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A hunt in , left, can lead to stellar renditions of Egyptian dishes like molokhia (recipe, p. 114).

A Lesson in Egyptian Classics With the opening of a school devoted to Egyptian recipes, an overlooked is finally on the rise. Writer Salma Abdelnour gets an education. food photographs by Petrina Tinslay

y grandmother alyce was famous in our family for the Sunday credit for it to the . Molokhia, she’d cook in her small town in Lebanon. When she was alive, which means “of the kings,” is what first before my parents and I came to live in America, I was too young and put on my radar, well before I’d rowdy to pay close attention to all the dishes, grilled meats, learned much else about the country. Mand salads on her table. But I do remember one dish, molokhia, Of , politics, not vividly. It was dark green and soupy, and I wanted no part of it. I food, has turned the world’s knew one thing about it, though: It was Egyptian. food pride attention to Egypt since the It would be a few years before I would begin to like molokhia, by “I hope one result of 2011 uprising that toppled which I mean fall madly in love with it. It has layers of - all the eyes on Egypt Hosni Mubarak from an scented chicken and buttery surrounded by a wonderful of will be a renewed almost-30-year dictator­ship, dark, bittersweet greens—an adult-looking dish, to be sure. Even interest in its and the subsequent struggle though the Lebanese consider it a staple, they’ll generally concede culture, including over the post-revolutionary its food traditions.” leadership. It has been a Salma Abdelnour is a writer in NYC. Her book Jasmine and Fire, tumultuous year, no doubt

about her year in Beirut searching for home, comes out this summer. about it, and as the country food stylist: mariana velasquez;photograph: style editor:© luis jessicaorteo/hemis/corbis romm. (alexandria cityscape)

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From City to Mountain continues to undergo all kinds of changes (parliamentary elections, a new con- stitution), the world is watching. I hope that once the headlines die down, one positive result of all the eyes on Egypt will be a renewed interest in the country’s history and culture, including its fascinating and little-known culinary traditions.

n a recent trip to egypt between episodes of unrest, I made a point of spending time exploring the country’s food. My reintroduc- tion to the cuisine began one sunny morning in Cairo, at the 14th- century Khan El Khalili souk. After peeks into the ancient market’s Omany textile and shops, my guide, Lamia El Tawdy, took me to a vendor to try a sandwich of ful, fava stewed in oil and . I’ve eaten ful medammes, ubiquitous around the , my whole life, but never quite like this. The warm, soft, –laden fava beans were ladled into folds of Egyptian —bouncy, stretchy, tasting of whole-grain and so unlike the I knew. My guide saw me smile and said, “If you see someone looking completely at peace, you know they’ve just eaten ful.” cooking at qasr twenty I was staying at Le Riad, a stylish little hotel near the souk. My room, the At this new school in Cairo, travelers take lessons on how to cook like Egyptians. Salma Abdelnour King Farouk Suite, was named after Egypt’s deposed ex-monarch. As I settled learned to make molokhia like her grandmother’s. in later that day, I browsed through an August 1952 issue of Paris Match left out on the table. It showed a photo spread of the former king, who, after getting toppled in the revolution just a month before, was lounging in eating Capri with his family, bored in exile. “It was an absolute For dinner that night, my mind was focused less on carb-fest, loaded the country’s fallen regimes than on its food. I learned with crunch, that it takes some effort to hunt down good Egyptian- sauciness and spice. cuisine restaurants in Cairo. My contact in the city, How had I never Eric Monkaba, a cool-tempered, impeccably dressed heard of it before?” 31-year-old of Syrian heritage who grew up in Mich- igan, took me to a place he loves called Abou El Sid. Four years ago, Monkaba launched a Cairo-based travel-planning company called Backpacker Concierge, which I’d hired to help arrange guides and hotels. More recently, he and Hossam El Sherbiny opened hanging out at le riad a Cairo cooking school called Qasr Twenty, reportedly the first in the city to This chic, all-suites boutique hotel is located in specialize in Egyptian dishes. Cairo’s oldest quarter. Guests can have At Abou El Sid, a cacophonous, banquette-lined restaurant, I was happy to on the roof terrace with sweeping city views. discover stuffed pigeon, an Egyptian specialty since the time of the pharaohs. The two small birds arrived elegantly displayed side by side, dark pink and juicy inside, with crisp caramelized skin and a stuffing made of the roasted cracked wheat called . Next came a fragrant bowl of koshary, more than royal-banquet star. It’s made with two key Egyptian ingre- dients, and , layered in a bowl with rice, macaroni and fried onion. I took my cue from others around me, mixing the ingredients together and drizzling on a tomatoey hot sauce. An absolute carb-fest, loaded with crunch, sauciness and spice. How had I never heard of it before? I asked Monkaba why he thinks Egyptian cuisine is less known around the world than, say, Moroccan or Lebanese. “The French brought back new flavors and dishes from their colonies to their home country, and to the world, but French occupation of Morocco and Lebanon penetrated more deeply than it did in Egypt,” he explained. “Also, the British were in Egypt significantly hiking in the longer than the French but never managed to incorporate themselves into Tour operators can plan hikes through the St. Katherine Protectorate’s rocky red mountains, the culture, and it’s no surprise they exported nothing of the cuisine.” ending with inside a Bedouin tent. Qasr Twenty aims to bring Egyptian food back from obscurity. The school is

