My Mothers Egyptian Fermented Lemon Recipe

 

Lemons, while common are among the healthiest foods we can eat.

You can’t ever get to many of them and they are even better fermented. My grand mother fermented lemons and orange peels because they couldn’t afford cucumbers in Egypt.  ”Meafina” is Egyptian slang for something that is fermented. Egyptians like most ancient peoples know how powerful fermented foods are and they work to ensure they get some every day. While this practice was done out of poverty by the people of Helwan, Egypt it has immense health benfits as the people from the area in Egypt where my mother’s family was from are known for their amazing strength, beauty and longevity.

Lemona Meafina Raw fermented Lemon Recipe

• squeezed lemons – as many as you have, orange peels also work great!
• 4 tablespoons of sea salt
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Your favorite spices – I use a dash of Cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger
• a small handful of crumpled raw feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

1. Remove the hard ends of the lemons with a knife
2. Cut the lemons  into bite sized pieces with your hands or use a knife
3. Stuff the lemons into the jar
4. Fill jar with enough water to cover all the lemons
5. Use a garlic crusher to crush the cloves of garlic or mince them very finely with a knife
6. Add the garlic, salt and crumpled feta cheese to the jar.
7. Close the jar and shake it well
8. Open the jar and coat the top of it with some olive oil to act as a preservative.
9. Put a napkin on the jar and lightly put the top on
10. Store in a cool dry place for 5 days, You can even put this in the refrigerator from the beginning as it doesn’t last as long as other fermented foods.