NOVEL THOUGHTS
………
1956
(available in paperback from Anchor, 1990)
PUBLISHED IN 1956, Palace Walk, the first volume of Naguib Mahfouz’s acclaimed Cairo trilogy, takes readers into the Cairo neighborhood and home of an upper-middle-class merchant, al-Sayyid Ahmad, his long-suffering wife, Amina, and their five children. It is a critical time in the history of Egypt: the early twentieth century during and immediately following the First World War, when Egyptian nationalists are struggling to shake free of the British Protectorate.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad’s authority over his family parallels British authority in Egypt. Inside the household, it is a pivotal time in the lives of family members, who yearn for freedom from the father’s tyrannical, narcissistic governance. A series of domestic crises unfold: Amina, an obedient, submissive wife, contends with her husband’s nightly debauched revels. The older sons, the lustful Yasin and the idealistic, patriotic Fahmy, behave in ways their father views as shameful, and conflicts arise around appropriate marriages for the daughters; their untraditional behavior later challenges Ahmad’s authority. Outside the Ahmad household, the focus shifts to the streets and Fahmy’s involvement in the nationalist movement.
Against this backdrop of Egyptian modernization and the struggle for independence, Mahfouz details his characters’ fears, passions, and ambivalence, portraying universal themes of family life: birth, death, courtship, marriage, career, generational conflict, sibling rivalry, obedience, and rebellion.
Mahfouz carefully details the daily routines and rituals that shape the lives of the characters in al-Sayyid Ahmad’s home.
Amina’s domain is the oven room—the ground-floor bakery where she kneads dough—her early-morning sanctuary. For Amina, who feels she is “a deputy or representative of the ruler” in the upper levels of household, she is the “queen, with no rival to her sovereignty.” Though her husband praises her only when she has prepared food to his liking, in the oven room Amina is the “mother, wife, teacher, and artist everyone respected.”
The oven fire and conversation contribute to the warmth of the oven room. In preparation for Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, the room comes alive with the cooking of delicious foods, sweet fruit compotes and doughnuts and, later, the cakes and pastries for Id al-Fitar, which marks the end of Ramadan.
In contrast to the cozy atmosphere below, the top-floor dining room is the setting for the brothers’ daily breakfast with their father, always a formal and strained affair reflecting the household’s social hierarchy. For Yasin, Fahmy, and Kamal, this meal is their only meeting with al-Sayyid Ahmad each day, but the atmosphere keeps them from enjoying the food. Ahmad examines his sons critically before Amina delivers breakfast, and frequently scolds them as they chafe under the military atmosphere. Meanwhile, Amina stands by, ready to obey any order, after delivering fried beans and eggs, loaves of flat bread, cheese, and pickled lemons and peppers, all of which her husband greedily devours.
In contrast to the rigid breakfast scene, Amina presides over the coffee hour with the entire family, except Ahmad, who is usually out at that hour. The children gather with Amina in the first-floor sitting room, filled with colored mats and cushions, before sunset. The coffee hour is a “well loved time” to enjoy conversation and refreshments, and, in the winter, a chance to get warm by the fire.
Naguib Mahfouz’s wife, Atiyyatallah Ibrahim, contributed a recipe for her husband’s favorite dish: mulukhiya, or green soup. We are honored to include Mrs. Mahfouz’s recipe, a tribute to a true literary giant.
The soup is made from the leaves of the mulukhiya, a leafy green plant unique to Egypt that has been a staple of Egyptian cooking for centuries. The plant has long been thought to have medicinal properties and has been used to treat a variety of ailments.
Popular among Egyptians, mulukhiya can be difficult to obtain outside the region. Mrs. Mahfouz’s version calls for frozen mulukhiya, which is available from specialty stores and Middle Eastern grocers.
Traditionally, the mulukhiya leaves are chopped, stewed in chicken stock, and served in a soup. The soup is often served with meat, rice, or bread.
NOTE: The mulukhiya should not boil, or it will sink to the bottom of the pan.
3 cups chicken broth 1 14.1-ounce package frozen mulukhiya (see note) Salt |
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 15–20 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 tablespoons ground coriander |
Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat and add the frozen mulukhiya and stir until thawed. It is important to keep the soup below a boil or the mulukhiya will become bitter. Season to taste with salt.
Heat the oil in a skillet and stir in garlic. Add coriander and sauté until golden brown. Stir the garlic mixture into the soup and simmer 1–2 minutes. Serve hot.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
This Egyptian spinach soup, labaneya, makes a delicious alternative if mulukhiya is not available.
1 pound fresh spinach, or 1 10-ounce package frozen spinach 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 leek (or 3–4 scallions), thoroughly cleaned and finely chopped |
½ cup uncooked rice Salt and pepper ½ teaspoon turmeric (optional) 1½ cups plain yogurt 1 clove garlic, put through a press 1 tablespoon lemon juice |
Wash the spinach in water. Remove tough stems. Drain and slice into wide ribbons. (If using frozen spinach, thaw, wrap in paper towels to squeeze out excess moisture, and chop coarsely.)
Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and sauté until soft. Stir in the spinach and sauté gently. Add the leek or scallions, rice, and 4 cups of water and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, until the rice and spinach are cooked. Add turmeric, if using.
Beat together the yogurt and garlic. When the rice and spinach are done, add the yogurt mixture to the soup and stir well to combine. Heat through, but do not allow soup to boil or the yogurt will curdle. Stir in lemon juice. Serve hot.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
NOVEL THOUGHTS
A group of psychotherapists in West Hartford, Connecticut, began meeting to read and discuss articles about their work; when women with other professional interests joined, the club evolved from a professional reading group to a more traditional book club.
Sharon Conway says her group generally prefers books that “take them elsewhere”—fiction or nonfiction set in another country or culture, including Naguib Mahfouz’s Palace Walk.
“Many of us felt we would love to travel to Egypt after reading Palace Walk,” says Conway. “Mahfouz portrayed the country and culture so vividly.”
Conway’s group had an interesting discussion of women’s rights and cultural attitudes toward women after reading Palace Walk. “It forced us to evaluate the female characters’ roles in light of their own culture and heritage and not judge them based on our own expectations as women here in America,” Conway explains.
Many of the members of the group have struggled with the challenges of balancing career and family, and Conway says Palace Walk contributed to a charged discussion about the choices they have made, especially in contrast to Amina, the novel’s female protagonist, who had so little choice in her life.
“Palace Walk took us into Egyptian culture,” says Conway. “This book truly met the criterion of transporting us out of our suburban lives and into another culture. We recommend it highly to other book groups.”
Judy Bart Kancigor of the Second Wednesday Dinner Book Club, a gourmet book club in Fullerton, California, says her group’s Palace Walk meal was both delicious and memorable.
One member’s husband is Syrian, and though Palace Walk was set in Egypt, he helped create a Middle Eastern meal to accompany the discussion, a meal that included tabbouleh, a bulgur salad with parsley and tomatoes; kibbe, a ground lamb and bulgur dish; and baklava, a pastry layered with phyllo dough, honey, and nuts.