copts do many fasts throughout the year that forbid any animal product; therefore they have often been the ones to come up with new ways to incorporate vegan meals into their diets.

Following the spread of Islam into Egypt during the 600s, taameya also became a staple in the diets of practicing Muslims, especially during Ramadan, when they break their fast at sunset. The taameya is eaten as a meze, or appetizer before the main meal. Either way, taameya has woven its place into the streets of Egypt and can be eaten any time and anywhere, and cheaply. With the spreading of Islam throughout the Middle East, the idea of taameya travelled, and was adapted locally. In the Levantine, broad beans are not as popular as chickpeas. So their version has always been made using chickpeas.

Taameya is a word rooted in coptic or pharaonic language. The term falafel comes from arabic and is the plural form of filfil meaning peppers. It is also used to describe something that is fluffy, such as the frying of bean fritters in this case.

When you eat it as a meal, it's as a sandwich. In the small and intertwining streets of the main market in Cairo, Khan al-khalili, you can find small food stalls or restaurants scattered throughout the maze. I found an amazing taameya one last time. Everything, as usual, was wonderfully fresh. The taameya is fried right there, thrown into a fresh pita, or 'aish baladi' (country bread), and stuffed with tahina, pickled turnips, pickles, and tomatoes. Mmmmm

The fresh pita, is one point that makes the taameya particularly yummy in Egypt. It's a pita bread that you can rarely find anywhere else. It's thick, and airy on the inside and has cracked wheat and bran throughout it.

I just found a place now that makes this bread; which is amazing since my stash of frozen pita from Egypt ran out a long time ago. No one seems to know a set recipe on how it's made, but it's served throughout the country-side, and city all the time, everywhere and always fresh. It's thought to be a recipe also dating back to the times of ancient Egyptians.

Back in my home growing up, taameya was not a popular dish. It's a little heavy to make at home because of the frying , and it is a little labour intensive to make as well. The few times we had it, my mom ripped open a box of pre-made taameya mix. Let me just say, while that is good; nothing beats how wonderfully satisfying a fresh one is. And since it's unlikely to be a meal you'll often eat at home; make the fresh version so you get it right the first time.

___________________________________________________
Total preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 persons

INGREDIENTS

2 cups green broad beans (when cooked)
fresh coriander
fresh parsley
fresh dill (optional) or 1 tablespoon dry dill
1 onion (or green onions)
4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon baking soda
salt/pepper
cooking oil
white sesame seeds (optional)

Fresh pita bread
tahina
olive oil
lemon juice

Pickled turnips

Pickled vegetables

Fresh cucumber or tomato

Green onion (optional)
___________________________________________
DIRECTIONS
1. If you bought dried beans, you will need to soak them for at least six hours.
2. Once they are soft enough to mash, peel the skins off.
3. If you bought beans frozen or canned, the skins may already be off, but check first by rolling one in your fingers, if the skin comes off easily, then you will need to do the same to the rest.
4. If you have a food processor, add the beans, onions, garlic, spices and baking soda and purée.
5. If you don't have a food processor, chop finely the onions and garlic and add the spices.

6. Mash the beans with a masher or fork and add to the onion mixture.
7. Grab a hand full of coriander and parsley
8. Finely chop the herbs and add it to the bean mix.

9. Mix everything well until it is a consistency that holds a shape.
10. If it feels too soft, add a bit of flour until the consistency is a bit drier.

11. Using your hands, grab about a tablespoon size of the mix and shape it into a little patty.

12. If you have sesame seeds, dip the patty into the seeds, if not, dip lightly into some flour.
13. Continue this process until the mix is done.

14. Heat the oil in a pan and fry each patty until it is a golden brown on both sides.

15. Put all the fried taameya on some paper towel to soak up some excess oil.

16. Prepare the tahina using the recipe from earlier.
17. Cut up the cucumber and/or tomato and green onions.
18. Cut up the pita bread into halves.
19. Add some tahina to the bread, a couple tameeyas, and some vegetables and pickles.
20. Eat and enjoy!!

The trick to good taameya is eating them when they are still warm, and making sure your bread is fresh. The taameya does keep for about five days, so you can keep eating them all week long.

Lunch/Dinner: Koshary

2010-12-28T10:33:00.026-05:00

Today is new year's eve, and I thought I would get myself ready for a night out by making my last entry for this year. (I'll be back though in the new year with more recipes.)

Since I started this blog, I've been asked by a few people if and when I will put up a recipe for Koshary/koshari/kosharee. To be honest, I've stayed away from it because, well, I've never eaten it. Though I did come close to it once.

A long time ago, it was cool to circulate top ten lists of "you know you're Egyptian/Indian/Canadian etc. when...." and then there would be a list of private jokes that only certain cultures would find funny. The Egyptian one was always funny to me because it listed obvious things like how much we love our raw onions and garlic, to how many times a day an Egyptian mom would call her children. But there was always one that got zero reaction out of me: 'all you ever eat is koshary'. I never got it. I asked my parents, and they always replied with a blasé explanation about it being some kind of food.

So my last trip to Egypt, I was set on learning what this koshary was. I read up on it beforehand and had a good a idea what it was: Egypt's answer to fast food. And it really is fast food. It's essentially street food, that is good for you, and can be assembled together in no time. The famous Abou Tarek restaurant in downtown Cairo is sort of the leader in this food since that's all it serves. You walk in and the men working there stand behind their bowls of rice, brown lentils, pasta and fried onions. They quickly scoop it out into a disposable bowl layering all the ingredients and topping it off with the onions. A tomato-garlic-chili sauce is added to flavour by each person.

This is what people have been raving about. And in all honesty, it is yummy. I got lost in Cairo trying to find this Abou Tarek place, but I saw it all over to finally get a feel for it so when I made it myself, it wasn't such a big surprise.

It's the type of dish that can be eaten for a quick lunch when at work, or dinner when you can't bothered to make anything else. Or you just want a satisfying snack. It's also a meal that has become quite popular amongst the Coptics in Egypt who often do no-animal fasts; so this is a dish that is both filling and vegetarian/vegan friendly.

It is regarded as a runner for one of Egypt's national dishes. Though, nothing in it or about it is actually Egyptian. It is known to be a popular peasant meal, with all the ingredients readily available and for very cheap. However, I did come across one article which explained a great possible source of its origin: India.

To begin with, rice is not native to Egypt. Rice was introduced to Egypt back in 1000 B.C. probably through the Persians who learned about rice through trade with South East China. Secondly, the tomato sauce used to season dish is made up of tomatoes and chili, both originating from the Americas. The only ingredients native to Egypt in this dish are the lentils and onions. So how did this dish come to Egypt?

Well, according to one source, we need to think back to the time of British Colonization. The British army had been living in India since the late 1700s, they then came to Egypt in the late 1800s. The word 'koshari' is not an Arabic word. In fact, it is a Hindi word, 'khichri' meaning a dish of rice and lentils. It is an Indian street food that the British army took a liking to; probably because it is cheap, very filling, and above all safe to eat. They brought this dish with them to Egypt and I guess it became quite popular.

Just as a side note, many places do serve this dish with chickpeas in addition to all the other ingredients. But this is a newer addition, and is entirely optional.

All this to say that koshary is a dish that has now become so well integrated into Egyptian food that the origin itself seems to have been lost along the way. But, like many other foods that have found their way into Egyptian households, it is well-loved and simple to prepare, and tells much of the country's history in one bite.

__________________________________________________
Total cooking and preparation time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 persons

INGREDIENTS

1 small can (340g/12oz) tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of white vinegar
4 gloves garlic
1 tsp flaked chili (or fresh chili)
1 tsp ground cumin
salt/pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

1.5 cups short grain rice

1.5 cups brown lentils

1 cup elbow pasta (or any short pasta)

1 onion
(optional: 1 cup cooked chickpeas)

___________________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. In three separate pots, boil enough water to cook the rice, lentils and pasta
2. While these are cooking, chop up or smash the garlic
3. In a small pan, heat up the olive oil/butter on high heat
4. Add garlic and lower heat
5. Once the garlic begins to soften up, add the vinegar
6. Stir
7. Add all the tomato paste
8. Mix until everything is uniform
9. Add just enough water so that the consistency is of a pasta sauce (i.e. not too thick but not too runny like soup)
10. Add chili and salt to taste
11. Once the sauce has picked up the chili and garlic flavours set aside
12. Once rice and lentils are done cooking, mix them up together and set aside
13. Drain the pasta and set aside
14. Slice the onions and fry them in oil/butter until they are crispy

15. Now you are ready to assemble your koshary

16. Using a bowl, add a generous layer of rice/lentils

17. Follow with a layer of pasta

18. Now add some of the tomato sauce all over

19. Top it with some fried onions

20. Mix and eat!

And that's one of Egypt's fast-food options. Enjoy this and have a happy new year!

Dinner: Stuffed Grapeleaves

2010-11-01T00:35:00.029-04:00

Where to begin on this wonderous creation? Before I go any further, I have to start off by saying I adore stuffed grapeleaves. Or feuilles des vignes in french, or warak enab, or maashi in arabic. They are the most overlooked produce and yet lend themselves to heavenly bites.

I've been eating these as far back as I can remember. My grandmother used to make them for me all the time, and she would neatly lay them out on a platter. My aunt then began to make them and I have to say she is the best roller in the family. Under her tutelage, and my father's insistence, a stuffed grape leaf should be no wider than one's little finger.

My sister and I would go over to my aunt's and we would gather around the dining room table to roll these things. She would force us to unroll if one was found too fat or too loose.

Luckily the stuffing for this is the standard egyptian stuffing: ground meat (lamb or beef), garlic, rice, salt and pepper. My mother has always excelled in making the stuffing, but would make the grape leaves in a hurry, which would result in obese rolls; not an appetizing thing to eat. Luckily we've all mastered the roll and it's all good now.

Stuffed grape leaves are not hard to make; but they are nuisance to make, which is why they are generally served for special occasions such as christmas, easter, guests coming over, that type of thing. They don't even take that long to cook; but the rolling is the issue. If you have some friends come over to help out, it can easily turn into a middle-eastern quilting bee. Or, as I did in university, I sought out the more skilled friends of mine and taught them how to roll. Later on, I would have them come over to roll for me while I supervised. They got paid in grape leaves for dinner.

