Whether in the villages of Upper Egypt or in the capital Cairo, many people in Egypt have long relied on the sun’s rays to dry vegetables and fruit to preserve them for use outside their traditional seasons, even after the advent of freezing and other more modern methods.
In numerous Egyptian households, it is customary to thread okra onto strings to form chains that are then hung out to dry in the open air. Mint and moloukhiya, a leafy vegetable, may also be spread out in the sun after being washed to dry, with the dried leaves being stored for use later in the year.
According to Mennat-Allah El Dorry, an archaeobotanist at the American University in Cairo (AUC), such dried goods are an essential component of Egyptian culinary traditions as ever since the ancient Egyptians drying food has always been connected to our heritage.
Dried foodstuffs like grapes and figs have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, for example, and the ancient Egyptians would also leave wheatears and other foodstuffs to dry in the sun for an additional day before harvesting and storing them.
They did not restrict themselves to sun drying either, since goods could also be preserved by salting, including of meat and fish, with the salt being used either as a preservative or to give a unique flavour.
Dried fruit and vegetables are still integrated into Egyptian cuisine today, including in the popular dish bissara, for example, which is made from dried fava beans, El Dorry said.
In addition to being deeply rooted in Egyptian traditions, dried fruit has another advantage that attracted Ménar Meebed, the founder of a company that produces dried fruit and vegetables, to work in this field.
Dried foods provide nutritious snacks for her grandchildren, she said, notably because they are very healthy options.
“I have long been concerned about providing healthy foods for my children and grandchildren. That’s why I used to dry fruit with my grandson to make dried apple chips instead of buying sugary sweets and to dry potato slices instead of getting packages of crisps filled with artificial preservatives.”
“I discovered that drying is also an excellent method for conserving fruit and vegetables while retaining as much of their nutritional value as possible, unlike freezing, which alters their qualities. If you freeze strawberries, the water inside them will expand and split the cell walls of the fruit. When the strawberries are thawed, the enlarged ice inside melts, causing the fruit to become limp and change shape and colour as the cell structure breaks.”
“However, drying removes the water from the cells while preserving the cell walls intact, meaning that the fruit retains its shape and texture better, especially with fruit like grapes.”
Freezing as a method of food preservation also incurs additional expenditure, as it means buying equipment and paying electricity bills. Power outages can be a problem. Drying, on the other hand, can be done for free in the sun, or at a low cost using solar power cells.
“I began to explore an appropriate way of drying fruit after visiting Minya, a city in Upper Egypt, where I discovered women drying moloukhiya in the sun but only at the risk of sand infiltrating the leaves and a possible risk of bacteria. I decided to look for a way to dry fruit and vegetables without the disadvantages of the old methods,” she added.
“I started drying vegetables in tiny batches at home with my grandson. Later, I learned about a training course offered by an Indian institute in partnership with a German company that produces a machine for drying fruit using green energy derived from sunlight.”
“I went to India for three weeks and learned how to dry fruit using a dryer. It has photocells that turn solar energy into electricity, and this powers fans that blow hot air at a constant temperature to dry vegetables and fruit properly and with minimal damage. The device is also covered in plastic, which means the foodstuffs are away from dust and insects.”
“By the end of the course, I had decided to buy the machine we had learned how to use for my family’s own consumption. I took the machine to our small farm in Badrashin in Egypt. It measures 20x4 m, and we began experimenting with drying various vegetables and fruit. Initially, I would buy fruit from a vendor near our house, but as we got going, I started going to wholesale traders instead. We began contracting with farmers to purchase their crops, which they grew with a safe amount of agricultural pesticides.”
“We began with fruit that people traditionally eat dried during Ramadan, such as apricots, prunes, raisins, dates, and figs. We gradually incorporated various others that are challenging to preserve without compromising their colour and flavour, such as apples and bananas. We also enjoyed tackling new challenges by drying fruit like watermelon, which was difficult due to its high water content.”
“The drying time varies based on the water content, as well as whether the fruit is dried whole with the skin on or peeled and sliced. Whole grapes take five days to dry, whereas peeled and cubed watermelon takes three days. Some fruit, such as tomatoes and sweet potatoes, dry entirely to the point where we can grind them and sell them as powder, while others, such as raisins and dates, do not dry completely,” Meebed said.
BUSINESS: It was after she had experimented with drying fruit and vegetables in the family context that Meebed thought about turning her hobby into a business.
“After working on a family scale, I thought of turning it into a business, empowering some of the female farmers in the villages around our farm and supporting them by providing work,” she said.
“I started with one woman, and she encouraged others until we had a team of about 14 people with various specialties. The process of drying entails physical exertion and manual labour. For example, female farmers may harvest around 120 kg of tomatoes daily and manually put them into the machine. Then, they monitor them to collect those that have dried and leave those that have not. These steps take time and effort until the dried fruit is ready and prepared perfectly.”
“At first, many of the female farmers did not have personal identification or voting cards. Others could not read or write, yet they were skilled at their work and impressive in executing details. As a result, I believed that the project would help and empower them, so I invited specialists to give lectures and training courses, providing them with the opportunities they deserved.”
Naema Selim, a female farmer who works in fruit drying, starts her day by receiving fresh vegetables and fruit at 8am. She spends her morning inventorying the varieties until noon.
