Two Tasty Safflower Recipes
Learn more about the safflower plant and its culinary use in two ancient Egyptian dishes.
The power of safflower
The safflower plant is known for its dried petals and is famous across Egypt for its use in lemoon measfar (pickled lemons), but in Esna it becomes a delicious qurtum dish .
Lemoon measfar - pickled lemon ingredients (2020-09-16) by NawayaNawaya
Farmer's choice
Safflower used to be planted in winter, but is now available throughout the year. It is not planted as the main crop on a large scale. Rather it is a recurring crop, usually connected to the farming of other leafy green such as spinach or herbs such as coriander, and dill.
Safflower plant, dill and fresh corriander (2020-04-21) by Rediscovering Esna’s Cultural Heritage Assets” (RECHA) Project.Nawaya
Qurtum market day
Once the petals of flowers have been harvested and removed for processing, safflower growers are left with vast quantities of headless plants. Sundays and Thursdays are market days, where safflower farmers set up carts and sell their safflower stalks for families to make qurtum.
A unique soup from Esna
Some families in the city of Esna still prepare this ancient dish, that has been passed on from the generation of their grandparents. Its distinct aroma infuses the narrow streets and one can immediately recognize the smell, and know who would be enjoying qurtum for lunch.
Qurtum - safflower leaves (2020-04-21) by Rediscovering Esna’s Cultural Heritage Assets” (RECHA) Project.Nawaya
Cooking Qurtum
To make qurtum, the leaves of the safflower plant must be removed from the stem. They are prepared and shredded alongside other greens, such as dill and coriander.
Chopping the meat to make qurtum (2020-04-21) by Rediscovering Esna’s Cultural Heritage Assets” (RECHA) Project.Nawaya
A tasty meat broth
Meat broth is used, and qurtum leaves are boiled and whisked with some salt.
Freshly picked tomatoes (2020-09-02) by NawayaNawaya
Simmering all the ingredients
A couple of dried okra, and cooked tomatoes, and fried garlic dressing complete the qurtum meal. All the ingredients are simmered together till they reach the right texture. Women also add a little bit of flour to thicken the soup.
Enjoying the soup
Qurtum can be eaten as a soup, or cooked in a tagine in the oven alongside some meat. The qurtum dish and the fried meat are served next to orzo soup, fried chili peppers, bread and salad. Qurtum is never served alongside anything else!
Lemoon measfar - a pickled side dish
Lemoon measfar is truly a favorite condiments in the Egyptian cuisine. It gets its name ‘measfar’ from the safflower petals used in the pickling recipe. But few outside of Esna know that the rest of the safflower plant is eaten or can be cooked.
Ingredient for pickled lemon (lemoon measfar) (2020-09-16) by NawayaNawaya
The safflower petals are dried and mixed with nigella seeds to make lemoon measfar.
Lemoon measfar - pickled lemons (2020-09-16) by NawayaNawaya
It goes with anything!
Pickled lemons are served with many foods dishes - it can be a side to fried liver, to fish dishes, to fava beans and even blended as a paste to eat on bread.
These materials were developed by the “Rediscovering Esna’s Cultural Heritage Assets” (RECHA) Project. The RECHA Project has given us permission to use the materials and distribute any modifications under a similar license.
For more information: www.facebook.com/Discover.Esna
Photos credits to (Ahmed Dream) @ 2018 Takween-ICD
As well as Nawaya
Writers: Dalia Bassiouny & Laura Tabet
Special thanks to the women and nutrition coaches in Beni Suef
