A huge pile of molokheya plants lie on the right and the women are sitting in the shade plucking the leaves from the stems. The leaves might be dried for use during the winter or simply washed and chopped finely to be added to a chicken or rabbit broth for a rich green soup. Many foreigners find molokheya to be a bit weird and slimy. The plant, swamp mallow, is basically a weed to everyone but Egyptians. Like many other plants in the mallow family, molokheya is a medicinal herb useful for stomach ailments. I've heard stories that the Japanese were so taken with the medicinal properties of molokheya that they made a soft drink from it. I love the stuff.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Molokheya For Breakfast
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6 comments:
Great photo and post...amazing how different life is all around the world!
Think I'll pass on the molokheya. But I'm enjoying your people in the enlarged photo. I'd like to sit with them a spell and help pluck the leaves.
Do you have a close-up shot of molokheya?
As always, I love your photos and posts
Molokheeya is grown and enjoyed in Palestine too. We add lemon to it which cuts down on the sliminess.
I'll never forget the first time I tried molokheya. I nearly vomited. I grew to like the "weed" and eventually learned how to cook it when I married an Egyptian man. Now I actually miss molokheya, maybe more than I miss the marriage:)
Molokheyya is cooked and enjoyed in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, with local variations in cooking. But Egypt people are more enthusiastic than elsewhere.
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