Egyptian Potato Salad

Mention Egypt to people and likely several things will pop into their minds: the pyramids, the Nile River, the Suez Canal, the pharaohs of ancient times, and perhaps a few biblical references, especially to Moses. Egypt has long been a fascination to people beyonds it's own area, and this country of about 100 million people is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, but with a Christian (usually Coptic) minority of "somewhere around" 10%. Egypt saw more than 300 years of Turkish rule (Ottoman Empire) beginning in the 1500s, which was interrupted for three years by Napoleon's French occupation (1798-1801). The British maintained "a kind of protectorate" with Egypt beginning in the 1880s and many British and French business people invested in the company that helped to build, and then to run, the Suez Canal during much of the last quarter of the 1800s and into the 1900s (Note: the territory of the canal was Egyptian, but the foreign owned company provided money to complete, maintain and operate the canal, with the canal's operation being totally turned over to Egypt in 1956). While some important and famous battles took place in Egypt during World War Two (especially "Tobruk," "El Alamein") "technically" Egypt was a neutral country during the time of those battles, and Egypt did not declare war on any country until 1945, when it declared war on Germany and Japan. I know it was an odd situation, and Egypt had its own armed forces and for a couple of years air raids were fairly common, but the British had long kept military forces stationed in Egypt, especially around the Suez Canal, Cairo and the Mediterranean port of Alexandria. It wasn't until 1956 that Britain, by agreement, withdrew its military forces from Egypt.  

 

There is no mayonnaise or vinegar in this potato salad, rather it is something right out of Egyptian cuisine, with olives, lots of various herbs and lemon juice. The optional use of honey is my own addition, as I'm not a fan of sour tastes, but if Egyptians were to use a sweetener, it likely would be honey, and maybe some do use it. Be sure to use fresh herbs, not dried. Regardless of the type of potatoes you use, you want them more or less cut into bite size pieces. I often prefer to leave the skins on potatoes, as I have done for the photos here, but to be honest, most recipes I've seen use peeled potatoes.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes (or a dozen small), boiled in their skins, then cooled, peeled, cut into chunks

6 green onions, chopped (with green part)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

10 pitted Kalamata dark olives, halved

10 pitted green olives, halved

1 heaping tablespoon chopped dill

2 tablespoons chopped coriander (also known as cilantro)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped mint

(optional) 1/2 to 1 teaspoon finely chopped red chili

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

(optional) 2 to 3 tablespoons honey (mixed into the lemon juice)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt 

 

In a large bowl, add the potato pieces, chopped green onions, chopped garlic, dark and green olive halves, chopped dill, chopped cilantro (coriander), chopped parsley, chopped mint, optional finely chopped red chili. Mix everything together. In a mixing cup or bowl, mix together the lemon juice, optional honey, olive oil, ground cumin and salt. Mix it well to incorporate the honey, if using. Sprinkle the ground cumin and salt over the salad, then pour the dressing over the salad and mix everything together well. Serve immediately or chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

 

WORD HISTORY: 

Pyramid-There is a theory about the origin of the word "pyramid" and its application to this tomb structure that rests upon the belief that a type of wheat cake was the basis of the name. One of the problems for us in modern times is, how can we confirm what these wheat cakes looked like? Here is why this theory is prevalent to some: transliterated Greek had "puramis" or "pyramis" (plural: "pyramides"), which meant "a pyramid of Egypt," but also, "a cake of wheat grains and honey." The idea is, the Greek word came from transliterated Egyptian "pimar," which apparently meant "pyramid," but may have also been the name for the wheat cake, as the assumption is, the Greeks not only took the word, but also its meanings from Egyptian. The thing is, Ancient Greek "pyrós" or "purós" meant "wheat" (perhaps more specifically "roasted wheat," as the root of the word means "fire"); so in other words in this case, the Greeks may have named the wheat cake, but as for the burial structure, no. Anyway, Latin borrowed Greek "puramis/pyramis" as "pyramis/piramis," and the plural form, which in Greek was "puramides/pyramides," as "pyramides" in Latin. Old French originally took the Latin form as "piramide," which then became "pyramide." English originally borrowed the Latin form as "piram" in the latter part of the 1300s, but then borrowed the form now in use from French "pyramide" circa 1550.