on the second floor of a 1930s Art Deco building, with each room painted a photographs: david degner

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different shade—purple, gold, green. Light flooded in through arched windows and balconies as the staff, skilled Cairo chefs and home cooks, set out ingredients. In Egypt, molokhia is often made with , but we were going to make it with chicken, the way I’d always known it in Lebanon. The dish has a sauce of Jew’s mallow leaves, grown all over the Middle East. I learned that I needed to mince the leaves very finely, until they reached an almost elastic consistency. I helped prepare the broth to boil the chicken, then browned the meat in . Then we cooked the greens in the chicken broth. “Never let them come to a boil!” an instructor called out to me. We stirred in a paste of mashed garlic and ground . I’d never made molokhia before, perhaps afraid mine wouldn’t live up to my grandmother’s, and I felt lucky to have this hands-on training. As it simmered, we started the shorbet ads, or soup. I loved the red-orange color the soup developed as we simmered the red lentils with fiery-hued tomatoes and carrots. We passed the soup through a strainer, pressing down hard to make a puree (a blender would work, too), then spiced the soup with and chile. We made Arabic-style croutons to sprinkle on top, tearing pieces of pita bread and frying them until they became crunchy-hot. “Egyptian cuisine needs to be more appreciated,” El Sherbiny said Egyptian is spiced as he, Monkaba and I ate a lunch of dishes made in class. One of the with cumin and chile—comfort with a kick (recipe, p. 40). staff chimed in from the : “Lebanese food is more famous, but it’s mostly appetizers.” Whoa! I had to pipe up: “ goes far beyond meze,” I said defensively, enjoying the sparring match. But point taken about Egyptian food. black book Here, some highlights from writer Salma fter lunch, monkaba had arranged for me to go to Alexandria, three Abdelnour’s Egypt trip. She worked hours away by car. When my taxi rolled into the ancient port city, mainly with Backpacker Concierge, which along the dazzling Mediterranean waterfront, I felt a rush. I emerged creates individualized tours of Jordan onto a graceful, park-like square filled with palm trees and fronting and Egypt (backpackerconcierge.com). Athe shore­side boulevard, which curls around the coast and seems to stretch out hotel spiced beef. Mostafa endlessly into the past and future. Le Riad Kamel St. (behind I boarded a tram and rode through the dense downtown, packed with tiny old In Cairo, a stylish El Salam Theater); shops and rows of 19th-century Italianate buildings, on the way to dinner with boutique hotel with 011-203-541-1404. 17 suites and a great Monkaba and a local guide. The sprawling Ibn El Balad restaurant, crowded with cooking school location just outside enormous family-size tables and towering stone col- the Khan El Khalili Qasr Twenty umns, has been a hit with Alexandrians since it opened souk. Suites from Backpacker a few years ago. I sampled the molokhia as well as ruqaq $323; leriad-hotel Concierge’s Cairo on shorbet ads decharme.com. cooking school, “I loved the colors (buttery, crackling phyllo squares filled with slightly specializing in restaurants Egyptian classics as we simmered sweet spiced beef) and mumbar (small, luscious chit- terlings flavored with ). I wished Egyptian- Abou El Sid and located in a red lentils with One of the best 1930s Art Deco fiery-hued tomatoes cuisine restaurants like this one were more ubiquitous. restaurants in building near Tahrir and carrots.” I planned to end my trip to Egypt with the Bedouins Cairo for authentic Square. $85 per in the Sinai mountains. From Cairo I flew into Sharm Egyptian food, person; 20 Qasr served in a loud, al Ainy; 011-20- El Sheikh airport, on the coast, and took a banquette-lined 109-494-1329 or one-and-a-half hour taxi ride to Dahab—one of those dining room. qasrtwenty.com. remote seaside towns where beach bums from around the world come to wind- 157 26th of July St.; Zamalek; 011- trek surf and end up staying months, years, a lifetime. 202-2735-9640. Embah Safari Monkaba had hired a Bedouin guide to meet me for a trek in the St. Kath- Ibn El Balad Organizes trips into erine Protectorate, a desert-and-mountain ecosystem two hours by car from A popular restaurant the Sinai Peninsula to Dahab, and he’d arranged for members of the Bedouin Jebalia tribe to cook in Alexandria with experience Bedouin Egyptian dishes culture. From $120 me lunch in their tent. In the car, I stared at the rocky red mountains as the like ruqaq—phyllo per person for a two- driver stopped to let camels cross the road. My guide and I hiked up the dry, squares filled with day trek; embah.com.

