What to eat Egypt? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Although a large part of its territory is located on the African continent, Egyptian cuisine shares many similarities with the countries of the Levant such as Lebanon, Palestine or Syria, and more broadly with the eastern Mediterranean regions. The influences of the Maghreb - separated from Egypt by the immense Libyan desert - are less important. Pita bread(eish baladi) is a staple food. Egyptian cuisine makes extensive use of legumes, vegetables and fruit from the rich valley and Nile delta.

The most common meats cooked in Egyptian cuisine are lamb and beef, mostly used for grilling. Offal - usually cheap - is a popular snack, especially in the souks. Fish and seafood are common along Egypt's coasts, especially in Alexandria. Not forgetting foie gras, which - surprisingly - has been produced in Egypt for thousands of years.

Spices have an essential place in Egyptian cuisine, as the Egyptian ports on the Red Sea have always been the main points of access to Europe. Cumin is the most common spice. Other common spices and aromatic herbs include coriander, cardamom, chilli, bay leaf, ginger, aniseed, parsley, dill, mint, cinnamon and cloves.

One food that is widely consumed in Egypt is cheese. Egyptologists have found pottery in tombs with traces of cheese on it, suggesting that the Egyptians were among the first people to produce cheese. Mish is a fermented, creamy and very salty cheese. Although there is still some artisanal production, industrial cheeses are becoming more and more common. Cheese can be found in every meal of the day, including breakfast, or even in some desserts, which can be surprising. Among the most widespread are domiati (fresh cheese),areesh (close to a mozzarella), laban rayeb (halfway between fresh cheese and yoghurt) and rumi (hard, salty and matured, close to pecorino). Many cheeses are made from buffalo milk, but also from sheep's milk and even camel milk. Desserts are like oriental pastries: very sweet, quite fat but also very tasty. Honey, rose water, orange blossom, pistachios, almonds, orange, lemon and dates are the basic ingredients of many sweets, which are enjoyed while sipping tea, the national drink.

Egyptian cuisine is mainly vegetarian, as meat has always been sold at a high price, but also because the diet of the Coptic Christian community (which makes up almost a third of the country) is mainly based on vegetable products for most of the year. This makes it ideal for vegetarians and vegans. They eat a lot of legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, etc.), but also vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, beets, pumpkins, cucumbers, etc.), often accompanied by rice and other cereals. In terms of eating habits, it is true that, despite a generous proportion of vegetables and cereals, Egyptians eat quite a lot of fat. The day is divided into three meals, with many snacks taken between meals, which explains a rather worrying percentage of overweight people in the country. The breakfast is rather salty, based on eggs, salted cottage cheese, dry cheese, raw vegetable salads, bread and starchy foods. Lunch is often quick, based on grilled meat, rice, potatoes and vegetables. The dinner menu is comparable to the lunch menu.

Among all the vegetable and starchy dishes that Egyptians love, ful medames is often considered the national dish. These cooked beans are served with olive oil and garnished with cumin. It is always eaten with bread. Another very popular dish, kushari is a mixture of rice, macaroni and lentils and is topped with a spicy tomato sauce with garlic, chickpeas and crispy fried onions. Inexpensive and nutritious, it is a popular food.

Although Ramadan is a month of fasting for Muslims in Egypt, it is usually a time when Egyptians also pay a lot of attention to the variety and richness of food, as breaking the fast is a family affair, often with entire families gathered at the table just after sunset. There are several desserts served almost exclusively during Ramadan, which are often very rich, to regain strength after the day of fasting. During this month, many Egyptians prepare a special table for the poor or passers-by, very often in a tent in the street, called Ma'edet Rahman, which translates literally as "Table of the Merciful", referring to one of the 99 names of God in Islam. These can be quite simple or quite sumptuous, depending on the wealth and ostentation of the provider. Christians - between 10 and 25% of the population - also have their fasting periods according to the Coptic calendar; these can cover more than two thirds of the year for the most extreme and observant. The more secular Coptic population fasts mainly only for Easter and Christmas. The Coptic diet for fasting is essentially vegan. During this fast, believers generally eat vegetables and legumes fried in oil and avoid meat and dairy products, including butter.

The starters and appetizers are quite similar to those found in Lebanon, for example, with the classic hummus, a chickpea purée flavoured with garlic, cumin and tahini (sesame cream). Baba ghanoush is a purée of roasted eggplant also flavoured with tahini, garlic, coriander and olive oil. Tahini is also used in the preparation of tehina, a dip that is also seasoned with lemon juice and garlic. Fresher, the salata baladi is a simple salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and chilli, garnished with parsley, cumin and coriander. Torshi (pickled vegetables) is a classic in the eastern Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, etc.). To taste the duqqa, one must first soak one's piece of bread in oil and then roll it in a dry mixture of nuts, seeds and powdered spices. We also find the famous falafels, called taamiya in Egypt. Unlike those found in Lebanon, they are made from beans and not chickpeas.

