Mulukhiyah

Mulukhiyah (), also known as molokhia, molohiya, or ewedu, is a dish made from the leaves of Corchorus olitorius, commonly known in English as denje'c'jute, nalta jute, tossa jute. It is used as a vegetable and is mainly eaten in Egypt, the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan), Sudan, Cyprus, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. It is called “Saluyot” in the Philippines. Mulukhiyah is rather bitter, and when boiled, the resulting liquid is a thick, highly mucilaginous broth; it is often described as "slimy", rather like cooked okra. Mulukhiyah is generally eaten cooked, not raw, and it is either eaten chopped and sautéed in oil, garlic and cilantro like in Syria or turned into a kind of soup or stew like in Egypt, typically bearing the same name as the vegetable in the local language. Traditionally mulukhiyah is cooked with chicken or at least chicken stock for flavor and is served with white rice, accompanied with lemon or lime. Origins and history While most scholars are of the opinion that mulukhiyah's origins lie in Ancient Egypt, there is evidence that India is the source of the related species Corchorus capsularis, which is also used for food as well as fiber. Mulukhiyah was a known dish in the Medieval Arab world. The recipe on how to prepare it is mentioned in the 14th-century Arabic book Kanz al-Fawa'id fi Tanwi' al-Mawa'id. According to the Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi (d. 1442), mulukhiyah was the favorite dish of caliph Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan () the founder of the Umayyad Caliphate. Furthermore, on the 7th of Muharram in the year 395 AH (1005 AD) the Fatimid ruler of Egypt al-Hakim bi Amr Allah () issued a decree which prohibited his subjects from eating the mulukhiyah, which was thought to be an aphrodisiac. However, his successor caliph al-Zahir () permitted the eating of mulukhiyah again. The Druze, who hold Al-Hakim in high regard and give him quasi-divine authority, continue to respect the ban, and do not eat mulukhiyah of any kind to this day. Culinary varieties