The dish of grape leaves is often served as an appetizer in restaurants throughout Egypt. But, in homes, it's one of many main dishes served at the table. So you will often have molokhia, chicken, grape leaves and cucumber yogurt salad all in one sitting. Or, as we do at home on occasion, you can make the grape leaves as a main dish and eat it with a salad.

Eating grape leaves is nothing new in Egypt. Every middle eastern country eats them as does Greece,Turkey and Iran; basically any country that was once under Ottoman rule or near its empire. The idea of eating grape leaves is often associated with the Greeks who claim that back in the days when Alexander the Great besieged Thebes, food became a hard find so people had to get make do with what little meat they had left. So they cut up the bits of meat and rolled it in grape leaves. This story sounds plausible apart from the fact I have never eaten a Greek grape leaf stuffed with meat; it's always just rice.

Nonetheless, the idea of rolling grape leaves spread across the area and to this day, the Greek dolmades,Turkish dolma, or Persian dolma-- all meaning to stuff--are popular dishes. Chances are when the Greeks occupied Egypt back in 332BC or when the Ottomans conquered the country in 1517, the recipe was brought over.

Of course, there are variations. In my personal experience, I find the Greek and Levantine versions are made with little to no meat. The Greeks also use more spicing in theirs such as cinnamon, and nutmeg and often add a tomato base, whereas the Levantine versions are seasoned with lemon, dill and mint. The Turkish version usually has meat, but they also like the meatless ones which are served cold and can be stuffed with dried fruit, nuts, and lentils. The Persian version is usually withour meat but can include nuts, pomegranate juice, rice and cheese. All this to say, in my humble opinion, the Egyptian version reigns supreme in its simplicity and flavouring.

Not too long ago, I went home to visit my mom for Canadian thanksgiving, which is just another excuse to eat all the great egyptian foods she prepares. As usual, she made molokhia, stuffed turkey (liver and rice mix) and grape leaves. The catch this time, was she decided to 'change it up' a little. To my surprise, she took the advice of a Lebanese friend of hers to add sliced lemons and mint to the grape leaves. Big mistake!! Call me a food snob, but this combination was not expected or welcomed. I applaud the Lebanese on many of their dishes, but I've never enjoyed their version of grape leaves. You can over do a good thing, and that's what happens when you embellish this dish with lemons, mint, dill and other varieties.

In any case, it has been decided that this variation will not be attempted again. So this recipe will be the tried and tested Egyptian version: garlic, meat, rice, chicken stock. I made a mistake and bought grape leaves packaged in Turkey. The Turkish ones are far too salty and have to be soaked a long time before you can use them. You end up eating a salt lick. I would suggest trying to find the ones packaged in California.

____________________________________________________
Cooking time: 3 hours
Preparation time: 2 hours
Yield: minimum 6 persons

INGREDIENTS

For this recipe, there is no standard for measurements. The easiest thing to do is use the package of ground meat as your measurement and add an equal amount of rice to the mix. If you run out of leaves before the mix is done, than you can either get more leaves or call it a day.

1 jar of pickled grape leaves (try to find the California variety)

ground meat--lamb or beef (your preference if lean or not)
short grain rice (egyptian or italian version)
1 head of garlic
fresh or store bought chicken stock (see previous entry for fresh recipe)

Optional: Cucumber yogurt salad (see previous entry for recipe)

___________________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. Open jar of grape leaves and leave to soak in warm water for about 30 minutes

2. In a large mixing bowl add meat
3. Add an equal amount of uncooked rice to the meat
4. Peel half of the garlic and chop it up
5. Add chopped garlic to mix
6. Season with salt and pepper (be generous with the salt)

7. You need to use your hands for mixing this

8. If you are not creeped out by this, grab a little bit of the mix to taste
9. Adjust salt and pepper
10. Strain water from grape leaves
11. Find a large cooking pot and line the bottom with some grape leaves - just one layer, it doesn't matter which side of the leaf you use

ROLLING
12. Grab one leaf and cut the stem off (if a leaf has too many holes, set it aside)

13. If you look at the leaf, one side is veiny and the other is smooth

14. Lay the leaf down with the veiny side up
15. Grab a about a tablespoon's worth of the mix

16. Centre the mix on the leaf and pinch it so it spreads out across the leaf width-wise

17. Bring the bottom of the leaf up over the mix and secure tightly

18. Fold over the sides of the leaf around the mix

19. Begin rolling as tightly as possible

20. THIS IS HARD TO DO AT FIRST!
21. If your first roll looks horrid, take it apart and try again.
22. Continue rolling until all the mix is done or the leaves are done

COOKING
23. Carefully place all the rolled grape leaves in the pot

24. If you have any left over grape leaves (also the ones with holes) lay them over the grape leaves to cover -- this is not essential, but it can protect the leaves a little while cooking
25. Peel the remaining garlic
26. Sprinkle the garlic over the dish

27. Add enough broth to cover the grape leaves

28. Cook at high so that it is boiling for at least an hour
29. After an hour, check on pot, if it needs more stock add some so it just covers the rolls, and continue cooking on high for another hour
30. After two hours of cooking on high, you can turn the heat down to medium and taste a roll. If the rice is cooked and the leaf is tender, it's done! If not, add enough stock to cover rolls and continue cooking

SIDE-DISH
31. The best friend to this dish is khiar be lebaan (cucumber yogurt salad)
32. If you have no cucumber or mint, plain yogurt will also be good

And that's it. Easy, right? The steps may seem a bit cumbersome, but once you get the rolling down, it's not too bad. It is time-consuming so it's not a meal you can whip up in an hour, but it's well worth the effort!

Mezze (salads/appetizers)

2010-09-26T12:15:00.007-04:00

Today will be about the popular mezze, or mezzeh, or mezza. Regardless of which word you use, it all means the same thing: taste. It is a Persian word in origin.

We've always had the main ones at our family dinners: baba ghanoush (eggplant dip) and tahina. The hummous and taboulah were never regulars on our table, but did make an appearance quite often. The tahina experience, I have to admit, was ruined for me during my undergraduate years.

Prior to university, both my mom and dad would make a little side of tahina to go with dinner. It's almost like having a side of flavour at the dinner table. While my mom's recipe would be made with tahina, white vinegar, olive oil, and salt/pepper, my father's was made with lemon juice instead. Regardless of the preparation, having it fresh at the table and drizzled over a meat dish, or with some pita bread was a given.

Then I left home and saw what the 'others' had been doing to tahina. Vegetarians, vegans, and new-age cooks were using it to flavour dishes like 'Green Goddess': steamed greens with a tangy tahina dressing; tofu with tahina; tahina spread on toast...so many other atrocities that I can't even speak of. All that to say that my experience with tahina became tainted over time to the point that I've had to re-train myself to embrace the tahina I once knew and loved: the pure tahina sauce used as a side dish or with pita. That's it.

I've also had issues over the years with new-age hummous. And by new-age I mean hummous that is mixed along with other ingredients. In the grocery store, people love to buy roasted red pepper hummous, or pesto hummous, or olive hummous. To all those I say no, no and no! Hummous is perfect in its simplicity: chick peas, garlic, tahina, olive oil and lemon juice. Its taste comes from the freshness of the ingredients and the non-complication. I'm not averse to creative cooking; but I do get pangs of pain when I see such a simple dish get over-analyzed and made-over into something that is a far cry from its origin.

Thankfully Egypt has yet to succumb to these culinary changes. I know in the more western types of grocery stores you may find these ghastly variations, but for the most part, Egyptian cooking, regardless if it is a high-end restaurant or little hole in the wall, takes pride in the freshness and simplicity of its food.

With just about any order at a restaurant or cafe, you will usually receive a mezze course. As I noted above, mezze likely originates from the Persian word for taste. Don't forget that Egypt was under Persian rule three times, dating back to 525 BC. The final Persian conquest of Egypt lasted a bit longer in 618 BC. But this legacy of mezze can be found all throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

The idea behind the mezze is a light course followed by the main meal. In Egypt, you will always get a small plate of hummous, baba ghanoush, and tahina. Those seem to be the standards. Depending on which restaurant you are at, you may also get taboulah, and khiar be lebaan (cucumber yogurt). You can also order additional mezze such as tamaaya (falafel), basturma bil baid (basturma and eggs), bisara (fava bean dip), tomato and cucumber salad, white bean salad, and kobeiba. The idea is to have the table filled with lots of small tastes of food to get you warmed up for the main entree. Or, as one article noted, the arabic word 'masmiz', which means to nibble and includes the assyrian word 'miz' meaning table. So it seems the mezze is a tasting of small food set out on the table.

Although this is the tradition in restaurants, you don't usually find this elaborate setting in the home. When I visit family in Egypt, it's not just a simple meal that is put together. It's usually five or six different dishes laid out; but the mezze are also laid out to accompany the main dishes. Everyone sits and eats both courses at the same time. There is no separation of courses. This may be a family trait or a common theme with most families, but generally, Egyptians are not the type to get up and change the table to accompany a two-course meal. They are more practical: everything is laid out in one go.

For today's recipes, I decided to prepare the common mezze dishes: baba ghanoush, hummous, tahina and taboulah. I should note that taboulah is not the most common Egyptian mezze. It's more popular in Lebanon, but I love it, and it's so easy to make it's almost a shame not to share the recipe. They are the simpler ones, and eating them fresh makes a world of difference in the taste. I would highly suggest though, making all of these a few hours (4-5) in advance before eating them. The trick to these mezze dishes are letting the flavours infuse for a couple hours, but still remaining fresh.
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BABA GHANOUJ

Cooking time: 10 minutes
Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield: 4-6 persons

INGREDIENTS
6 Indian medium-sized eggplants (or 3 regular large eggplants)

1.5 teaspoons tahina

1 clove of garlic
half a lemon
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt
pomegranate (optional - for garnish) --my aunt's great idea!

