Hidden treasure
Yummy Mummy’s authentic Egyptian flavors are result of all-American story
Once upon a time, Nesrine Hussein lived in Cairo, Egypt, married to a successful engineer — motherhood just around the corner.
This was the life she always wanted. She looked forward to traditional Egyptian family life, but a funny thing happened on the way to “happily ever after.”
Fast-forward 11 years, and you’ll find Nesrine and her husband, Mohamed, operating Yummy Mummy, 13415 N Pennsylvania Ave., a fast-casual Egyptian restaurant introducing northwest Oklahoma City to the dazzling flavors of their homeland. As delicious as their food is, their story is divine. While Yummy Mummy offers familiar foods in distinctive dress even the most discerning palates would welcome, its success comes despite unique obstacles that likely would’ve stopped most folks from ever getting started.
A matter of fate
Mohamed Hussein was an engineer who did contract work in the energy sector across the Middle East back in 2006. A successful run with Halliburton got him a job offer with the company in the U.S. that he politely turned down.
Enter fate. “The same week I got the offer, I was notified I’d been selected in the lottery for a visa.”
Fate didn’t have to hit Hussein over the head with another sign this obvious. The Husseins were headed west, namely Oklahoma City. As if moving from Cairo to Oklahoma City wasn’t challenge enough, an unforeseen pay cut left himfaced with new realities. “I didn’t know about taxes,” Hussein joked. “There were no taxes on what I made in the Middle East. When I moved here, my pay didn’t change, but now we had to start paying taxes.” That shock was mild compared to the stark vocabulary lesson he learned after a couple of co-workers quit showing up at the office.
“You know what word I learned here? ‘Layoff’ “Hussein joked. “I’d never even heard of that word until I moved here. Now I know it well.”
As oil and gas prices plunged, it took co-workers and roughly 70 percent of his salary with them.
Instead of panicking, Hussein took action, but the inspiration for it came from an unlikely place. “You know the show ‘Shark Tank?’ That’s where I got the idea to open this place,” he said. “Watching this show changed everything. I realized I don’t have to concentrate all of my time working for others. I can concentrate on my own business and making my own money.”
Hussein’s a bright guy. Not only does he remain a full-time engineer, he also earned his MBA in May.
But in his own words, he’s no genius. “I don’t have the ability to invent a machine or develop new technology,” he said, explaining his post-”Shark Tank” mentality. “The only thing I could think of was my wife’s cooking.”
Homemade quality
To explain how he thought immediately of his wife’s cooking, Mohamed Hussein likes to tell the story of a simple family dinner.
“In Egypt, the mother is the best cook,” he explained. “It doesn’t matter, the mother is the best. Period.
“So, we were having dinner with my parents. My wife had made a very traditional meal. My mother turns to me and says, ‘This isreally good.’I said to my mother, ‘You make this dish all the time.’ But she said, ‘Not like this.’”
Hussein explained how his wife’s family is renowned in their neck of Cairo for their cooking exploits. He said their foods are always in high demand at community celebrations.
Apparently, Nesrine paid attention. But despite leaving home with razor-sharp cooking chops, she had no intention to take them to market. In fact, according to her husband, it was never a consideration.
“My wife had never had a job, and didn’t want to have a job. It’s not part of Egyptian culture.”
No, Nesrine was happily married and looking forward to motherhood when all of a sudden, she was moving from Cairo to Oklahoma City. Nevertheless, she is the talent that makes Yummy Mummy one of the city’s brightest shining hidden gems. But that doesn’t mean her husband is out of the doghouse.
“My father-in-law is still very upset with me,” he said.
Wrap it up
Despite her father’s objections, Nesrine Hussein is responsible for some of the best food you’ll find in a fastcasual environment.
When you walk in, you’ll recognize right away the homework Mohamed has done in developing the concept. Whether it’s Mediterranean, Mexican or Asian, the hallmarks of the lovable mom-andpop restaurant usually include makeshift interior decorating, a certain dingy quality that hovers just within the bounds of what the health department will allow. But we don’t go for the atmosphere, we go for the food.
You’ll definitely go to Yummy Mummy for the food, but the Husseins keep their dining room to almost hospital standards. The logo is clever and the name built for units dotting shopping centers across the land.
And while Nesrine is a natural in the kitchen, her husband wants her back home with their kids, who are 8, 9 and 10, before they’re grown so he’s meticulously audited her cooking to derive recipes that can be taught and repeated.
That was easy when Yummy Mummy opened last year because the menu had two items: Beef Mummy Wrap and Chicken Mummy Wrap.
But now the menu has expanded to include salads, traditional fatta, appetizers and three kinds of lemonade.
Authentic Egyptian flavors flow from unlikely places like a tortilla. “In Egypt, our wraps would be served in pita bread,” Hussein said. “But we wanted to do something different from that.”
Whether to distinguish itself from other Middle Eastern/Mediterranean concepts or to cast a longer line at Western palates, the move was a success.
Beef or chicken is marinated and boldly seasoned before being mummified in a flour tortilla then griddled like a panini. Vegetarians will approve of the falafel version.
The Egyptian Quesadilla on the menu will have little in common with any you’ve ever had, and that’s a better thing than you might imagine. This one starts with pita bread stuffed with ground beef, seasoned with spices that include cinnamon, along with crumbled dry cheese. This isn’t your local sports bars ooey-gooey outburst of yellow cheese product.
For me, the real find is the fatta. Meaning mixture, the dish comes with either steak or chicken and is served over rice, along with some crunchy fried tortilla pieces and a dollop of garlic-infused mayonnaise. Mix it up, fork it down and don’t be surprised when the crew working your taste buds refuses to quit signaling requests for more.
Yummy Mummy offers two soups (lentil, tomato) and three salads. Don’t miss the Samboosak, it’s a new addition to the menu. In a nutshell, it’s a fried dumpling stuffed with beef or olives and cheese. Vegetarians won’t want to miss the eggplant-based Makdous.
For dessert, don’t miss the house-made baklava.
Yummy Mummy was built for growth, and the food is so distinctive finding a niche as a multiunit concept might be in the offing.
If it does, maybe that gets Mohammad out of his father-in-law’s doghouse.