An anthropological study of green recipes in Mediterranean cuisine in a local community: the Elkhobiz (Malva) dish as an example

Dr Zayan Muhammad, University of Chlef, Algeria

This anthropological study reveals how basic and straightforward the recipe for Elkhobiz (Malva) looks to the general public, but we modified it for the realm of study and research in order to conduct this investigation.

Without the participation and assent of the community, sociocultural food adaptation would not have been feasible. As a consequence of this, the women in the local community did not seek to create the Elkhobiz (Malva) recipe solely to satisfy hunger. Rather, they sought to create it for a variety of reasons and purposes related to health and medicine, which they discovered through experience and experimenting with the benefits of collecting, classifying, and using plants in the kitchen.

The characteristics of wild plants that grow in nature without human intervention are the focus of the study. These plants were known for their use in the socioeconomic lives of pre-urban societies. Additionally, the research problem focuses on the reasons behind some women's continued use of these plants, whether for medical or nutritional reasons.