The story of Ads Esnnawi, the southern lentil soup

Farmers still recall that all kinds of pulses were grown and sold in Esna markets, such as lentils, chickpeas and fava beans. Over the years, farmers switched to other crops, and lentils are hardly grown in Esna anymore. Currently, farmers grow crops with high market demand such as onions and tomatoes. 

Esna is still proud of its lentil soup recipe “ads Essanoui”, which locals say is “better than eating lamb!”. The lentils used are yellow, peeled lentils. The lentils are rinsed and soaked before cooking. 

Traditionally women make a broth for the lentils with chopped carrots, zucchini, coriander, onions and tomatoes. 

Once the lentils and vegetables are cooked, the soup is cooled and blended. Using a sieve, the blended soup becomes smooth and flawless. 

To complete the lentil soup, garlic is fried in ghee to add the final flavour. Lentil soup is served with hand cut fries, salad and hot chilis. 

One example is the 18th century Wekalet el Jaddawi, which hosted merchants trading high value commodities of silk textiles, African ivory and ostrich plumes.  

The Bakkur Oil Press is the last remaining oil press of 30, producing cold pressed sesame, lettuce and arugula seed oil. 

Local agricultural goods were renowned for their quality. Here cotton and silk are locally processed into beautiful textiles.