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Ejjeh Koussa (عجة كوسى)

Zucchini omelette sandwich.

Ejjeh Koussa is the zucchini version of the Lebanese herb omelette sandwich, where koussa, the pale Levantine summer squash, is grated into the egg batter and fried flat. The angle is moisture and bulk: the squash makes the omelette softer, denser, and more vegetal than the plain herb one, so the build has to manage water rather than dryness, which is the opposite problem most egg sandwiches face.

The omelette is the work. Zucchini is coarsely grated, often salted briefly and squeezed so it does not weep the pan into a mess, then folded into beaten eggs with chopped parsley, onion, sometimes mint, salt, and a little spice. A spoonful of flour is common here, more than in the plain version, because it binds the wet squash into a disc that holds together. It fries flat until set and lightly browned, the edges firm and the center tender. Into Arabic flatbread or a split roll it goes, folded or rolled, dressed lightly: tomato, maybe raw onion or pickle, a thread of toum or a squeeze of lemon. Good execution wrings the zucchini so the omelette sets clean and sliceable, keeps enough herb and onion that it tastes like more than damp egg, and browns the surface for a little contrast against the soft interior. Sloppy execution leaves the squash watery so the disc steams instead of frying and falls apart in the bread, overcooks it into a dense gray slab, or under-seasons it so the squash's mildness flattens the whole thing.

It varies by texture and by service. Made thin and well-drained it slices neatly and travels as a cold sandwich for breakfast or school; made thicker it eats more like a fried vegetable cake folded into bread for lunch. Some cooks add a little cheese or chili to push it past plain; others keep it strictly squash, egg, and herbs. It sits in a family with the plain ejjeh bayd and the parsley-mint-onion ejjeh sandwich, the three differing mainly by what goes into the batter. What holds steady is the principle: grated zucchini and herbs bound with egg, fried flat, folded into bread, with the cook's real job being to control the squash's water so the omelette holds and the flavor still comes through.

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