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 400F
2. Wash eggplants
3. Using a knife, cut into the eggplant all over (this makes sure the eggplant cooks in the oven without exploding)

4. Place eggplants in oven for about an hour (a baking tray is not necessary, just easier)
5. Check on eggplants after an hour
6. If you can pierce a knife easily into all areas of the eggplant, and they look darker in colour, then they are cooked

7. The skin should easily come off the eggplants (you can try running them under cold water to facilitate process)

8. In a food processor, add cooked eggplants, tahina, olive oil, garlic, salt to taste and a squeeze
of lemon
9. Puree
10. Once pureed, you can add pomegranate seeds for garnish. It also adds a nice balance of flavours.
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TAHINA

Preparation and cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4-6 persons

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of tahina
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
lemon juice or white vinegar
salt
paprika powder (optional - for garnish)

DIRECTIONS
1. In large bowl, add tahina, olive oil and squeeze a little lemon juice (or add 1 tablespoon of vinegar)
2. Mix and taste
3. Add salt to taste
4. Mix and adjust taste with more salt and lemon juice/vinegar
5. Garnish with a splash of olive oil and pinch of paprika powder

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HUMMOUS

Total preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4-6 persons

INGREDIENTS
2 cups of chickpeas (canned or dried)
1/2 tablespoon of tahina
2 cloves of garlic
squeeze of lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt
cumin powder (optional - for garnish)

DIRECTIONS
1. In a food processor, add chickpeas, tahina, garlic and olive oil
2. Puree
3. Taste and add lemon juice and salt to taste
4. Mix
5. Garnish with a splash of olive oil and cumin powder

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TABOULAH

Total preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4-7 persons

INGREDIENTS
2-3 tablespoons of bulgar
1 cup of water
2 cups of fresh chopped parsley
handful of fresh mint
1/3 cup of diced red onion
1 diced tomato
3 lemons
1 teaspoon of salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Add water to bulgar so it can soak for about 30 minutes
2. Chop parsley and mint as finely as possible -- you can chop it in a food processor, but it can lose some of its flavour that way

3. In a large bowl, add diced onion and tomato and parsley
4. Add bulgar
5. Add squeezed lemon juice --the key to good taboulah is lemon juice, don't be afraid to add it, but you don't want the parsley swimming in juice
6. Mix
7. Add salt to taste
8. Taboulah tastes better the longer you leave it to mix in its flavours. Ideally, after making it, leave it overnight and then eat it!

Dinner: Macarona bil beshemel (macaroni with beshemel)

2010-08-28T21:00:00.017-04:00

This is the simplest dish to put together and probably the one with the least nutrional value. But it is sooooo good. Thinking about it makes me hungry.

This has been a staple in my life since I was young. My parents never made it, but it is one of those dishes that always makes an appearance at any Egyptian dinner table where there are more than five people in attendance. So family-friends' parties, Egyptian functions in the community, visiting family in Egypt. It's almost like putting out a basket of bread; just a little more indulgent.

The pasta, ground meat, and beshemel combination really is not egyptian in origin. But, it is a true testament to Egyptian cuisine adapting to its foreign influences over the years and adapting a new dish to the local palate. In this case, we have two groups of people to thank for this divine meal: the Italians and the Greeks.

I think the thanks really goes to the Italians. They came up with a similar dish called 'pasticcio' meaning mess. It's a mess of pasta. All your pasta thrown into a dish with some sauce and meat and put into an oven. It's the Italian answer to leftover pasta. The Greek version, called 'pastitsio' is closer to the Egyptian version. It has bechemel on top, but uses tomato sauce in the main dish.

To better understand why this dish has become a regular on Egyptian tables, remember that apart from the Greek and Roman occupation of Egypt way back in B.C., the more recent wave of immigrants from those areas was in the late 1800s. The majority of the Greeks and Italians developed strong communities in Alexandria, where the cuisine there has a stronger northern Mediterranean influence than further south. But with time, the dish has been passed on to families and neighbours and friends, and now occupies the hearts of many Egyptians.

The Egyptian element to this dish is in the meat seasoning. It's the same ingredients used to make the middle layer of kobaeba: onions, ground meat (or lamb), all spice and cinnamon. The Greek version often has the same spicing too. But we don't add tomato sauce. That's the main difference. And it's crowned with the goodness that is bechemel.

How can you go wrong?

You can almost compare this dish to the caribbean version of Mac-n-cheese, which is more like a pasta pie. It has the same consistency: a big slab of dense pasta. It's very heavy with cheese and cream. And it's always a staple on dinner tables as a side dish. Funny how the same type of dish can be found in different parts of the world but with the same purpose?

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Total Cooking Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS

pasta and filling:
2 1/2 cups of pasta (rigatoni or something equally big)
2 tablespoons of oil
1 teaspoon of ground allspice
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 diced onion
1/2 kilo of ground meat (beef or lamb)

beshemel:
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of flour
salt/pepper

______________________________________________

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta

2. While pasta cooks, add oil to frying pan

3. Add onions and meat to pan on high heat

4. Add allspice, cinnamon, salt, pepper to meat

5. Continue cooking on medium heat until meat is unclumped and well-cooked

6. Make sure pasta is al-dente (i.e. not over-cooked)

7. Drain pasta

8. Prepare bechamel sauce (see previous recipe for directions )

9. In casserole dish, add half of pasta

10. Add layer of meat

11. Top with remaining pasta

12. Add bechamel and put in oven

13. Leave in oven until top is golden in colour

And there you have it. This is a rich dish, so I often have a hunk of it with some salad. It also keeps for about a week in the fridge, so you can live off it for some time. mmmm

Camping: Ful on the run

2010-07-27T19:31:00.023-04:00

I have to say I haven't enjoyed a summer as much as this year. It's been beautifully hot, READ: heatwave, which has kept me outside enjoying all things a warm city has to offer. This doesn't mean I've slacked off on my cooking. On the contrary actually, but none of it has been fit for this blog....until my kayak trip.

I took a mini three day kayak trip up at Georgian Bay, around Phillip Edward Island.

Apart from the nasty suck-your-soul day of rain, the rest of the time was beautiful. Apart from all the rugged beauty, there was also food.

I didn't grow up camping. For two years, starting at the age of eight, on the recommendation of my grade 3 teacher Mrs. G, I was sent away to a french camp in eastern Quebec. While it may have been pictureseque, my lack of French at the time, left me spending the first few days of each year negotiating with the counselors to call my father to take me back home. Needless to say, I vowed never to go back until I spoke perfect french. Ten years later, I decided it was a little late to go back, but I sort of missed out on that happy-annoying camp life that many of my friends seemed to have experienced.

Fast forward to about three years ago, and I'm on my first canoe trip. I had heard horrors about camp food. To my surprise, it wasn't so bad, but why skimp out on taste for practicality? So last year, with the help of a few others, we put together a gourmet canoe-trip menu. While it lived up to a high level of quality, we were stupid enough to overlook what a headache it is to lug all that food around. This year I vowed to mesh the two together: flavour and practicality. And I have to say it worked.

Breakfast number one was basturm b'il bayd. A cinch to make, and very light to carry around. The best part: basturma was created for long voyages, so there was never any risk of it going bad. You can see that recipe again here: http://abissadacooks.blogspot.com/2010/06/breakfastlight-meal-basturma-bil-bayd.html

Breakfast number two was ful madammas. It actually tasted better made on an open flame. The foolish downside: hauling around a can of beans. The lesson: bring dry beans next time and soak the night before at the campsite. Easy!!!

So today's post will be my ode, again, to ful. I loved you throughout my graduate studies, and I love you again when camping. It has been touted as a food for centuries that keeps you feeling full so you can get on with your day. And what better place to test that theory than during a camping trip.

Here is a link to the recipe for the ful: http://abissadacooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/breakfast-ful-mudammas.html

For the camping trip, I brought the following:

INGREDIENTS

1 nearly-ripe tomato (so it wouldn't rot along the way)
1 can of fava beans
1 small bag/container of cumin powder/salt/pepper
1 egg (optional)
Some cooking oil
1 lemon or lime

DIRECTIONS

1. On a medium flame, add all ingredients and cook

2. Spoon out, eat with bread (if you brought any) and savour the tasty breakfast while you take in the beauty around you.

And that's my 'summer special' entry. My theory did prove correct: some ful in the morning and I wasn't hungry until well into the day!

Dinner: Hamam Ma'shi (stuffed pigeon)

2010-06-29T16:10:00.017-04:00

As promised I'm slowly moving up the mashi scale and doing stuffed pigeon (hamam ma'shi). Careful though how you pronounce hamam, because the word hammam means bathroom. I did that once in a restaurant. I was so proud and confident that I knew what to order, only to be told I ordered a stuffed bathroom.

The idea of eating pigeon is not a new one. Egyptians have been eating them since about 3000 BC; even then pigeon was considered a delicacy amongst the pharaonic people. Today it is still viewed as a delicacy, though it's not your everyday kind of meat. It's the bird you cook when you want to impress guests.

This is no city rat-with-wings kind of pigeon. Egyptian pigeons are bred only for consumption. All throughout the country side, you can find these little towers that keep all the pigeons.

In the city, where there's a growing number of peasants coming for work, many still maintain a small holding area on roof tops for their pigeons. The pigeons themselves are much smaller than our nasty city ones. They also don't have much meat on them, but they have a very distinct flavour; almost like a whole bird made out of dark meat from a chicken.

Because they are quite small, people are usually given two per serving. A popular way to serve them is to stuff them as well (surprise, surprise). The stuffing is a mix of rice, onion, chicken/pigeon liver, and a little cinnamon. This is the stuffing found in turkey and chicken; it is the equivalent to the popular bread stuffing of North America.

I can't say I grew up eating pigeons. Pigeons are not bred here for consumption. Instead the same stuffing was applied to our thanksgiving turkey, and christmas turkey. The idea though of eating a pesky pigeon always seemed like a great idea to me, so when I finally made it to a restuarant in Egypt that served it; I was more than happy to delve into my beautiful pigeon. I have to admit, my first pigeon-eating experience was a little anti-climactic. It was just another chicken-like bird on my plate. But....it tasted wonderful! And it made for a great story when I came home: I ate a pigeon.

Most restaurants in Egypt will serve it splayed and grilled. I would suggest the stuffed one for more flavour and substance, and because it is roasted, it is not as dry.

For today, seeing as how getting a pigeon is a little hard in these parts, I opted to use cornish hens as a substitute. The better or closer substitute to a pigeon would be squab though, so if you can get your hands on that, even better.

__________________________________________________
Total preparation and cooking time: 2 hours
Yield: 4 persons (if using cornish hen), 2 persons (if using squab)

INGREDIENTS
2 cornish hens (or squabs)

1/2 a lemon
3/4 cup of rice
2 cups water
2 onions
4-5 chicken livers
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
salt/pepper
1 bay leaf
black pepper corns (optional)

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DIRECTIONS

1. Clean cornish hens using lemon and water -- make sure there is no package of innards left inside the bird.
2. Grate onion.
3. Cook rice in water for five minutes; this is to only soften the rice so that it cooks faster when it is in the oven.
4. Test the rice, if it is a little chewy but not fully cooked, then it is ready.
5. Strain rice and set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 350F.
7. Grate onion.
8. Chop up liver into small bite-size pieces.
9. Add liver and onions to rice.
10. Add cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste; this stuffing is usually generous with pepper
11. Wash your hands and stuff those birds.

