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Our recipe for healthy baked beans (February 2022) brought back memories for reader Jackie:

The recent Good Food recipe for healthy baked beans reminded me of when I lived in Cairo with my husband and three young sons.

Tinned baked beans were not available in the 1980s, but I was given a recipe for homemade ones using Egyptian ingredients. Unfortunately, I don’t have the exact recipe, but black beans, fresh or tinned tomatoes and asil iswid (black honey or molasses) were the main ingredients.

Asil iswid was sold from a donkey and cart under one of the large bridges we lived close to, but unfortunately, I arrived without a jam jar, so I was unable to purchase any the first time.

The beans had to be washed, soaked overnight and boiled the next day until reasonably soft. Then the tomatoes and asil iswis were added before baking.

Our sons ate them quite happily until they returned home to the UK and realised what tinned ones tasted like.

In those days, we could only buy Egyptian cornflakes, as they were the only cereal available. When we returned home, the boys spent ages going up and down the cereal aisle in our local Morrisons. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

Jackie Knight, Stratfordupon-avon