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stony, craggy-edged slopes, dotted with and sprinkled with lemon and rock salt Egyptian Red Lentil Soup and cook until fragrant, 3 minutes. Add the 1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the hardy mulberry and trees. from mountain caves; and a lively soup active: 15 min; total: 45 min tomatoes and cook just until softened, 2 min- hazelnuts in a pie plate and toast for 12 min- When we arrived at the tent, only made from dried tomatoes, chard and 8 servings utes. Add the lentils and 8 cups of water and utes, until fragrant and the skins blister. about three yards square and made . The ingredients were all page 38 season with salt. Simmer over moderately low Transfer the hazelnuts to a kitchen towel and of goat hair, I introduced myself to grown or foraged in the harsh desert Known as shorbet ads, this vividly hued heat until the lentils are very soft, 30 minutes. let cool. Rub the nuts together to remove the small group in Lebanese-dialect climate, but the dishes were fresh- lentil soup is very popular in Egypt. 2. Working in batches, puree the soup. Sea- the skins and transfer to a food processor. Arabic—a workable if spotty substitute tasting and vibrant and prepared with son with salt and serve with , lemon 2. In a medium skillet, toast the coriander for —and sat quietly, skill, more a finely honed craft than just 2 tablespoons unsalted butter wedges and warm pita. —Eric Monkaba and cumin seeds over moderate heat, shak- watching an elderly woman from the a means of sustenance. 1 medium onion, chopped ing the pan, until golden and fragrant, about tribe and her 10-year-old niece grind It’s been a little over a year since 2 carrots, finely chopped Hazelnut Dukka 3 minutes. Spread the out on a plate wheat. A few neighbors from the tribe, Egypt’s revolution, and it’s not clear yet 3 celery ribs, finely chopped total: 30 min • makes about 2 cups and let cool completely, then finely grind in wearing the long-sleeved cotton gowns what change will bring. But on a light, 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced Dukka (from the Arabic for “to pound”) refers a spice grinder. In the same skillet, toast the and turbans Bedouins prefer to keep optimistic note, Monkaba and his team 1 teaspoon ground cumin to crushed nuts and seeds traditionally eaten seeds over moderate heat until the sun and sand off their skin, are planning to launch new culinary » teaspoon ground coriander on bread dipped in olive oil; the blend varies golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the sesame dropped by to chat and lounge on the trips around the country—the first are » teaspoon ancho chile powder from cook to cook. Monkaba especially likes seeds to the plate to cool. Add the coriander, floor cushions as they discussed a slated for later this year—including 1 pound tomatoes, seeded and diced this garlic-free version. cumin, sesame seeds and thyme to the food friend’s upcoming wedding. cooking classes, a tour, a jam- 2 cups red lentils (14 ounces) processor along with the pistachios, cay- Lunch was impressive: -like making demo and a day spent learning Salt » cup hazelnuts enne and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper bread baked in a stone oven in the tent Bedouin recipes in the St. Katherine Plain yogurt, lemon wedges and 6 tablespoons coriander seeds and pulse until finely ground. Transfer the and made from wheat I’d helped grind Protectorate. The Cairo cooking school warm pita, for serving 3 tablespoons whole cumin seeds dukka to a bowl. on a round stone mill; a soothing wheat also happens to be a short walk from ¼ cup sesame seeds serve with Olive oil and crusty bread. Hazelnut dukka is a called jerisha, flavored with Tahrir Square, headquarters of the 1. In a large pot, melt the butter. Add the onion, 1 tablespoon dried thyme make ahead The dukka can be kept in an crushed nut-and-seed tart fermented goat milk; a salad of revolution and now—no surprise—the carrots, celery and garlic and cook over mod- » cup salted roasted pistachios airtight container for up to 4 days or refrig- blend; the name girgir (arugula), onions and tomatoes, latest must-see for anyone who wants erate heat, stirring, until softened, 5 minutes. ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper erated for up to 1 month. means “to pound.” grown in an irrigated garden nearby to understand the new Egypt. Add the cumin, coriander and chile powder Salt and freshly ground pepper continued on p. 114