12. Once the birds are full of stuffing, try to pack down as much as possible of the stuffing inside the bird with a spoon or your hand so that not much spills out while cooking.

13. If you are very ambitious, you can sew up the birds so nothing spills out at all, but this is not entirely necessary.
14. Place birds in a cooking dish and add just a bit of water to cover the bottom of the dish.
15. Add a bayleaf, a cut onion and some pepper or peppercorn to the water.

16. Cover with aluminum foil and put in oven for about 45 minutes.
17. When the stuffing is tender, uncover the birds and let them cook until they are golden.

Once the little birdies are done cooking, you can serve them with a side salad. Traditionally, you would have some taboulah, tahina, and some cucumber/tomato salad. My family always has white rice on the side as well. You can never have too much rice apparently.

Enjoy!

Breakfast/Light Meal: Basturma b'il bayd (basturma with eggs)

2010-06-04T19:31:00.017-04:00

I went home to visit my family the other weekend which always results in me coming back with bags of food from the Mid-East store. Specifically basturma. My parents are of the thinking if I was starving and had no money for any food, at least I could live off of cured meat and eggs.

It's a funny thing this basturma. In case you don't know it, it is a cured beef that is seasoned with a paste of cumin, garlic, paprika and fenugreek. It lingers in your system for days, and you can probably smell it sweating out of you. But it's kind of amazing. And it's the easiest thing to eat that fills you up for some time.

My parents, even through their differences, both adore this food. When you buy it, it's generally sliced already, and you can eat it as is with some bread, olives and cheese, or the real masterpiece is with scrambled eggs. That's generally how we all eat it in my family. When my parents or aunt comes to visit, chances are there's a tray of basturma so we can have a feast of a breakfast with it. Growing up, when no one could think of something easy to make for a packed lunch, the default sandwich was pita bread stuffed with slices of basturma. In theory, this is a great idea, apart from the fact that a kid's lunch will sit at room temperature for a few hours, only to reveal a potent, garliky, sandwich that other kids notice... I still am a little self-conscious bringing a basturma sandwich to work. No matter how many times you tightly wrap it, you can smell it from far away.

It's a food that is eaten more in Egypt than any other country outside of Armenia. It was the Armenians who brought basturma to the Middle East after the Turkish genocide of 1915. Many of them fled to Lebanon, and Egypt. Cured meat is not a new idea to many cultures, but in Armenia, it was a way of eating meat during the cold months of the winter, or when travelling long distances. One source explained how when travelling by horse a long distance, the hunk of meat was wrapped in the paste of spices and put in a satchel to cure throughout the voyage. According to some Armenian resources, basturma is in fact a Turkish name meaning 'pressed', as in a pressed meat. Basturma is not a pressed meat though since it is left to cure in open air. Instead, the original Armenian word for this meat, abouhkd, predates the Turkish one by a few thousand years, but it's the Turkish name, basturma, that is used.

But when the Armenians moved into these Middle Eastern countries, they became known for their basturma; or the heavy smell that came from the basturma. Apparently the older generation in Egypt made derogatory remarks about 'smelling an armenian' from far away, which is reference to the spices in the basturma. Funnily enough, it's a food that is now highly integrated into Egyptian cooking.

Today's recipe is super easy. It's our version of bacon and eggs for breakfast. The only difference is you eat it with only pita bread, not a fork, and it has flavour. It's a meal that many friends of mine were reluctant to try, but after one bite, were hooked. It's also one that you may want to make when you don't have anything important to do soon afterwards. The smell does linger a little. A friend of mine loves this so much, but only eats it on a Saturday before soccer practice so he can 'sweat out the basturma'.

Enjoy!

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Total Preparation and Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 persons

INGREDIENTS

a handful of basturma
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter/oil
________________________________________________

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut basturma into bite-size bits

2. Add butter/oil to a hot pan

3. Add basturma and cook for 30 second, or until the basturma starts to go a lighter colour

4. Crack eggs, and scramble with the basturma

5. Serve with warm pita

And that's it. Egypt's (and Armenia's) answer to bacon and eggs. But no need for a fork and knife. All you need is some pita bread for this dish.

Dinner: Mashi Phil-Phil (stuffed peppers)

2010-05-16T17:37:00.007-04:00

Today's recipe is a wide-spread phenomena across cultures: stuffing vegetables. I guess you can only make so much vegetable soup before you need something else to do with all your vegetables.

The term 'mashi' in arabic means stuffed. In Egypt, anything that can be cleaned out to have an empty hole is game for stuffing. Eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, pigeon, grape leaf, cabbage leaf, are all popular items to be stuffed with the traditional meat and rice mix.

Most people are familiar with the Greek and Turkish versions of stuffed vegetables, known as Dolma. Back during the Ottoman Empire days, (1299-1922), obviously many of the foods were passed along the different countries (considered provinces under the empire). A popular dish during this time was Dolma. You can find this influence in many Eastern European countries such as Poland, and Hungary. What differentiates each version is the local spicing. So in this case, I will be focusing on the Egyptian twist to this.

Ever since I figured out how easy it is to make, I haven't really stopped stuffing. My undergrad years were spent experimenting with foods, so I tried out this stuffed pepper recipe a few times. The first time I had stuffed peppers wasn't through my family, but instead our Polish nanny. This was back in the day when the USSR was still around and she came to Canada to make money to send back home. Her name was Elizabeth, I think I was about eight years old. She wore jean overalls a lot of the time and wore her hair up in a bun. Anyways, she once made us dinner, and it was her version of stuffed peppers. If I remember correctly, I loved them mmmm

Instead of peppers, I grew up eating stuffed grapeleaves. I'm still addicted to them. I'll be making them in a few weeks. It's the same mix, just a different stuffing process and cooking process. When my sister, roommate and I travelled to Egypt together for a summer, my family panicked that we were on our own for so long. While we enjoyed the good life in our little apartment in Cairo, family members would always come by to drop-off some food for us, because they 'happened' to be in the area. One time, my cousin's mom walked the 15 minutes over to our place in the heat, after work. She arrived to our door with sweat pouring down her face. With a smile and a kerchief dabbing her forehead, she handed us this dish for us to eat; as if she stopped into a store to buy us candy. Not so much as these were painstakingly made stuffed mini-eggplant and zucchini. I still remember how lovely they were, especially since we were eating out all the time. We devoured them.

Anyways, today's dish is the first one to make as we ease our way into stuffing vegetables. Peppers are not native to Egypt, or to Europe for that matter. They come from Mexico, as do tomatoes, and were brought over by the Spaniards. These days, they are found everywhere under the name 'phil-phil'. I cook them in a tomato sauce, similar to the one used for bamya or basilia. Many other countries in the area have their own version, usually with just a rice mixture. If you are vegetarian, you can do that too. Personally, I find it lacks substance and flavour without the meat, and it just falls all over the place when you go to eat it. __________________________________________________

Total Preparation and Cooking Time: 3 hours

Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS

4 medium sized peppers (can be yellow, orange, green, red)

1 can of tomato paste

4 cups of water (or chicken/beef stock)

1 onion

1 cinnamon stick

8 cloves of garlic

1.5 cups of ground meat (lamb or beef)

1.5 cups of rice--no Uncle Ben's (the proportions of meat to rice are generally 1:1, if you want more rice or meat, adjust accordingly)

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground allspice (optional)

salt, pepper

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DIRECTIONS

1. Wash peppers
2. Cut a hole from the top of the pepper so the top lifts off like a lid

3. Empty out all the seeds

Sauce:
4. Dice onions
5. In a medium sized pot (big enough to hold peppers together) sautée onions on high heat until they are soft
6. Add water (and/or broth)
7. Add the whole can of tomato paste
8. Turn heat down to low
9. Mix sauce until the tomato paste is evenly distributed
10. Add cinnamon stick
11. Add 4 whole cloves of garlic
12. Salt and pepper to taste
13. Leave it to cook while the peppers are being stuffed

Stuffing:
14. In a large mixing bowl, add rice and meat
15. Finely chop or use a garlic press with remaining garlic cloves
16. Add garlic to mix
17. Add ground cinnamon and allspice (if available)
18. Salt and pepper to taste
19. Using your hand (with gloves if needed), thoroughly mix ingredients until it is uniformly distributed

20. Stuff each pepper about 3/4 full with stuffing
21. Pack the stuffing down, but not too tightly or it may explode during cooking

22. When all the peppers are stuffed, add the little lids back on (these aren't entirely necessary, but it can make cooking easier)
23. Add all stuffed peppers to the sauce to cook for about 2 hours

24. You can add more water or take away some so there is enough sauce to reach the top of the peppers
25. Peppers are done when the meat is well cooked, the rice is no longer hard, and the pepper itself is a little soft

And there you have it. This is the basic technique for stuffing vegetables. You can apply this same recipe to stuffing zucchini, eggplant, potato...anything. I've eaten some variations in a non-tomato sauce, but the flavours are not as complimentary to the spicing in the mix I find. It's the Egyptian answer to lazy cooking: stuff it.

Lunch/Dinner: Kofta

2010-04-27T13:35:00.018-04:00

In keeping with the meat rotation, I decided to do another meat-heavy one: kofta. It's super easy, and tasty, and doesn't require much preparation.

It's also a very popular dish throughout Egypt. In most restaurants, you can order the 'mixed grill' option. This means you get about 5 little mezze dishes (appetizers like taboulah, hommus, yogurt salad etc.) and a pile of skewered meat. In the meat pile is often kebab, so hunks of beef or lamb, grilled chicken and kofta, a minced meat stick.

There is also a popular Persian version of this dish called Ko0bideh. My thinking is that when the Persians invaded Egypt back in 525 BC something got lost in translation...Kofta - Koobideh...sounds rather similar to me. Actually, it's not that far off. In fact, the word 'kofta' is derived from the Persian word 'kufta' . In Persian, 'kuftan' means to beat or grind, or simply a meatball. If you order koobideh at an Iranian place, it''s more or less similar to kofta,except the spicing is more heavy on sumac and turmeric, but it's the same idea: minced meat mixed with spices and thrown onto a skewer. When you pair a nicely grilled kofta with some yogurt salad, wow. The two were made to be best friends.

