Dried tiger nuts (2019)The Centenary Project
Tiger nut is not a nut and has little to do with tigers. It is a sedge that grows along the banks of the Nile. It goes by the scientific name of Cyperus esculentus, and is a close relative of Papyrus (C. papyrus).
Jazzhole coffee shop graffiti (2019)The Centenary Project
It also happens to be one of the oldest plants known to have been continuously consumed in Egypt since prehistory.
Sifting Meal, Tomb of Rekhmire (ca. 1504–1425 B.C.) by Nina de Garis DaviesThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
The roots are the edible part of the plant, they store starch and other nutrients and form rhizomes which have to pulled out, cleaned then would be eaten whole, raw, soaked, roasted or dried and ground into flour used to bake cakes or made into juice.
Tiger nut rhizomes have been enjoyed for thousands of years and are recently gaining a reputation as a "Paleo Power" food.
Man Carrying Loaves, Tomb of Rekhmire (ca. 1504–1425 B.C.) by Nina de Garis DaviesThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
The earliest Tiger nut eaters were the prehistoric inhabitants of a site called Wadi Kubbaniya, North of Aswan in the Nile valley where archaeologists found remains of 18,000 years old Tiger nut rhizomes.
Tiger nuts continued to be consumed during the predynastic period (6000-5500 years ago) and wild dry rhizomes as offerings and food for the afterlife are common finds in predynastic tombs.
It was most probably cultivated later on in ancient Egypt and depictions of the plant and remains of rhizomes are frequent in old, middle and new kingdom tombs.
Cooking Cakes with Fat, Tomb of Rekhmire (ca. 1504–1425 B.C.) by Nina de Garis DaviesThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
But Tiger nut in ancient Egypt holds another surprise: A 3500 years old recipe for Tiger nut cake is depicted on the wall of the Tomb of Rekhmire (known as TT100) in Thebes (ancient Luxor).
Rekhmire was a vizier during the reign of king Tuthmosis and was in charge among other things, of overseeing the production of Tiger nut loaves as offerings to the Gods and food eaten by the priests and the general population at Thebes.
Pounding Meal, Tomb of Rekhmire (ca. 1504–1425 B.C.) by Nina de Garis DaviesThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
The following Tiger nut cake recipe is reconstructed based on the tomb painting. It looks like part of a comic-strip of a longer scene with servants preparing many different foodstuffs for a feast and is as close as one could come to following written instructions for a specific dish.
Harvest Scenes, Tomb of Menna (ca. 1400–1352 B.C.) by Charles K. WilkinsonThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
5 steps to making Tiger nut cake
1. Grind a quantity of tiger nuts in a mortar
2. Sift the flour carefully
3. To the ground tiger nuts add a bowl of honey and mix into a dough
4. Transfer the dough to a shallow metal vessel. Place on top of the fire and add a little fat. Boil over gentle fire until firm paste is obtained. It must smell toasted not burnt.
5. Cool and shape into tall loaves
Pounding Meal, Tomb of Rekhmire (ca. 1504–1425 B.C.) by Nina de Garis DaviesThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dried tiger nuts (2019)The Centenary Project
Nowadays Tiger nut in Egypt is known as "H'abb el 'Aziz" and is still enjoyed mainly as a snack, interestingly associated with the "Moulid": the birthday of a sheikh (Muslim saint). The rhizomes are washed and soaked in water till they are soft, the soaking helps decompose the starch and release the sugars. They are eaten raw and sold on carts as a street snack food
Tiger nut milk and carrot cake served (2019)The Centenary Project
Tiger nuts are also appreciated in other countries, Tigernut milk ( Kunnu Aya in Nigeria and Horchata de Chufa in Spain) is a non-alcoholic, naturally sweet, creamy drink with a nutty flavor made from straining the soaked and ground rhizomes mixed with sugar and water. They are also eaten fresh, soaked or ground and used in baking in many African countries.
Tiger Nut cake on plateRAWI Publishing
If you are still wondering why is this "Paleo" food coming back as a "Power"food, here is what it takes: the rhizomes are a good source of fiber, fat, sugar and protein, they are also high in vitamins E and C, as well as phosphorus and potassium and have a 20-36% oil content similar to the composition of olive oil and of course the drink is a vegan substitute for milk.
