I've been told I'm disgusting. I am actually feeling quite smug! (Lighthearted)

[AuntMatilda]

My Mum manages some properties as a part time job, her boss is an old friend. One tenant had left and returned to his home country (Egypt) and I went to help her clear the flat

He had left LOADS of food. Mostly sealed, in packets, some dried food (lentils, grains, pasta etc) in jars or huge tupperware containers.

Lots of (sealed) huge bags of herbs and spices.

I've taken the lot.

My opinion is, I hate food waste, the stuff that has already been opened and decanted into another container is dried stuff that will need to be boiled before consumption anyway, and the other stuff is sealed.
So I'm feeling smug about having lots of free food (I love cooking)! and also happy to be 'recycling'.
My Brother and some of my friends I've told have told me things like this is disgusting having someones 'second hand food' and that I should have chucked it all.

My only issue is, I don't know what some of it is. I am currently making a 'risotto' with some grain type thing -looks a bit like a cross between rice and bulgar wheat! So a few surprise dinners to come I think.
Am I gross or economical?

Economical - I'd have done the same! I am half Arab too so would have been especially chuffed

I'd do exactly what you're doing. I like trying new things and experimenting anyway

I've done the same in the past. Our neighbour used to clean a holiday cottage and the few times she wasn't around on the Saturday DP and I would do it for her. We arrived one day to find the fridge and cupboards full. We couldn't leave it so took it home with us. We did offer it to our neighbour but she said she'd just bin it so we kept it. Saved us a fair amount, that horde did!

A chef in a restaurant has hygiene rules to adhere to due to spot checks by Environmental Health etc..

Herman cakes are full of yeast IIRC, mine turned our very well. But my neighbour's kitchen is spotless.

Is it flour that gets those weevil things in it when it's been in the cupboard too long?

I think the most likely culprit for the first pic is cumin, if he is Egyptian but it could be fennel seeds, caraway, aniseed... lot's of things. The second pic looks like coriander seeds. Someone mentioned helba, dried fenugreek seeds. I don't think it's that. They aren't spherical.

The third one is probably kirkadeh, "hibiscus" flowers, although it's actually not hibiscus, it's red sorrel, like somebody else suggested. You can use it to make tea or a tasty soft drink like cranberry juice - boil it with half a ton of sugar, leave it to steep, strain and chill. You can also add extra flavourings like ginger, lemon, rosewater.

I've no idea what the fourth pic is. On my phone, the top bits look a bit like dried fruit and a bit of leaf. Dried lemon possibly. The bottom piece looks more like ginger with a tiny phallus attached

You should use all the pasta, rice and lentils to make koshari. It's delicious, if somewhat carb heavy...

Yes sparklingbrook that's true... but user was implying that the guy might have done stuff to the food, as in (I'm imagining) weird stuff. A chef prepared to secretly do weird stuff to the food would presumably be directly and deliberately contravening any strict guidelines... If you mean you'd be afraid of lack of hygiene rather than deliberate contamination, I again refer you to my points about dried pulses basically never going off and then being boiled for ages. If you're still worried about germs in that scenario, you are being a tad OTT, IMHO.

I think OP would spot the weevil things...

Can't stand food waste either. All the "ewwww gross" people are the sorts of folk who turn their noses up at reduced to clear stickers, chuck fruit which is past its "best before" date and don't understand the basics of food poisoning.

Good on you OP for having common sense! Free food!!! Enjoy:-)

Bit hard to spot weevils in the stuff in the pictures.

It all reminds me of the stuff they confiscate in that Border Control customs programme.

Also meant to add we stayed in a holiday property in Portugal once, arrived to find loads of stuff in the fridge - fruit, bottle of wine, beer, packets of cereal, cans etc. Nice note from previous occupants asking us to please use what we could.

So we did.

First one looks like cumin seeds, could be caraway - bite one to find out. Second looks like cracked coriander seeds to me (smell should tell you). Third one looks like hibiscus to me as well - makes nice tea.

Take a few out the packet and photograph by a coin - would be easier to identify.

The grain looks like pearl barley to me - i prefer orsotto (sp?) to risotto. The camel's genitals - not sure, a bit blurred but the suggestion of galangal makes sense if its hard and lumpy. Dried fungi or fruit would have more bendiness

I'd have saved anything sealed with dates on. For stuff in jars like pasta - the life expectancy is long enough I'd give them a try. It all gets boiled anyway. Good for you not letting it all go to waste.

I think the thing she cooked was maybe helba, New name. I haven't a clue what the middle thing is. Asked dh who is Egyptian and he hadn't a clue either. The funny root like thing he just said 'herbs, you know, like you get on the market!' Think it's something medicinal.

Good on you OP, though I'm a bit jealous. You didn't find any sumac did you?

I concur that no 1 looks like cumin or possibly fennel. No clue about the one in the bowl though could be dried ginger, the last one that's a bit red is almost certainly karkade as PP said.

Fereek is amazing made with chicken livers.

Sealed with dates on. I am trying to think of anything I have ever seen in an Egyptian market with expiry dates on.

Pic 1 is fennel seeds. Try a pinch just like that, aniseedy flavor.

Pic 4 are dried mushrooms I think. Lucky you.

Risotto was made with pearl barley.

Wish I could give you my sumac stash alteredimages
I bought it for a recipe, tastes OK but I find the texture a bit gritty.

What you've cooked is definitely not helba, but the unidentified grain could be. Does it have a strong smell? If not fereek, if so helba.

Really boredwithmyname? I usually put it in shawerma, which has vegetables, yoghurt, pomegranate molasses and lots of other herbs so don't tend to notice the grittiness so much. Maybe the problem was the recipe not the sumac!

I'm really surprised by some of the comments here. I honestly can't see what's wrong with doing this at all. Free food!

Sealed with dates on. grin I am trying to think of anything I have ever seen in an Egyptian market with expiry dates on.

I was assuming they were bought here rather than in Egypt but yes, that is a fair point.

I always look for some indication of age on spices/herbs because some lose or change flavour fairly quickly, especially if they have been unsealed. If they were really old I wouldn't bother with them.

Thank you for your help with identification everyone ! Seems most people are in agreement with me but obviously some side with my family/friends.
The stuff in the little bowl doesn't smell like ginger... it looks a bit like cinnamon sticks (but it isnt)same texture.

Thank you for those who've said lovely things
Any my 'Rissoto' was lovely by the way! On closer inspection there were a few different things in it.
I'm going out now but I'll respond again tomorrow.

C8 the opened stuff (as I think can be told by the photos?) Was all either in sealed containers or in bags inside containers. I guessthe flavour will still be affected but not as much :)

OP Enjoy your foraged food!

A friend's bf had a flat in a big Victorian house with an overgrown garden. She'd noticed a lot of lovely soft fruit in there. A great cook, she made a meal including a delicious summer pudding. He was very worried, how did she know what the berries were? Could you really use fruit from a garden? He must have done all his shopping in supermarkets! She soon convinced him that the fruit was edible!

I'd have taken it too, you're cooking it so it'll be fine.

I suppose a lot of the people saying 'Gross!' are the ones who don't like getting presents of home-made food. Fair enough if somebody gives you a present of (say) strawberry jam and you don't happen to like it, or obviously if you've got good grounds for being dubious about a particular person's cooking. However, many people seem to assume the worst about other people's hygiene, to have a touching faith in food manufacturers and retailers and not to know very much about food and the real danger areas.