It's also one of the dishes that my father used to try to talk me out of eating when we would go out for dinner in Egypt. His reasoning: "you don't know what meat was ground; it could be anything." I shrugged off that idea until I got older and saw that film/documentary Fast Food Nation. It chronicles the work of illegal Mexican workers at this meat factory. Why do I bring this up? Mainly to say I now have to work hard to not think about what is in my ground meat. So I generally order from places I trust, or when I buy it myself. You know, just a word of caution, t'is all.

Anyways, back to the wonderful world of mixed grill and Kofta. It's also a great dish to do when it's bbq season, like it was last weekend for a few hours. It has since gone back to autumn weather. If you don't have a bbq, or you don't live with bbq enthusiasts, you can do this in the oven as well. You just don't get the charcoal flavour.

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Total Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 persons

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds of ground meat (lean or otherwise works fine)
1 onion
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
salt/pepper
bamboo/metal skewers
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DIRECTIONS
1. If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes, so they don't burn in the oven or bbq
2. Chop up parsley

3. Grate onion

4. In a large mixing bowl, add meat, parsley, onions, egg and all spices
5. Using your hands, (or if it grosses you out to handle raw meat, use gloves or find someone else to do this for you), mix up everything until it well mixed and a doughy consistency
6. Grab a small handful of the mix and spread over the skewer so it is evenly distributed - kind of like a sausage on a stick
7. Repeat until all the mixture is done
8. Put on the bbq until it is well-cooked.
9. If using an oven, try to cook the sticks over a rectangular casserole dish, so the sticks and the meat are resting on the edges and not touching the bottom
10. While the cooking is going on, prepare the yogurt salad: khiar be lebaan. The recipe for this is in the Kobaiba entry.

And that's it. It's usually well-received by non middle easterners because it doesn't have any 'weird' ingredient. But with the cinnamon and the yogurt salad, it still stands out from any grilled dish. I would suggest if you ever get a chance to try the Persian version. It's spicing is much different than the Egyptian one, but equally satisfying.

Lunch/Dinner: Kobeiba and Khiar be Lebaan (Cucumber with Yogurt Salad)

2010-04-17T13:46:00.020-04:00

It's been a while, I know, and I apologize if you do follow this at all. I went off on a little South American adventure to Brazil, where I got the full experience of beach, sun, food, dancing, surfing, mugging, cyclone, torrential down pour and floods. But even there, the influence of Middle Eastern cooking was to be found.

In case you didn't know, many Lebanese and Syrian immigrants went to start a new life in Brazil. In many of the Brazilian cities I was in, I would always check out the juice/snack stands, and there would always be the same familiar snack: Kibbeh, or Kibbe as they wrote it.

This is actually a very popular snack or dish throughout the Middle East, especially in the Levantine and Egypt. As usual, there are variations in making it, but I will be showing the Egyptian version which I grew up with.

This happens to be one of my very favourite dishes. I remember being about three or four years old and visiting my Grandmother in Montreal. At the time, my French was non-existent as was my Arabic, and her English was not very strong, so we would communicate through gestures and food. She would always make Kobeiba (known as Kibbeh outside of Egypt) and stuffed grape leaves (I'll do that another day). It's a dish that I find comforting and always reminds me of her. It's also a dish that is usually present at every big dinner I go to. For some reason, Egyptian dinners rarely centre around one main dish; instead there are several dishes set out on the table and you just keep grazing until another Great Aunt reminds you to keep eating...

The dish has two ingredients really: Bulgar wheat and minced meat (lamb or beef). Bulgar wheat often gets confused with cracked wheat, which is different. The difference lies in the preparation of each. Bulgar is partially hulled whole wheat kernels that have been soaked, steamed, dried and then crushed. Because it has been precooked, it means it has a much longer storage life than cracked wheat. Cracked wheat on the other hand has not been precooked or dried at all. This makes the process of bulgar wheat more involved and is usually more expensive than cracked wheat. But take care when buying bulgar, there often is confusion between the two products and are sometimes labelled incorrectly. Your best bet is to buy this from a Middle East or Mediterranean food store, but it can be found in regular supermarkets or bulk food stores. Just remember that bulgar wheat looks a little darker.

Bulgar wheat has been used by ancient civilizations as far back as the Babylonians, Hebrews, Romans, Arabs and Egyptians. Some sources I read said the ancient Egyptians had been milling bulgar wheat as far back as 4000 BC. Bulgar is also a common staple in the Ukraine and Central Asia. The fact that it is so easy to store, has a long shelf life, and is a great source of fibre, minerals, and vitamins, makes this a popular ingredient. It is often used in salads, such as the well-known Taboula (parsley salad).

Today's dish involves making a kind of dough from the bulgar grains and the minced meat. Throughout the Levantine and in Brazil, the dough is formed into little football-like shapes and stuffed with meat. The word 'kubba' in Arabic means ball, which is how this dish got its name 'kibbeh' or 'kobeiba' in Egyptian Arabic. In Egypt, the ball shape doesn't seem to be as popular; instead it is usually served as a side dish to a big meal, or as a light meal itself with salad and rice. Kobeiba can also be deep fried, if in a ball shape, or baked. This dish will be baked as the fryer sounds a little disastrous for me.

I also decided to pair it with a yogurt mint salad (khiar be lebaan - cucumber with yogurt). It's the Egyptian equivalent to the Greek Taziki; though it's not nearly as garliky, and is a bit more refreshing with the mint. You'll find it served with most dishes as an appetizer or 'mezze'.

I hope you enjoy it!
________________________________________________________
Total Cooking Time: 2 hours
Yield: 6-9 persons

INGREDIENTS

Kobeiba:
There is a ratio for the meat to bulgur of 2 to 1. You can also change it up if you like more bulgar than meat. For today I used:
3 pounds of minced meat (beef/lamb)
1.5 pounds of bulgur

1 onion
1 tablespoon of oil/butter
salt/pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
(optional)1 teaspoon ground allspice
(optional) 1/2 cup pine nuts

Yogurt Salad:
2 cups of plain yogurt (try to stay away from the fat-free stuff; it has no flavour and the consistency is off)
1/4 of a large cucumber
1 handful of fresh or dried mint
1 clove of garlic
salt/pepper
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DIRECTIONS

KOBEIBA
1. Soak bulgar in water for about 30 minutes
2. From the meat, take out about a handful--this will be used to make the middle layer

Middle Layer:
3. Dice onions
4. In a frying pan, add oil and onions
5. Fry onions until they are soft, then add the meat
6. Add salt and pepper to taste (you want this on the more salty side)
7. Continue frying on low heat until the meat begins to crumble
(Optional: roast pine nuts in a hot pan until they are golden, then add to the meat mixture after it has been cooked)
8. Set aside

9. Strain bulgar and add to a large mixing bowl. Bulgar will have expanded a little.

10. Add remaining meat
11. Add cinnamon and allspice
12. Mix thoroughly until bulgur is equally worked into meat dough ( I suggest using your hands for this, it's a lot easier)

13. Divide the dough into two equal parts
14. In a casserole dish, pack the first part down into a flat layer
15. Add the fried up meat/onions mixture and spread out evenly

16. Pack down the second part of the meat dough. Try to make it as flat as possible.

17. For decoration and easy cutting, you can pre-cut the dish into diagonal slices. Try not to cut all the way into the dish; best to just cut the top layer

18. Put in the oven for about 1.5 hours or until top has a dark crust and the meat is cooked throughout

KHIAR BE LEBAN (CUCUMBER YOGURT SALAD) --can be made while the Kobeiba is in the oven:
19. Chop up cucumber and mint into small pieces
20. Finely chop or press garlic
21. Add all ingredients to the yogurt.
22. Salt to taste and set aside. Ideally eat the yogurt after 30 minutes when enough time has allowed the flavours to come out.

And there you have it. A very simple dish that can feed you for a while. It also freezes very well in case you can't finish it all and want to eat some later. You can also serve it with rice or other salads. Definitely one of the least vegetarian-friendly ones; but very satisfying!

Dinner: Ma'sa ha (moussaka)

2010-03-14T19:42:00.011-04:00

As I noted in my first entry, my arabic is next to non-existent. Therefore my attempted spelling of today's dish is really what I think I hear, as opposed to what it is actually called. Regardless, this can be referred to as Egyptian or Lebanese moussaka.

The recipe I have is technically Lebanese. For one year, I worked as an English teacher in France. By law, I could only work 12 hours a week and was paid just enough to scrape by. So you can imagine the oodles of free time I had. Luckily, I had a great group of people to do cheap things with, like cook. Alot. My Lebanese-American friend Sophia used to have amazing dinner parties. Or rather, she would get a recipe from her mom over the phone, and have me come over and try to figure it out. This was one of her dishes. I still remember how yummy it was. I harassed her for a week trying to get this recipe again, only to be told "I think it's this...actually I'm not too sure, do you want me to call my mom? (hesitation in voice)" Grrrr

So I decided to investigate a little into the dish. While it's commonly known under its Greek name, Moussaka, the eggplant portion of the dish originates from the Middle East. In Lebanon and Greece, the dish often has chickpeas, ground lamb or beef in it. The Egyptian one is similar except it has its signature topping: Bachemel.

On a side note, many dishes in Egypt will be something bland, and then be topped with this which ups it up a few notches. I don't know why. It's so simple too: butter/flour/milk. But it works every time! Bechamel sauce can trace its origins to the 'marquis de Bechamel: Louis de Bechameil, the marquis of Nointel (1630-1703). The story is the marquis created Bechamel as an improvement upon a similar one in Italy: Salsa Colla. The point is that it's a sauce that had been prevalent in both French and Italian cooking for some time. No doubt when the French came to Egypt in 1789, or the Italians started to emigrate to Egypt during the 1800s, the recipe came into circulation. Either way, it's a topping that is easy to make, and is a great crowning for most dishes.

Eggplant, originates from India. However, it was introduced to the Mediterranean through the Arabs during the Middle Ages when their empire spread out as far as Indonesia. They probably traded a lot with the Persians and Indians who had already incorporated the eggplant into their diets. The Persian word for eggplant is badingan, which in arabic is al-badhinjan. After the Moors invaded Spain, the Spaniards heard the Arabic name for eggplant and began to call it albergina. The French misheard that and called it aubergine. The English maintained this tradition until late 1800s when egg plant was in reference to a big goose egg. Somehow the name stuck and eggplant is what we call it in the new world. All that to say, the eggplant has been in the Middle East for quite some time; so it's no wonder that it shows up in many of the dishes.