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please contact thelab at 212-209-1333 with any questions or concerns regarding these materials. egyptian classics from p. 41

Molokhia with Spiced Chicken 4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining Leaves Stuffed with page 34 ½ teaspoon of coriander with the ground Pine Nuts and Spiced Rice active: 30 min; total: 2 hr cinnamon, cumin, paprika and ½ teaspoon active: 40 min; total: 1 hr 30 min 4 to 5 servings each of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the makes 2 dozen stuffed Molokhia gets its name from a dark leafy chicken all over with the spices. In a large In Egypt, cooks stuff this spiced rice mixture green of the same name. Also known as Jew’s nonstick skillet, melt the remaining 2 table- into all kinds of , like zucchini. mallow, it develops an okra-like viscosity spoons of butter. Add the chicken and cook when cooked and is an acquired taste for over high heat, turning once, until golden 30 jarred brined grape leaves, drained some. In Lebanon, writer Salma Abdelnour and heated through and the skin is crisp, 2 tablespoons pine nuts grew up eating molokhia served with crispy about 4 minutes. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter pita croutons and a drizzle of dressing made 5. Mound rice in the center of 4 or 5 shallow 1 medium onion, finely chopped with red wine vinegar and onion. But Egyp- bowls and top with the chicken. Ladle the One 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, tians often serve the dish without these molokhia around the chicken and serve. drained garnishes, as in this recipe from Monkaba. note Molokhia (other spellings include » cup chopped flat-leaf molokia) is available at Middle Eastern mar- » cup short grain rice One 3»-pound chicken kets. The leaves are usually sold frozen. » teaspoon cinnamon 1 large onion, finely chopped is a fine substitute. » teaspoon cumin 1 rosemary sprig make ahead The poached chicken and 1 tablespoon finely grated One 4-inch cinnamon stick broth can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. orange zest 1 wine Fresh, full-bodied French white: 2010 ¥ cup finely chopped mint One 14-ounce package frozen molokhia La Vieille Ferme Luberon Blanc. Salt (see Note) or two 10-ounce 1 tablespoon olive oil packages chopped frozen spinach Beet-and-Onion Salad 1 tablespoon minced garlic with Mint 1. Soak the grape leaves in a large bowl of 1 tablespoon plus » teaspoon active: 30 min; total: 1 hr 20 min warm water for 20 minutes. ground coriander plus overnight macerating 2. In a large skillet, toast the pine nuts over 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 6 to 8 servings moderate heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Salt and freshly ground black pepper For this chilled salad, beets and onions are Transfer to a medium bowl. » teaspoon ground cinnamon macerated in a lemony dressing. When 3. In the same skillet, melt the butter. Add » teaspoon ground cumin they’re available, young spring onions are the onion and cook