When we look back at our history, can we claim to have our own Julia Child? And if we found her, would we allow ourselves to expand on her work, or are we guarding her legacy as exactly that, thus eradicating the need to build on it?
I think we do have our own Julia Child, and she is none other than the woman who’s cookbook is so extensive that most of us will refuse to read it: Abla Nazira.
After a bit of reading, I discovered that Abla Nazira, born Nazira Nicola in 1902, was so ahead of her time that she, along with 13 other talented young girls studying at the Faculty of Home Economics and Housekeeping at the time, were sent to complete their studies in needlework and the culinary arts at the University of Gloucester in England.
Upon returning to Egypt to teach, she regularly encouraged her students to take pride and an avid interest in their kitchens and their presentation skills. Later and many years after making her first impressions as a mentor, Abla Nazira became a General Inspector at the Ministry of Education, where she participated in a competition in the early 1940s that would forever etch her in the minds of many an Egyptian.
The teachers would compete to write a cookbook that would be approved and taught to schoolgirls by the Ministry of Education. Teaming up with Baheyya Osman, another general inspector, Nazira Nicola went on to win the competition, setting a new benchmark for Egyptian home cooks who finally had a tool that would demystify the subject of complex cooking.
Our grandmothers, and many of our mothers, used Abla Nazira’s book to its fullest in the exact fashion of the hip American ladies who took interest in French culture in the early 1960s, which led to such widespread interest in French cuisine that it pushed Julia Child to become as we know her today.
Making cuisine accessible, interesting and practical, Abla Nazira’s book dictated the principles instilled not only in the Egyptian culinary world, but also in Egyptian food culture passed on through families. However complicated or time-consuming the dish seemed, Abla Nazira made it approachable. But she didn’t stop there. She moved on to radio, wrote for magazines and continued to churn out recipes to please her clamoring audience. By extolling techniques she learned abroad, Abla Nazira, in turn, left a lasting impression on our own beloved Egyptian kitchen. Julia Child much?
The difference lies in how we progressed. While the United States churned out years of culinary achievements and patented remakes of French classics and Europe built on what they had to offer, we opted to stick with what we know and decided, through time, to pass down Abla Nazira’s recipes deeming her the spirit that is to be revered but not necessarily followed.
I would have liked to enlighten you as to why we stopped caring but I can’t find that out just yet so let’s just add it to the list of world mysteries. Sorry, Abla Nazira.
Continuing on my quest to introduce international dishes to Egyptian flavors and invoke Abla Nazira cooking en papillote, a classic French dish came to mind mainly because it is one of my favorite ways to prepare fish. With our latent want to go “low-fat” and our urgent need to modify the traditional, I couldn’t help but want to flaunt this versatile and healthy method of cooking all the while wonder why we have been using the same fish recipes for years.
Are our fish-based recipes good? Yes. So why change them? I’m not saying change them, but rather add to them because we need variety — as simple as that. Maybe we need our food to be more ceremonious to allow ourselves to be more accepting, and what better way than to open a package that erupts in pleasantly scented steam?
Having your guests gush over your dramatic presentation is one thing, but the ease of wrapping ingredients together in a parchment paper pouch and popping your parcel into the oven to allow the fish to cook gently in moist heat all the while sticking to the 30-minute quick meal legend is far beyond what I could personally wish for. Apart from being incredibly easy, it comes with the added benefits of being low-fat while retaining all those melded flavors so that nothing gets lost. If you’re still not sold, it’s also the easiest clean up ever.
Celery-Scallion Sole en Papillote
(Individual servings)
1 fillet of white fish (any kind of white fish will do)
1 small tomato, finely diced
2 tablespoons of finely chopped celery
3 tablespoons of thinly sliced scallions
2 small red chili peppers or ½ a large green chili pepper, sliced
1 ½ teaspoon of lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to drizzle
For a basic dukkah:
50 grams of coriander seeds
10 grams of cumin seeds
50 grams of sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
Fish:
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Cut a large square sheet of baking paper. Add the the tomatoes and half the scallions. Pat dry your fish and place on top of your initial mixture. Scatter the celery, lemon zest, chilli and the rest of the scallions then season with salt and pepper. Fold the paper in half and double fold all around to seal in the fish. It should look like a pastry case. Place the parcel on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes for a smaller fillet or 15-20 minutes depending on your thickness. Serve in the parchment paper by snipping the top open at the table. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with dukkah.
Dukkah:
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a hot dry pan until fragrant then cool. Toast the sesame seeds separately and cool. Grind the coriander and cumin together then add the sesame seeds, salt and pepper. To be served with the fish as a condiment alongside the olive oil.