The chickpea (or garbanzo bean) can trace its roots to Southern Turkey and Syria as far back as the neolithic period. So they've been in circulation for some time. Long enough to have been brought to Northern Africa, namely Egypt and the Levantine. In Egypt, the chickpea is not nearly as popular as the fava bean. Chickpeas are more popular in the Levantine, but they are still used in a few dishes. Today's dish will use them.

As a side note, this dish is a little heavy on the oil. Eggplants are bitter and need to be cooked before anything can be done to them. In this case, grilling or frying are the options to cooking eggplant. While I like the taste from grilling; I don't like the nuances associated it with it, so frying it is.
________________________________________________________
Total Cooking Time: 2 hours
Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium sized eggplants

lots of cooking oil
2 cups of cooked chickpeas (canned or dried)

1 tablespoon of olive oil
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 large can of plum tomatoes
1 teaspoon crushed/powdered cardamom
1 teaspoon crushed/powdered allspice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 small can of tomato paste

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of flour

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DIRECTIONS

Eggplant and Chickpeas:
1. Cut eggplant into slices
2. Add salt on both sides to drain excess water
3. Leave with salt for about 30 minutes
4. In a big frying pan, or deep frying pot, heat some oil
5. Fry each slice of eggplant until it is soft; not too soft though that it falls apart
6. Layer cooked eggplant on paper-towels to drain excess oil

7. Set aside
8. If using canned chickpeas, rinse under water, set aside
9. If using dried chickpeas, make sure they have been soaking long enough that they are no longer hard, otherwise they will be useless

Tomato Sauce:
10. If your allspice and cardamom are not powdered, crush them with a mortar and pestle or chopper machine

11. In a sauce pot, add the olive oil
12. Add crushed garlic
13. Add tomato paste and blend well with the garlic
14. Add the plum tomatoes, one at a time, squeezing each one with your hand to crush each tomato into chunks
15. Add the spices
16. Season with salt and pepper
17. Leave to simmer for about 20 minutes or until sauce is flavourful

Bechamel Sauce:
18. On high heat, add butter to a pot
19. When butter has melted, add milk to pot
20. Keep stirring milk and butter until it is hot; but not boiling
21. With a whisk or fork, add a bit of the flour stirring vigorously
22. Keep stirring until all the flour is added
23. The sauce will thicken up once everything has dissolved
24. Season with salt/pepper

Layering:
25. In a casserole dish, add a bit of sauce to the bottom
26. Add a few slices of eggplant
27. Follow with some chick peas
28. Add sauce
29. Repeat sequence until everything or something is used up

30. Add the bechamel sauce

31. Put in oven for about 40 minutes, until everything is soft and the bechamel is a bit golden looking

And there you have it. A slightly tweaked version of Egyptian/Lebanese moussaka. It's filling and tasty and very messy to eat. But the spicing from the tomatoes, cardamom, cinnamon and allspice turn a bland eggplant into something lovely. The buttery bechamel doesn't hurt either.

Lunch/Dinner: Brown Lentil Soup

2010-03-02T15:49:00.008-05:00

As I noted in my lentil entry, there are two kinds of popular lentils in Egypt: brown and red. The red ones are more popular in a soup, but I grew up eating my mom's brown lentil soup, which is what today's recipe will be about.

This recipe is one that my mom learned from her mother. Sadly, I never got to meet her. Though I hear she was an amazing cook and this was one of her creations or embellishments. Although she grew up in Egypt, her part of the family can trace its roots to Lebanon; so it may have some influences from the levantine area, though I'm not too certain.

It's a soup that sits in you for days. It's so filling, and comforting and easy to make. My favourite spicing in this is the cinnamon stick. Like many people, I also have my own quirks, and of them is cooking smells. Though I love to cook, I hate smelling fried onions or heavy cooking. It's a weird thing. Anyhoo, while I was in undergrad, this was always my favourite soup to make because it would easily cut the smell of the onions in my apartment that were brought about by my italian-american roommate who made tomato sauce. Instead, the sweet and non-offensive smell of cinnamon would come wafting through the apartment. It was my secret victory.

As noted in my lentil entry, brown lentils are also known as Egyptian Lentils, since they likely originate from the area. These lentils do take longer to cook, and are not as good in making a mush-like soup, like the red ones. But they have a very particular flavour to them, which is why the cinnamon and garlic pair nicely with it. The best part of this soup is the boiled egg that you eat it with. Many people are often turned off by it, but don't be one of them; the egg adds a nice layer to the soup; though it's not necessary.

You can also add other vegetables to the soup if you want. In this recipe I've added a potato and some spinach.

_____________________________________________________
Total Cooking Time (including preparation): 2 hours
Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion
1 tablespoon of olive oil/butter
4 cloves of garlic
6 cups of water
1.5 cups of brown lentils
1 cinnamon stick

salt/pepper

*optional*
2 cups of uncooked spinach
1 or 2 potatoes
_____________________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. Dice onion and fry it with olive oil on high heat
2. When onions are soft, add lentils, garlic and water
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Add cinnamon stick--if adding vegetables, add them now, unless it is spinach, which will be added later on
5. Cover and cook on low heat
6. After 1 hour, check on soup, if it needs more water add some
7. Consistency should not be too thick nor too soupy, adjust water for desired preference.
8. Taste a lentil, if it is cooked, turn off heat and add spinach.
9. Keep lid on until spinach has been fully cooked
10. If you like the flavour of cumin, you can also add a little at the end
11. Boil an egg to make it either soft or hard; depending on your preference
12. Serve peeled egg in a bowl of soup

I would also have a nice hunk of fresh bread with this. You'll see how one bowl is often filling enough. And with the perfect mix of textures and flavours, you'll find this one being a favourite; even amongst your italian pasta-cooking friends.

Dinner: Basila wa roz (peas & rice)

2010-02-18T19:13:00.013-05:00

Today was going to be my mom's lentil soup day; but I may have overdone it on soups this week; so today will be a hearty stew day. Next week will be brown lentil soup day.

So stew day will be one of my favourite stews: peas and beef. It's commonly known as basila whey rosa = peas and rice. Appropriately named. It's a very popular family meal; though you'll rarely see it in a restaurant. It doesn't exactly scream haute-cuisine.

When I meet other canadian-egyptians, a few things immediately bond us: no arabic, bastarma (cured beef) and basila whey rosa. It's just one of those staple dishes we all grew up eating and never thought twice about. To my dad's credit, he even mastered it and was able to add that to his repertoire of home-cooked meals. That's a total of two. He then went on to learn how to cook a whole turkey in the microwave. I don't count that as meal #3 and neither should anyone else. Microwaves don't count as cooking.

Although between his version and my mother's version of this meal, I kind of like his a bit better...sorry...Not because hers is not good; it's great! The difference lies in what makes up the liquid portion of the stew. My mom uses fresh chicken stock and my dad uses water. I like the water because it lets the flavour of the tomato come through better. But it's a personal preference.

The tomato-base stew is nearly identical to that in bamya; except my version will use water and not chicken stock and there is no garlic. The tomato-based stew is popular all throughout the Middle East, even though, as I've mentioned before, tomatoes were introduced to the area in the 1800s. Nonetheless, tomato-based stews reign supreme throughout the area.

Peas and rice, on the other hand, have been staples for centuries. Green peas originate from the Mediterranean basin and the Near East. One article I read said peas may either originate from China or Egypt, since they have been in artifacts in both places. In Egypt, the charred remains of peas were found in Egyptian tombs from the 12th dynasty (1991-1783 BC). They were also found in the Nile Delta region dating 4400-4800 BC and in Upper Egypt from 3800-3600 BC.
So the green pea is no stranger to Egyptian cooking; but apparently it was never as popular as lentils. Instead, peas were dried and used during times of famine, which is how some other cultures also depended on them, like the European explorers who set off for the new world.

Rice made its appearence in Egypt around 4th century BC. At the time, India was exporting rice to Greece, which is probably how it made its way down to Egypt. With the fertile farming land in the Nile Delta, growing rice was easy enough. It's still grown in that area today.

So with peas and rice being in the area for so long, it's no wonder they got together in a stew. Add some protein, in this case beef, and you have the makings for a hearty stew. The flavouring of the tomato base is really where the beef gets its taste.

For fun, I decided to buy a jar of ghee (clarified butter) the other day. In Egypt, most of the cooking is done using this which is why most of the meals are super heavy, but tasty. While I never eat ghee; I figured I'd get wild today and trade in the olive oil for some ghee. Woop woop!

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Total Cooking Time: 2 hours-though could be longer depending on cut of meat
Yield: 4 peresons

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon of olive oil (or butter)
1 white onion
1 lb. of cubed beef (or lamb)
2 cans of tomato paste
2 cups of water
2 cups of green peas (can be fresh or frozen)

1cup of rice
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of butter
salt to taste
__________________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. Dice onions
2. In a stewing pot, heat oil and fry onions
3. When onions are soft, add beef
4. Brown beef for a few minutes until everything is seared on the outside
5. Add tomato paste and water
6. Salt and pepper to taste
7. Let stew cook for about an hour or more; until meat is tender
8. Make rice
8. When meat is tender, add peas
9. Let cook for another 15 minutes
10. Serve on rice with fresh green onions or sliced onions in lemon juice (or white vinegar) and salt

Let me just start off by saying that today was my first time cooking with ghee and it will be my last time. The smell of it made me want to spread bleach all over the kitchen to overpower the stench of rancid ghee. Lesson #1 learned: do not buy ghee from the local grocery store that has a dusty ethnic food section. Lesson #2: leave the ghee alone. Horrible, horrible stuff. But that aside, the final dish is still yummy though; especially when made with non-ghee fats.

Lunch/Dinner: Red Lentil Soup

2010-02-10T16:19:00.013-05:00

Today was luckily a day off for me and it turned into a self-made snow day. I haven't left the house nor do I plan on it. See:

Ok, maybe I slightly exaggerate what it's really like outside, BUT given that my apartment feels like it is heated by a single candle, it's still pretty frick'n cold. So it's soup day for me.

In keeping with cheap and easy eats, I figured lentil soup would be a good idea . There are two types of lentil soups in Egypt: red lentil and brown lentil. The red one is the famous one that everyone seems obsessed with, so I will make that one. But the brown lentil soup is my favourite. I'll make my mom's recipe for that one another time.