over moderate heat, ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika especially delicious here. stirring, until softened, 5 minutes. Stir in Steamed short-grain rice, for serving the tomatoes and parsley. Add the rice and 2 pounds medium beets (about 5), cook, stirring, until it begins to turn white, 1. In a large, deep pot, cover the chicken with scrubbed 5 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the bowl the onion, rosemary, cinnamon stick and ¥ cup extra-virgin olive oil with the pine nuts. Stir in the cinnamon, bay leaf and 12 cups of water. Top with a 3 tablespoons hazelnut oil cumin, orange zest and mint and season small plate to keep the chicken submerged ¥ cup plus 2 tablespoons with salt. Let cool slightly. and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat freshly squeezed lemon juice 4. Drain the grape leaves and pat dry. Snip until the chicken is cooked through, 45 min- 1 tablespoon off the stems. Spread 4 leaves on a work utes. Transfer the chicken to a platter and Kosher salt surface. Form a 1-tablespoon-size log of the let cool slightly, then cut into wings, breasts, 1 small white onion, cut into rice filling at the stem end. Fold the sides thighs and drumsticks and pat dry. thin slivers over the filling, then tightly roll up the leaves 2. Strain the broth into a heatproof bowl. ¥ cup coarsely chopped mint to form cylinders, tucking in the sides as you Skim off the fat. Return 2 cups of the broth go. Repeat with 20 more grape leaves and to the pot; reserve the remaining broth for 1. In a saucepan, cover the beets with water the remaining filling. another use. Add the molokhia to the pot and bring to a boil. Cook over moderate heat, 5. Line a saucepan with 3 grape leaves. and simmer for 10 minutes. adding more water as needed to keep the Arrange the stuffed grape leaves in the 3. Meanwhile, using the side of a knife, beets covered, until they are tender, about saucepan in 2 layers. Drizzle with the oil. mash the garlic to a paste with 1 tablespoon 1 hour. Drain the beets and let them cool. Top with the remaining 3 grape leaves and of the coriander. In a small skillet, melt Peel the beets and slice into thin wedges. a small plate. Add enough water to cover 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the garlic 2. In a bowl, whisk the olive oil and hazelnut the stuffed grape leaves and bring to a boil. paste and cook over moderately high heat oil with the lemon juice and honey. Season Cover and simmer until the rice is tender, until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. with salt. Add the beets and onion and toss 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool Scrape the paste into the molokhia and to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight, stir- in the saucepan. Arrange the grape leaves simmer for 5 minutes longer. Season with ring once or twice. Garnish the salad with on a platter and serve warm or at room salt and pepper. mint and serve. —EM temperature. —EM •

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