Etfadallou ! Bel hana oul sheffa
Molo is our new affectionate word for molokeya.
In the dictionaries they call it Jews’ mallow.
Can it mean that we Jews have been eating it from time immemorial?
What is it and how was it prepared in Egypt?
Foremost and above all it was a fresh long stem with leaves on it of a deep green colour bought on the local market.
It was washed in running water and shaken out.
Put on a newspaper and spread out on our balcony in the sun, it was put to dry.
This was an important stage because when it was not dried properly it produced long slimy threads, which were disgusting.
Once the molokeya was dry, it went back to the kitchen on our marble working table and all the leaves picked out one by one from the stem.
These leaves were shredded with a half-moon, till they became a paste.
Do you think that was the end of the job? Not at all!
Previously, a chicken was cooked whole and the broth was ready waiting for “the making of” that dish.
The molo was added to the chicken broth and brought to boil.
Meanwhile you cleaned out several garlic cloves and you started crushing them in an eed hon
(Mortar and pestle).
Ding ding ding. The whole building heard this lovely sound.
The ta-leya was the name for the frying part:
You poured oil in a pan, added the shredded garlic generously, then the kosbara (coriander) that had been ground beforehand.
Threw all this in a pan, fried it then added it to the broth containing your molo.
Et voila! A hard half day’s work but what a delight.
It was always shared with the neighbours!
How we ate it: first you put grilled bread in your dish.
Then with the second helping you put white rice and chicken (or vice versa!).
Every one loved molokeya except my uncle Marco from Salonica who refused to eat it.
As a matter of fact his wife, my aunt Judith had to come to us to eat it. Marco refused to kiss his wife when she had eaten molokeya!!!
Molokeya today
Having left Egypt does not mean we no longer eat molokeya. But what a difference!
You buy the dried leaves at an Egyptian grocery. My dried leaves come all the way from Milan from my sister who lives there, leaves brought over from Egypt. These dried leaves are added to your homemade broth thickened with spinach.
The rest is pretty much the same. You go about your ta-leya but instead of cleaning garlic cloves there is now garlic paste. You add two good spoons of your paste and put it with the coriander for a fry-up.
I go all the way to Holland to buy my ground coriander, that’s how much we still love our molo.
Even my children who are Europeans are crazy about it.
When they were young they called molokeya “mokoleya”.
The molo day is not the one to start a diet because no one will stop at two helpings! I don’t!
It is now an international dish!
Molo from Milan bought from an Egyptian grocer, coriander from Holland, rice from Italy or china, eaten in Europe!
That’s what I really am. Un peu de tout!Sultana Latifa
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