In reply to FD.

This is funny but true. westerners think they know it all just from Google. "I hate getting lectured on my own culture by some hipster who went to google university." Worst they skyrocket the price to prove a point it now discover by one their Columbus.

My husband is from Egypt and we usually buy it at a middle eastern market in the freezer

Hi FD & Telena Helotova. I'm a westerner (Canada) who travelled in Africa (many countries north of the latitude of Southern Tanzania) for 6 months back in 1975. I was introduced to many wonderful foods, all of which I tried no matter how unusual or "glob-like" they looked! I was raised to always eat a teaspoon of everything on my plate no matter if I disliked it. To this day I cannot stand to eat Hubbard squash!
I had the pleasure of eating Arabic foods, one of which was molokhia. It was very green and a bit slimy but when mixed with the rice, it was delicious. I'm glad I tried the first teaspoon of this food rather than discreetly tip it onto the floor!
I also had the pleasure of eating lamb tangine twice, once made with couscous and again with quinoa.
I lived in Vancouver as a child but I never grew up with international foods. I did grow up eating brisket, hamburger, beef heart, kidneys, liver, tongue & chicken legs & wings - all of which were the cheapest cuts of meat. We drove to where we could catch our own fish & dig for clams, oysters & crabs.
I agree with FD about watching over the years as foods all of a sudden became popular by marketing. I remember going to the market in Toronto on a Saturday near closing to buy a 5-lb bag of chicken wings for $2.50. A few years later chicken wings became a hot item in the pubs & bars as a snack food as well as a contest item to see who could eat the spiciest, hot wings. Now -a-days chicken wings are too expensive for the amount of meat bought.
What I am glad about is that because we are such a globally mixed world, I've been able to buy foods that I tried when I was travelling 45 years ago. People who emigrate to the west are able to buy foods that they grew up on in their birth country. Westerners have been introduced to foods that are much healthier even if marketing has put a spin on it. Yes some of the marketing has changed some foods to a point of being unrecognizable. I much prefer eating a combination of plain hummus with tahini & lemon as the flavour is much better.
One unfortunate aspect of the global spread of foods is the introduction of western fast foods with high fat content throughout the rest of the world. This has only served to reduce the consumption of healthy foods & increase the consumption of a higher, unhealthy fat diet. The problem of western obesity is now being seen in other countries.
I choose to believe that the sharing of healthy cultural foods will make our Western diets much better.
The internet is the best source for learning about other cultural foods, especially Arabic foods, and to locate where the foods can be purchased.
During this global pandemic & voluntary physical/social isolation, take some time to browse the internet to find new foods & recipes to try for dinner. It's a lot of fun!
Keep safe & keep healthy.
Brenda

Hi Joyce, thanks for the education in Kenyan cuisine. I love hearing how the same ingredient is used in different cultures around the world!

Hi Doaa, I'm glad to hear you approve! Thanks for stopping by to let me know😉

Hi Anna, Molokhia was originally an Egyptian dish, but it's spread all over the Middle East and Lebanon in particular is famous for their version. A Lebanese chef I used to work with made his with whole leaves (i.e. not minced), and he told me that this was the primary difference between the Lebanese version and the Egyptian version. I've seen crisp pita squares served on Molokhia before and I think this is more a preference thing than a regional difference. As for the spices, they often use a blend called seven spice but it usually includes coriander, cinnamon and cardamom.

Hi Frances Kawala and Marc Matsumoto,

I am from Canada. I first tried this dish many years ago when my friend who is Armenian, Italian and French (but lived in Lebanon) made it for me. It was delicious. I loved the onion, wine vinegar and crunchy pita bits of bread on top of the chicken, Basmati rice and minced frozen Molokhia Greens. All the textures were a perfect taste combination.

Frances when I read that you grew yours from seed I had to respond. And I also read that Marc is also interested in the seed too. Can either of you please advise me as to how I can obtain the seed so I can grow it here in Canada?

Thank you,
Anna

PS Marc: Does the ingredients for the Molokhia that I described above sound like a modified version of the dish or is it a Lebanese recipe? I don’t remember tasting any cardamom, cinnamon or coriander.

Hi Frances, good luck with the Molokhia. It's so expensive to buy fresh here, I may have to look into getting some seeds.