There are also various types of savoury pastries and other sandwiches, such as feteer or fitir, a kind of puff pastry that is both salty and sweet depending on the toppings. The hawawshi is a turnover filled with minced meat marinated in onions, pepper, parsley and sometimes hot peppers. Gollash or goulash (nothing like Hungarian soup) is a filo pastry pie filled with meat or cheese. To take away, you will find all kinds of sandwiches. They are filled with your choice of shakshouka (eggs in tomato sauce), taamiya, beans, kebab, kofta (meatballs), potatoes, cauliflower fritters, salad, etc. The best known of all is the chawarma, which consists of strips of lamb or chicken (cooked on a spit) with tomatoes and onions and a shami (flat bread) is abundantly garnished with this preparation. Among other starters, Egyptians loveeggah, a type of omelette made with parsley and flour, similar to a frittata, which is baked in a deep frying pan. Or keshk, a salty dip made with yoghurt, bulgur, garlic and mint. In the same genre, the besarah is a bean cream, served with fried onions. Finally, molokhiya is a soup prepared with mallow leaves (a cousin of hibiscus), very finely chopped and simmered with garlic and coriander, usually in a chicken broth, before being mixed, making a dark green soup, which is very popular.

As a main course, Egyptians cook many stews such as bamia, prepared with lamb, okra and tomatoes, or fattah, a dish traditionally eaten on festive occasions, especially Eid al-Adha. It is a mixture of rice, pieces of lamb,eish baladi (flat bread) cut into pieces and pre-baked in the oven, covered with a tomato sauce with a light vinegar sauce. The classic kabab (Turkish forkebab ) is in the form of skewers of ground lamb, grilled on charcoal. In the same genre, kefta or kofta are richly seasoned meatballs (beef and/or lamb) that are grilled. Hamam mahshi

On the beef side, kamounia is a cumin-flavoured stew that sometimes contains the animal's offal, including the testicles. Kaware is a recipe for cow's foot, whose broth is particularly appreciated as an aphrodisiac in Egypt. Mombar is a speciality of sheep intestines stuffed with a mixture of rice and fried in oil. Finally, kersha is simply a tripe stew with tomato and chickpeas. As you can see, giblets are popular in Egypt. Liver sandwiches, a specialty of Alexandria, are a popular snack in the cities. Pieces of liver are chopped and fried with peppers, chili, garlic, cumin and other spices and are served in a baguette-type bread called eish fino

In terms of fish and seafood, Egypt is well endowed and has one of the largest fishing fleets on the African continent. Many seafood products are simply grilled and/or accompanied by a spicy tomato sauce. One example is sayadiya, a rice with onion and tomato, usually served with fried fish. There are however stranger specialties such as fesikh

From the outside, Egyptian pastries are reminiscent of florist shops or wedding dresses with piles of ribbons and gildings dripping down the window. Inside, you'll find delicious oriental pastries. The El-Abd pastry shop in Cairo, for example, is worth a visit. Egyptian desserts are similar to other sweets common in the eastern Mediterranean.

Basboussa is a semolina dessert dipped in syrup. It is usually garnished with almonds, traditionally presented cut on the bias, in the shape of a diamond. The baklava consists of multiple layers of filo pastry, an assortment of nuts/pistachio nuts/almonds, covered with a sweet syrup. Ghorayeba are crumbly shortbreads very rich in butter and sometimes flavoured with black cardamom. Another biscuit, kahk is most often served at Eid al-Fitr in Egypt, sprinkled with icing sugar and sometimes stuffed with dates or nuts.

Typical of the Levant, the kunafa is composed of two layers of angel hair (a kind of vermicelli) containing a layer of soft melting cheese (similar to mozzarella), all soaked in rose water syrup and garnished with pistachios. Also soaked in syrup, luqmet el qadi are small ball-shaped fritters, often served with powdered cinnamon. Roz bi laban is a vanilla-flavoured rice pudding pudding made from rice pudding with milk, sometimes served with cinnamon and crushed dried fruit. Similarly,umm ali is a bread pudding soaked in milk, coconut and raisins. Finally, mahalabiya is a kind of Egyptian coconut flan. In Egypt, the famous halwa (nougat) is flavoured with tahini and garnished with pistachios. The malban is a confectionery similar to a loukoum, made from grape juice. It also contains pistachios.

