GASTRONOMY - Taste the Blends and Contrasts of Traditional Cooking
Egyptian cuisine is rich and varied, influenced by the Mediterranean and the Middle East. From street vendors to the restaurants in the luxury hotels, Egypt offers a vast range of restaurant styles, for all tastes and all budgets. The cuisine in the major hotels is often ‘international’. To eat ‘Egyptian style’, choose the local restaurants and typical recipes based on meat and vegetables. On the seafront, there are excellent fish restaurants.
Typical dishes
• Starters known as mezzeh are very varied: falafel, based on fava (beans), foul (beans), hoummous (chickpeas), baba ghanouj (aubergine puree), Gebna domiati (salty cheese) with tomatoes…
• Lamb and veal are often grilled (kebabs), minced then grilled (koftas), roasted or accompanied by tomato and onion salad. Poultry such as pigeon, duck and chicken are often stuffed.
• Vegetables may be macerated in oil, stuffed or cooked in ragout (beans, lentils…).
• Wet, salted fish (fasikh), beside the Red Sea or on the Mediterranean coast.
• Desserts: many fruits and pastries filled with dried fruits and doused with honey syrup.
• Drinks: tea, Turkish coffee and fruit juices, particularly mango juice, lamoun (sweet lime juice), tinnechoke (Barbary fig juice), apricot juice, juice from sugar cane or karkade (extract of hibiscus petals), sahlab (mixture of warm milk, coconut, cinnamon and spices). Alcohol and wine is mainly served in the hotel bars and in the restaurant. The locally brewed beer, Stella, is worth a taste.
Fast food
Egypt has a long tradition for food on the move. Street vendors offer mixtures of noodles, rice, onions and spicy tomato sauce as well as bean fritters (Tamiya). The oriental sandwich based on soft Baladi bread comes with all types of filling. The major international fast-food chains can be found in the big cities.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Ramadan: During Ramadan, most restaurants remain open all day, only serving tourists and offering a limited choice. In the evening, big banquets are organised around long tables in a convivial atmosphere. The cuisine is very varied.
Health: mineral water in sealed bottles is to be preferred. People with delicate stomachs should beware of raw vegetables.
Opening times: fruit juice bars: 8:00 am to 10:00 pm – local sandwich and fast food from 10:00 am into the night - restaurants from 12:00 am to 11:00 pm or 1 o’clock in the morning.