The red lentil soup recipe comes from my grandmother. My aunt taught it to me a while ago, though she confessed one thing to me. During family dinners, my father always claims that he is very sensitive to celery. No one really understands this sensitivity. Any restaurant we go to takes longer than usual to complete an order because there can be no trace whatsoever of the evil celery. My aunt took this simple recipe and adapted it to her tastes, which included the infamous celery. During one dinner, my dad was thrilled to have his favourite soup. Sadly, the new version was not for him. He made note of all things wrong with it, but he never noticed the celery. Which confirms my life-long suspicion that this celery thing is nothing but a hoax.

In my purist ways, I've gone back to the traditional red lentil soup. Lentils play a huge role in the Egyptian diet, either the brown or red variety. The brown lentils are known as Egyptian lentils; but both are equally popular. Lentils originate from the Near East and the Meditteranean regions. There are lentils found in archeaological digs dating back 8000 years BC. Once again, lentils have also been found in pharaonic tombs. They also make an appearence in Bibilical stories.

Lentils have been around for so long because they are easy to grow, (in sandy soil and sun), easy to prepare and above all fill you up enormously. They are the perfect protein substitute to most vegetarian diets. Apparently lentils get about 60% of their calories from protein. And they are high in fibre. They are also a staple in traditional peasant food in Egypt, so you find it in soup as well as the other national dish: Koshari. This is a popular meal throughout the country that is a layering of rice, lentils, fried onions and a tomato sauce. The best part about lentils are how cheap and readily available they are; whether here in Canada or back in Egypt.

I love them too. But I couldn't eat them all the time. Though a hunk of fresh bread and a bowl of lentil soup is a great dinner when it's cold outside. But some words of caution: if you are of the constitution that gets easily bloated; you may float away after eating too many lentils.

This soup so simple to make and takes less than an hour to cook. You can find this soup on just about every menu in Egypt; from a 4 star hotel restaurant to a dive in a small town. The main ingredients are simply lentils, ground cumin, lemon juice and an onion.

To keep it simple, I cook it with water, though you can use chicken stock instead. Also, some variations include potato, fresh coriander and garlic; all of which are tasty, but if you don't have any of those around, this recipe is easier. I like the porridge-like consistency of this soup and it usually is served that way, but if you want it to be more soupey, add more water after the lentils are cooked.
________________________________________
Total Cooking Time (including preparation): 40 minutes
Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter
1 white onion
1.5 cups of dry red lentils

4 cups of water
1-2 tablespoons of ground cumin
salt/pepper
1 lemon

________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. Dice onion
2. In a medium sized pot on high heat, add olive oil/butter
3. Add onions and cook until soft
4. Add lentils and water
5. Salt to taste
6. Turn heat down to low. Soup will look a bit like this until it's done cooking

7. Let stand to cook for about 20 - 30 minutes until all the lentils have burst open

8. Take soup off the heat and purée using a blender or hand-held one
9. Add cumin to taste
10. Add salt to taste
11. If you want a more soupy and less porridgey consistency, add more water.

*one variation is to add pita chips into the soup--cut up pita and fry in olive oil until crispy*

And there you have it: the simplest, healthiest and cheapest soup ever. Thank those peasants for their devotion to lentil creations. I'll make my mother's brown lentil soup next week. It's flavouring is quite different from this red lentil soup.

Dessert: Basbousa

2010-01-30T10:06:00.016-05:00

I've been known to say things before thinking at times. That may have been the case when I joyingly announced that Fridays was to be dessert day. I realized after this past Friday that there really aren't all that many Egyptian desserts I'm familiar with; watermelon or chocolate were the desserts of choice growing up. But that's ok, I've collected the few I do know and will be trying them out.

So I decided to take on a typical dessert: basbousa in egyptian, herissa in Alexandria, namoura in Syria, or revani in Turkey and Greece. All different ways to say sweet semolina cake oozing in honey/syrup.

While it's definitely not a dessert my family makes; ever, it's one that I've always loved saying: bas-bou-sa. Beautiful! And it sounds a little indecent too.

Being that this was not a family specialty, I got to feast my eyes on it during the times we would hit up the Middle East bakery. If you haven't been to one, you should. The smells of pistachio and rose water are just enough to make you think everything will be light and fluffy, when in fact it's all soaking in butter and syrup. So everything is quite heavy, and very, very sweet. It's probably one reason the Middle East has a high rate of diabetes.

But back to the dessert store. There are trays of conafa, baklawa, kahk(cookie stuffed with nuts/dates) mamoul (cookie stuffed with dates), and basbousa, all layered and begging to be eaten. I always gravitated towards basbousa for a couple reasons: it's the easiest one to eat, and calling it basbousa in egyptian gave me a little connection to my food. Most of the dessert places are Lebanese, so when they hear 'basbousa' immediately a conversation ensues in Arabic, and I explain in my broken Arabic after several questions are directed at me that 'i speak a little' 'very little' and then we all laugh and someone mumbles something which I don't understand, and I hope I get a discount for being from the same region.

Basbousa is made from semolina which is ground durum wheat. It's the same wheat used in pasta throughout the world, in couscous throughout North Africa, and in salads or meat pies in the Middle East (tabouleh, kobaeba). The wheat itself may have originated from the southern Mediterranean countries and Abyssinia (Ethiopia). It was also grown in Egypt during the Byzantine period (Middle Ages).

With the rise of Islam, trade between the Islamic empire and Europe began. Durum wheat was one of the Muslim world's biggest exports. Also, with the Islamic empire spreading all the way to Southern Italy, durum wheat inevitably made its way into Europe as a pasta.

It's hard to say exactly how the dessert itself came to be, but it seems to follow a common theme with most of the desserts: bread-like, very very sweet, and buttery. It also doesn't require too many ingredients.

The basic list of ingredients is semolina flour, sugar, milk, water (or rose/orange blossom water) and almonds/pistachios. I would suggest getting some rose/orange blossom water for this one because it really adds flavour. My recipe uses coconut flakes as well, going back to my coconut problem, but you could easily eliminate it. Though I don't know why, when you could have sweet, crunchy, coconut...

It's simple enough to make, but one piece is really all you want. So make sure you know more than two people, since you'll need help finishing all of this. Or I suppose you could just half the recipe. That would be smarter. But I didn't think of that. So I have a tray of syrupy delights and not enough space to run circles in.

__________________________________________

Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 4 huge portions, 8 large portions, or 16 reasonable portions

INGREDIENTS:

cake

2 cups of semolina

1 cup of dried coconut (unsweetened)

1/2 cup sugar

150 g (3/4 cup) butter

1 cup of milk

syrup

1 1/2 cup of sugar or honey

1 1/2 cups of water or 1/2 cup orange blossom/rose water 1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

________________________________________

DIRECTIONS

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Mix all ingredients

3. Add to a buttered dish

4. With a wet spoon, or hands, flatten down batter in dish so it is smooth and evenly distributed

5. You can almonds to decorate the top either before or after it is baked

6. Put in oven.

Syrup

7. Add all ingredients to a pot

8. Bring to a near-boil while constantly stirring on high heat

9. Once sugar has dissolved, or honey has melted down, take off heat

10. Syrup should be clear, but not caramelized

11. Once cake is golden brown on top, take out of oven

12. Cut into squares or diamonds

13. Pour syrup all over and let it stand for a couple hours to cool and soak

And done and done. Serve it with strong coffee and lots of water. It tastes better by day two when the syrup has fully absorbed and each bite is like biting into a bag of flavoured sugar with buttery goodness.

Breakfast: Ful Mudammas

2010-01-27T15:28:00.008-05:00

Today I decided to showcase a healthier side to Egyptian cooking. So I'm going to talk about Ful Mudammas, simply known as Ful (pronounced like 'fool').

It's one of the national dishes of Egypt and one of the least appetizing looking ones from afar, until you take your first bite; then you're hooked. It's a bean mash, with fresh vegetables, olive oil, lemon juice and spices. And that's it.

It's so simple to make, that it became one of my dad's signature dishes to make when he ran out of ideas to entertain us with dinner. After he and my mom divorced, dinners for at least two nights of the week had a set repertoire of choices. They were: roasted chicken from the grocery store with salad, an omlette with basturma (cured beef with spices), Wendy's, or ful. Ful was always the least exciting option because it wasn't as exciting as a Wendy's grilled chicken. But, it was very healthy and above all, filling. And any fool can make ful, ha ha ha. His version was more of a salad, so the beans were not mashed and it was cold. But everything else was the same. And it was tasty.

When I got to grad school, we had a month to prepare for our exams. That's when I made a comeback to ful. I had a very set study regime which revolved around food. Breakfast every day was hot ful, and pita. I did this on purpose because it kept me full until about 2pm. So I had no real excuse to break on account of hunger pains. Dinner was usually a can of sardines and bread and salad. I'm still recovering from sardine overload, but I figured it was the best brain food a student's budget could buy.

The ful was a great breakfast idea, the only problem was that it didn't keep very well. I mean it does keep for a week, but by day 2, it looks gross; I'll be honest. So I'd redo it everyday; it was productive procrastination. My boyfriend at the time was essentially the poster-boy for the English. I offered my homely ful one day and one look at it was enough for him to wave it away; without even so much as a bite! All that to say is you need to try it before you can say anything.

The origin of ful is not too certain. Many claim it can be traced back to the Pharaohs. However, back in 5th century BC, the great historian Herodutus noted that Egyptians don't sow beans, and even if they grow wild, no one picks them. But ful beans have been found inside Pharaohonic temples, so who really knows.

The name mudammas originates from the Coptic word to mean 'buried'. The Coptic language, is a cross between greek and late pharaonic which is still used in the orthodox Coptic churches. The idea was that ful was cooked in a large pot and buried underground.

The bean that is commonly used by Egyptians and grown is called ful hammam, it is a small and
rounder looking bean

than other varieties like ful baladi (country bean), ful rumi (kidney-shaped), ful akhdar (fresh fava beans). Ful Hammam translates into bath bean. The story behind this name is during the Middle Ages, when there were bath houses throughout Cairo, the Princess Bath house continuously burned huge vats of water outside of the bathhouse. At the end of the day, the embers were still hot, so the people took advantage of the large pots and filled them with ful to cook in overnight. In the morning, the ful was served as breakfast for everyone. Hence bath bean.

