A mixed dried fruit salad with nuts is a favorite in Egypt during Ramadan, the month-long fast, when Muslims fast during the day and eat after sunset. All through the day, people, hungry and listless, are hardly able to work, and dream of what they would like to eat. At nightfall, when the sky is a cherry red, the cannons boom through the cities signaling the end of the fast, and the muezzins sing it out from all the minarets. The silent city suddenly comes alive with the clatter of spoons and plates, glasses and jugs, and with the sound of relieved hunger and laughter, of music and merry-making. The longed-for dishes wait on tables, trays, and the floor, piled high with ful medames, falafel, and bamia, meatballs and kebabs, khoshaf and apricot cream (following recipe). Every family has its favorite combinations of dried fruits.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Wash the fruits if necessary, and put them all in a large bowl. Mix with the nuts and cover with water. Add sugar to taste, and rose and orange-blossom water.
Step 2
Let the fruits soak for at least 48 hours. The syrup becomes rich with the juices of the fruit and acquires a light-golden color.
Variations
Step 3
A less common version is to add dried figs and peaches, and a few fresh pomegranate seeds. Their luminosity brings out the rich orange, mauve, and brown of the fruit, and the white and green of the nuts.
Step 4
Some people dissolve amareldine (sheets of dried, compressed apricot) in the water to thicken and enrich it. Putting 3 soaked apricots through the food processor with a little water will achieve the same effect.
Step 5
Instead of macerating, you can cook the fruit with the nuts and almonds. Simmer gently for about 1/2 hour. It becomes a compote.
