Meluhiya – The Food of the Spartans---

This is my opinion, so don’t take my word for it. I read somewhere long ago that the spartan soldiers were fed black soup or stew. The ward for salt in Hebrew is melah. The plant which we are going to use for this dish is called Meluhiya in Arabic, also from the Hebrew root for salt. Therefore comes the word salary as for the pay the warriors received, the dark green powder made from the salty plant. My mother used to force this food on us once a week. We used to dip a lot of bread to mask the strong flavor and soak the oil in the dish. We called it “food that never ends”. Now I changed the recipe a little to fix the flavor and to lower the amount of oil and bread.

Ingredients:

1 TBSP Meluhiya Powder
½ Onion
1 Garlic Clove
1 tsp Chopped Ginger
1 Section Fresh Fennel
6oz Meat (Beef, Chicken or Lamb)
1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Soy Sauce
2 TBSP Olive Oil
½ tsp Paprika
½ tsp Cumin
¼ tsp Turmeric Pinch of Salt Pinch Cayenne Pepper
¼ Cup Chopped Parsley
¾ Cup Water

Preparation:

Marinate the meat in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce over night. Chop the onion, garlic, ginger, fennel very finely. Cut the meat and sauté it with 1 TBASP Olive oil on each side to caramelize and put a side. In a dry deep pot start roasting the spices with the Meluhiya powder while stirring it for 30 seconds add the olive oil and sauté the onion. When the onion is caramelized add the garlic and ginger and stir well. Add the chopped fennel and continue until soft. Add the meat and the rest of the ingredients except for the Parsley. Mix well and bring to boil. Simmer for 2 hours. Add the fresh chopped parsley before serving. In addition i like to add black beans or replace the meat with the beans for vegetarian option.

PS: You may find the Mluchiya powder at Mediterranean stores.

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