That may have been the starting point of ful stands found throughout the city. In Cairo, you can find them readily serving hot ful with fresh pita bread as a sandwich, or simply in a bowl. It is also the meal of choice of the fellahin (peasants/farmers); the idea being it's a meal that sits like a stone in your stomach. So you eat this in the morning, go work all day and have your main meal afterwards. I read somewhere that it is the rich man's breakfast, the shopkeeper's lunch, the poor man's supper (or student..).

The easiest way to make this is buying a can of fava beans, which you can find in any middle east or mediterannean food store. Some grocery stores will sell it too. You can also buy the dried version in bulk, and soak it overnight.

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Total Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4-5 persons

INGREDIENTS
1 can of ful madammas

or
2 cups of soaked beans

1 egg, hard or soft boiled (depending on your taste)
1-2 tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1/2 green pepper
1 green onion or 1/4 of a white onion

juice from half a large lemon
or
1/4 cup of white vinegar

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
salt, pepper

_________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. Chop up vegetables into bite size pieces
2. Boil egg
3. In a pot on medium heat, add beans
4. Add lemon juice or vinegar
5. Stir beans around and mash with a spoon or fork
6. Beans do not have to be smooth; mash according to your preference
7. Add all vegetables--make sure you mix vegetables in, but that you are not cooking them
8. Add olive oil and spices.
9. Cut egg into small pieces and mix into ful
10. Serve with pita bread

Serving suggestion:
black sweet tea--I like how it works with the savoriness of the ful.

And there you have it. Breakfast or dinner, it tastes great, fills you up, and will please all your vegetarian and vegan friends (without egg). Just make sure it's not judged before tasting.

Dinner: Bamya (okra)

2010-01-25T19:40:00.014-05:00

Tonight I've decided to return to a classic favourite of mine: Bamya, arabic for okra. It's my comfort food, especially during these days when it's gross outside, and I can't remember that there is life beyond space heaters and the thick greyness that is a 'sunny' day. Maybe if the water pressure in the apartment didn't go from trickle to none, my saving grace of a hot shower would be ok. But that's not going to work, so bamya it is.

It's another slimy variety of vegetable, like molokhia, which means it is good for stewing.

It's one of those meals that I found myself defending a lot while in elementary school. My mom would always make this for us, and of course, I would have leftovers for lunch along with my warm yogurt, mashed-up peach and browned banana. I can still remember the smell of garlic mixing with the warm and bruised fruits mmmmmmmmmm. What was even better was after I opened up the container and began to eat my lunch. Noses would perk up and people would see me eating this slimy looking vegetable. "What is that?", "Okra" I answered. "Oh, well, what is okra?" And so the lessons in vegetables outside of tomatoes and carrots began for my friends who were 90% anglo-saxon origin. It's ok though, we traded lessons. They taught me about the world of Mr.Noodle eaten dry. Amazing.

Much further south to where I grew up, i.e. the southern states of the US, okra is cooked readily in gumbo stews, or deep fried. So it's not completely unknown in North America.

Anyhoo, it's a comfort food and a staple in most Egyptian households. And it's one of those vegetables that originates from Egypt. Wild bamya used to grow along the Nile shores back in the days, as far back as the time of the Pharaohs, (12th BC). Egyptians are thought to be the first people to cultivate it, starting around the 12th century BC.

Apparently, based on deciphering hieroglyphics from tombs, pyramids and other buildings, people have been able to put together some of the meals from that time, such as bamya. But, of course, over time, things have changed, and though we still eat the same vegetable, it's generally eaten in a tomato-based broth. Tomatoes have no claim to Egypt since they were introduced to the area back in the 1800s, so the dish that most Egyptians are familiar with is not what the ancients ate. But that's ok.

As a vegetable, it is rich in folic acid, vitamin B6 and fiber. And because it's slimy, nutritionists believe that it is actually a better source of fiber for you than bran/wheat etc. since it doesn't irritate your intestines thanks to its texture. Things you didn't know!

As usual for most of these dishes, stay away from fake rice, meaning the pre-boiled variety. This dish also depends on its stock for flavouring. Traditionally, people use cubed beef or lamb, I like chicken, but regardless of which meat you use, you can follow my recipe for stock.
_____________________________________

Total Preparation Time (not including stock): 45-60 minutes
Yield: 4 persons

INGREDIENTS

Rice
2 cups of egyptian or italian short grain rice
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon of butter
salt

Sauce
2 cups of stock
1 bag (about 375 grams-1.5 cups) of frozen egyptian okra (looks shorter than other varieties)

or
1.5 cups/375 grams of any kind of okra (fresh or frozen)
1 can of tomato paste
1 diced onion
6 cloves of peeled garlic
1 tablespoon of butter (or oil)
__________________________________________

DIRECTIONS

Rice:
1. As with previous recipes, wash rice until water is not as starchy looking
2. Add water with salt and butter
3. When water is boiling, add rice and turn down heat
4. Allow to cook for about 15 minutes

Sauce:
5. In a medium-sized pot, add some butter or oil
6. Add onions and cook until soft
7. Add two cups of stock
8. Add all of the tomato paste and stir until mixed
9. Add all the garlic cloves
10. Adjust sauce with salt and keep on low heat
11. When sauce is good, add the okra
12. If you are using beef or lamb, add the meat to the sauce.
13. If you used chicken (as I did), then you don't need to cook it in the sauce. You can fry it in a little butter and serve it with the rice and bamya
14. Let okra (and meat) cook for about 40 minutes
15. When okra is soft, and flavourful, serve over a bed of rice.
16. Serve with raw green onions on the side

It's a very simple dish, and not too complicated taste-wise either. It's heavy on the garlic which is good for you, bad for others, and if you eat it with the green onions, you'll be guaranteed no one at the elementary lunch table will sit with you for a few years until you outgrow your momma-makes-your-lunch phase.

Dessert: Umm Ali

2010-01-22T16:01:00.016-05:00

I've decided to make Fridays my dessert day; it's the end of the week and it's a chance to indulge in something wonderfully sweet. Today's dessert lives up to a high sweetness standard.

Umm Ali, or in arabic, Mother of Ali, is a dessert I've always heard about, but only got to try on my last trip to Egypt. While we were taking a cruise up the Nile, we had the unfortunate task of eating the same 'europeanized' food on the boat; every night. Which really is shame given that there is an abundance of fresh and flavourful food all around. I'm not even sure Europeans like bland European food--except maybe the British...To make matters even worse, or more frustrating for me at least, was the fact that all the chefs and cooks were Egyptian. So cooking Egyptian fare was not a stretch for them; in fact it came naturally to them as they displayed their talents on the obnoxious Egyptian theme night.

For this long awaited theme night, guests were encouraged to look 'Egyptian' by buying one of the typical galabayas (long robe) available at the boat store--surprise, surprise. The night ended on a horribly embarrassing note as guests were invited--more like forced, to belly-dance on stage. I may have been guilty of this; but no one knows...

In any case, this was the only night that I really ate well. All kinds of Egyptian favourites were made for the guests, including this dessert. I was warned by my family that it is too heavy to be enjoyed. Ha! Wrong! It's just perfect! It's a simple concoction of pistachios, pine nuts, almonds, bread, sweet milk and cinnamon. It's Egypt's answer to the British bread pudding (which I still don't like).

There are many stories surrounding the birth of this dessert. Three in total were what I found. I'll start with my favourite and most preposterous one.

Back in the day, when Egypt was invaded and ruled by different dynasties came the
invasion of the Mamelukes. Mamelukes were slaves bought as children and trained to be loyal soldiers. It was a practice started by the Abassid Caliphate (the third caliphate in the Islamic empire following the death of the Prophet Mohammad).

Anyways, the first Mameluke to be made a Sultan of Egypt was
al-Muizz Izz-ad-Din Aybak. He was married to one lady with a son, Ali, hence her name: Mother of Ali. He also had another wife and son. Women at the time were not allowed to rule the country, but in the absence of a Sultan, a mother could be the guardian to her son until he came of age to take over the Sultan title. In this case, Aybak died leaving the two women to fight out whose son would rule. Umm Ali hatched a plan with the handmaid of the second wife, and had her killed. To celebrate her victory, she made this sweet dessert (akin to sweet revenge) to share with everyone.

The second legend is a bit more believable. A Sultan was down in the Nile Valley hunting with some people when he suddenly became very hungry. He stopped into a small village asking for food. The villagers asked Umm Ali to prepare something for him, as she was known to be the best cook in the village. She whipped up this dessert and the Sultan loved it so much, he came back for seconds.

The third legend has nothing to do with Ali's mom. It's about an Irish nurse with the family name O'Malley. She was in Egypt and caught the eye of the ruler, Khedive Ismail. As his mistress, he had a dessert created especially for her called: O'Malley, which sounds like Umm Ali.

In each scenario, the dessert itself is something that can be easily made with what you have in your kitchen. Many recipes call for phyllo or puff pastry, but the point is that you make it on the fly. So if you have stale pita or regular bread, use it.

It's quite easy to make, and has many different layers of flavour to it. The coconut addition to it is optional, since coconuts are not native to Egypt yet; next round of invasions may rectify that problem. But in my defense, I have a weakness for all things coconut and jumped on the idea.

__________________________________________________________
Total Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 Persons

INGREDIENTS

Enough stale or oven-dried break to fill the bottom of a dish (about 2 medium-sized pitas)
3/4 cup of pistachios (unshelled and unsalted)
1/4 cup of almonds (flaked, or slivered, or chopped)
1/4 cup of pine nuts

1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
2 handfuls of raisens
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
2 cups of milk
1 cup of sugar
**2 cups of condensed milk can also be used**
1 tablespoon of rose or orange blossom water (optional)

1 cup of heavy cream

_________________________________________________________
DIRECTIONS

1. Turn oven to 375F
2. Make sure bread is dry, if not put in oven until brittle
3. Break up bread into smaller pieces
4. Lightly grease a baking dish
5. Add bread to dish so bottom is covered (about an inch thick of bread)

6. In a large mixing bowl, add nuts, raisins, cinnamon and coconut flakes
7. Add nut mixture on top of bread
8. In a pot on medium heat, add milk and sugar
9. Continue heating milk until sugar dissolves and is a little thicker than regular milk
10. When milk reaches a good consistency, add orange blossom/rose water if it is available
11. Take off heat and add to bread/nut mixture

12. Pour cream over mixture
13. Put in oven for about 20 minutes, or until dish looks golden.

Yes, it is a heavy dish, but it doubles as a breakfast for champions, woop woop!