Egyptians' favorite dish Molokhia was banned previously
- Sameh Hani
- 25 Jun, 2022
Many of our main food dishes come with a story to tell, and usually, this story is interesting to hear especially if it is in the Egyptian cuisine that all love it. Mulukhiah, also known as molokhia, is one of the signature dishes in Egyptian cuisine with its aroma and flavor and its green color telling us the secrets behind its presence. The origin of Mulukhiah may come as a surprise to many of YumReads readers. Rania Gouda, Teaching Assistant at History Department at Damietta University narrates that its story dates back to the Pharaonic era when they found a plant that they thought was poisonous till Caliph Al-Hakim Bi Amr Allah at the Ismaili shi’ite Fatimid period where he ruled Egypt from 996 to 1021 CE found that this plant is useful and beneficial unlike what he heard previously. He found that it is good for digestion and contains Vitamin C, E, potassium, iron, and fiber. That is why he wanted to eat it alone without anybody sharing it, so he spread a rumor around that this plant is poisonous, so as to keep everyone away. In that era, he called it Mulukhiah, an Arabic adjective derived from “king” which means royalty. Later on, people discovered that this was a fake rumor and that the green plant was not poisonous, so they changed its name to what it is called nowadays molokhia. Egyptians' bizarre tradition related to the molokhia is “shahe’t el mulukhiyah“ where Om Hamza, a housewife living in El Nakeer Village in New Mansoura stated that now when any girl is about to get married, her husband’s family asks if she is talented in “shahe’t el mulukhiyah“ which consequently means the bride is a great cook. Safia Mohamed, one of the Bedouins explained that the tsas (sizzle) is the most important step which means that you're doing it right remembering that they used to cook it on firewood and still waited to hear the tsas. Ahmed Sameer, the chef said that molokhia is cooked in several ways as some Egyptians prefer to eat Molokhia with rabbits and others especially in the coastal cities like Alexandria prefer to eat it with shrimp.
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