“I started working after one of my relatives told me about a nearby farm with a drying machine for fruit and vegetables,” Selim said. “I have worked in many positions, from washing and chopping veggies to spreading them in the drier, until I was in charge of receiving and inventorying the fruit. We weigh the crops after they arrive, sort them to remove any damaged ones, and then wash them. After that, we chop them and put them out to dry.”
Last year, one of the female farmers working in fruit drying, a relative of Saleem, earned an award in a traditional food competition for cheese, butter, and ghee making. This year, alongside her fruit-drying business, Selim has started producing and selling sweets, adding that Meebed’s fruit and vegetable drying company is also marketing her bakery products.
“The company markets my items, but I now have my own business cards with my company’s name, and my products are available in many locations,” Selim said.
“In addition to our work on the farm, we have had training courses and lectures to support and encourage us. I attended a training course on substituting gluten in wheat flour for pastry making, for example, learning about how to replace wheat flour with lentil, rice, or cowpea flour, but I suggested using dried potato powder as an alternative since we produce it at the fruit drying company.”
“I made petit fours, or bite-sized pastries, from potato flour and presented them in the training course, and they were very well received. Later, I started using potato flour and other ingredients to make sweets and baked goods. I then added dried fruit like raisins and dates to my baked goods and sold them as a side business,” she explained.
“We have had the opportunity to replicate this experience in several other villages,” Meebed said. “In Egypt, the sun shines on most days of the year, and labour is available. Additionally, Egyptian fruit has a distinctive and sometimes uniquely sweet taste that does not exist abroad. The project also only requires a low budget, with the primary cost being the dryer itself, which operates without increasing electricity bills and requires minimal maintenance.”
“It is also always possible to incorporate new varieties of dried fruit and vegetables to meet evolving market demands. We have incorporated dried flax and chia seeds, which have recently gained popularity, into our products, for example.”
Nevertheless, there have been some challenges, including a lack of consumer awareness about dried fruit. “It took us quite some time to educate buyers about our products. We also try to provide healthy food options to children by hosting school visits to the farm,” Meebed said.
Another hurdle she faced was the significant weight loss of vegetables after drying. “75 g of dried tomato powder equals about one kg of fresh tomatoes because tomatoes contain about 92 per cent water. The light weight of dried veggies can sometimes confuse buyers, as they may think they are purchasing grams when in reality they are buying kg of concentrated fruit that has lost its water content,” Meebed said.
RECIPES: To help people understand how to incorporate dried fruit into their daily meals, and not just as a healthy snack, Meebed has collaborated with Dalia Al-Orabi, a food consultant, to publish videos online of recipes using dried fruit.
“Dried vegetables include onions, aubergines, courgettes, potatoes, and many other vegetables that people can use to make a complete meal,” Al-Orabi said. “Dried fruit is convenient for quick and easy recipes because the fruit is already washed, cut, and prepared, making it ready to use directly.”
The videos explain the differences between cooking with fresh versus with dried vegetables. Dried fruit needs additional water to rehydrate it alongside the usual cooking water.
In the videos, people can learn about dried vegetables as a healthy alternative to processed food items, such as spices and dried vegetables sold together as a substitute for chicken stock cubes. Another product is a mixture of noodles and vegetables that is similar to instant noodles but is healthier and has a different taste.
“People can also learn about quantities, which change entirely after the fruit loses its water and is reduced in weight. For example, a tablespoon of tomato powder may be enough for a complete recipe. Additionally, the type of dried fruit suitable for each recipe is important. For instance, when using fruits that are not 100 per cent dried, such as raisins and prunes, soaking them in water is preferable. Fully dried fruit is more suitable for oven-baked recipes.”
For Al-Orabi, “dried vegetables save time and effort while offering a healthy food option, making them more suitable for people like travel enthusiasts and campers in areas where buying food is difficult. The low weight of dried food is also an advantage.”
“Dried vegetables can be cooked without adding extra fat, making them a great option for those who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some mothers include them in their children’s lunchboxes as a sugar and preservative-free alternative that can withstand heat and storage without spoiling or changing colour or taste,” she added.
“Demand for certain dried fruit varieties varies by season, such as for fruit powders which can be used with water and ice as a healthy alternative to canned fruit juices in the summer. They also offer many advantages for beginner cooks. Some recipes are easier with dried fruit due to the lack of water, such as baked goods, which can be difficult to perfect with fresh fruit due to the high water content. Storing dried foods easily for about a year without spoiling can help reduce food waste.”
Aside from the practical advantages of dried fruit, Omar Barazi, the owner of a restaurant in Zamalek in Cairo, has decided to use them to impart a unique flavour to some of his recipes.
“Despite the ease of storing dried fruit without the need for refrigeration for long periods and its concentration, meaning a few g of dried fruit can equal a kg in a recipe, the most important feature for me is the unique taste dried fruit can add to recipes. I use oranges, tomatoes, and peppers in slices, powder, and crushed forms. The method depends on the recipe, and I use tomato slices in salads and orange slices as an edible garnish for drinks, for example.”
“The culture of using dried vegetables and fruit is not common in restaurants in Egypt yet, but I am always open to trying out new ideas and samples of dried fruit in recipes. I have thought of including sun-dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil, for example — a popular product I have encountered in Egypt and also when travelling in Italy,” he concluded.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 11 July, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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