Tea is an essential part of daily life and popular etiquette in Egypt. It usually accompanies breakfast in most households, and drinking tea after lunch is a common practice. Visiting someone else's home, regardless of socio-economic level or the purpose of the visit, involves a mandatory cup of tea; the same is true for a business appointment. In short, tea is the national drink in Egypt, followed at a distance by coffee. Egyptian tea is enjoyed in a glass, black and sour, sometimes with milk. Almost all the tea packed and sold in Egypt is imported from Kenya and Sri Lanka. There are two varieties: kushari and sa'idi

kushari tea, popular in Lower Egypt, is prepared by following the traditional soaking of black tea in boiling water and leaving it to brew. It is almost always sweetened with sugar and mixed with fresh mint leaves. Kushari tea is light in colour and has a light flavour, with less than half a teaspoon of tea per cup. It is considered to be close to high quality. Sa'idi tea is common in Upper Egypt. Black tea is first boiled with water for a few minutes over a strong flame. Sa 'idi tea is particularly strong, usually with about two teaspoons of tea per cup. A lot of sugar is added, which is a must, because only tea is very bitter and black like coffee. But there are also various infusions, such as karkadeh, a very popular dried hibiscus flower tea. Most of the time, tea is served extremely sweet and cold, but it can also be drunk hot. It is said to have been one of the favourite drinks of the pharaohs and karkadeh vendors can be found on every street corner in Egypt. It is recommended as a medicinal solution to lower blood pressure when consumed in abundance. Infusions of mint, cinnamon, dried ginger and aniseed are also common, as is sahlab

Other beverages include a multitude of fruit juices such as sugar cane juice (aseer asab), which is very popular and is served by almost every fruit juice vendor around town. A fresh and sour tamarind drink, called tamr hindi, is very popular in the summer. Finally, sobia

Islam, the country's majority religion, prohibits the consumption of alcohol. Nevertheless, alcoholic beverages are readily available in the country, with beer accounting for 50% of this market. A type of beer known as bouza has been made from barley and bread since the Predynastic period, more than 3,000 years BC. Apart from international brands, there are also Egyptian beers with often rather colourful names such as Pharaohs, Luxor or Sakara. In addition, Egypt has a small but nascent wine industry. Some of the country's wines have been awarded several international prizes in recent years. Most of them are made from fruit from the vineyards of Alexandria and Middle Egypt.

With a history spanning more than 6,000 years, Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Thanks to the fertile waters of the Nile, the country has been able to maintain a large and growing population. As a result, many of the products we eat today are derived from what the early Egyptians made, from fermentation, maturation, salting and many other preservation techniques.

Many historians believe, for example, that cheese originated in the Middle East between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Two alabaster jars found at Saqqara, dating from the First Dynasty of Egypt, contained cheese. These were placed in the tomb around 3000 B.C. They were probably fresh cheeses coagulated with acid or a combination of acid and heat. An earlier tomb, that of King Hor-Aha, may also have contained cheese which, according to the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the two jars, seems to have come from Upper and Lower Egypt.

Egyptian bread was made almost exclusively from durum wheat, which was more difficult to make into flour than most of the other cereal varieties we grow today, including soft wheat, which has a much higher gluten content, offering a much more airy crumb than the dense, compact breads that were eaten in ancient times. However, fermentation due to the bacteria naturally present in cereals allowed the bread to rise slightly, creating what we today call sourdough. Flavours used for bread included coriander seeds and dates, which were used only in the wealthier classes. Apart from wheat, barley was grown to produce bread and was also used to make beer.

Indeed, beer was the main source of nutrition and was consumed daily. Unlike modern European beer, it was very cloudy, with a lot of solid particles, but also very nutritious, almost reminiscent of porridge. It was an important source of protein, minerals and vitamins and was so valuable that beer pots were used as a measure of value and it was even used in medicine. Archaeological finds show that beer was made by first making "beer bread", a type of leavened bread, lightly baked, but not enough to kill the yeast. It was then crumbled on a sieve, washed with water in a vat, and left to ferment. The enzymes began to consume the starch to produce sugar. A little yeast was also added to speed up fermentation. This is still a common process in rural Africa.

As for the fruits and vegetables found in ancient Egypt, they were far from the diversity we know today, especially since many of the plants were semi-wild and therefore very different in terms of taste, size and appearance compared to what we find today. Moreover, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, corn or pumpkins - coming from America - did not exist in Egypt. Cane sugar, which originated in India, had not yet made its way to Africa, so desserts were sweetened with honey. However, onions, garlic, lettuce, celery and certain types of melons and squash were eaten. The most important animals were cattle, sheep, goats and, to a lesser extent, pigs. Game birds were popular, such as partridge, duck and goose. Moreover, foie gras was invented by the ancient Egyptians. It is supposed that the first palmipedes hunted in this way naturally had a fatter liver because they fed abundantly before the migration periods. It didn't take long for the Egyptians to understand that they could recreate this phenomenon artificially by feeding the birds, a technique that dates back to 2,500 BC.

Representations of banquets can be found in Old and New Kingdom paintings. They usually began in the afternoon. Men and women were separated unless they were married. Depending on the social class, the guests were allowed to sit on a chair or not. Before food was served, cones of scented grease were lit to release pleasant odours or to repel insects. According to excavations, banquets were overflowing with food and alcohol: whole roast beef, ducks, geese, pigeons or even fish. Dishes often consisted of stews served with large amounts of bread, fresh vegetables and fruit. For sweets, there were cakes baked with dates and sweetened with honey. Hathor, goddess of love, motherhood and music, was often invoked at these festivals.