Mmmm, carbs ...
So now that I've officially recovered from my first (but likely not only) sickness brought on by the local cuisine, I feel much more motivated to actually discuss what it is that I've been eating. There's definitely temptation to just eat as normal, now that I have a stove, fridge, all that jazz (not to mention a relatively Western grocery store) ... but the two weeks I spent in the hostel guaranteed that I ate enough "Egyptian" food to get a feel for what's out there.
I've been telling people that the pinnacle of Egyptian cuisine is a dish called kushari, and although I'm not necessarily taking that back, I think there's a drink that also deserves some room on that pedestal. I first had it at market the other day, and can't understand why I haven't tried it sooner! It's called azap, and it's pure sugar cane juice. The guy takes a couple sugar canes, a good four feet long each, and presses them into this huge, loud metal monstrosity ... and out of the bottom comes enough juice for maybe three mugs. I can get it at any of the juice stands, and it's a fun change from the "healthy" orange and mango juices that I've been getting ... it's pretty hard to turn down what's essentially a hearty sugar-water! And, icing on the cake, it's actually substantially cheaper than any of the fruit juices (possibly because of a 100% lack in nutritional value)!
But a girl cannot live on azap alone, which brings us back to kushari. I've ranted about it to a few individuals, so if this is sounding oddly familiar, you may consider skipping to the next paragraph. Kushari is about as close as Egypt gets to a unique "national dish," since most of the cuisine is sort of generically adopted from surrounding countries. Many kushari restaurants only sell kushari, and you can recognize them from the big bowls of noodles and rice in the front window. A small bowl of kushari will set you back about 1.5 LE, and is generally enough to constitute a meal. Anyhow, to the nitty-gritty: kushari is nothing more than rice, spaghetti and macaroni (and sometimes also vermicelli) noodles, lentils, chickpeas and fried onions, topped with a small amount of spaghetti sauce and served with little packets of garlic oil and chili oil on the side. Absolutely DELICIOUS! And, for the individual who feels that the meal just doesn't contain enough carbs already, some of the locals spoon the concoction into pita bread, instead of sticking to a fork like I do (clearly, I'm a timid soul).
If it sounds like Egypt is a bit carb-heavy - kushari and sugar water - then you're on the right track. This is not a world for Atkins-followers! The other sort of national meal, fu'ul, is almost as bad - basically, mashed fava beans stuffed in a pita. Or, if you're not in the mood for fu'ul, you can get a "potato sandwich" - french fries and a bit of salad, stuffed in a pita. The most protein-intensive meal I've had was shawarma, which was beef shaved off a spit, mixed with tomatoes and a yogurt sauce ... and stuffed in a pita. This is the kind of stuff we order in at lunch, and probably counts as Egyptian fast food. Lately, for lunch I've been on a baba ganoosh kick ... a sandwich consisting of baba ganoosh, stuffed in a pita.
After kushari, juice stands, and various pita sandwiches, the most notable consumable is bakery goods. The guide book says that Egypt is as big into baklava as Turkey, which I'm not seeing - in Istanbul, every third shop only sold baklava, but here I've seen it in maybe a handful of places. However, because carbs are such a big part of the diet here, there are bakeries EVERYWHERE. In addition to the seventy million different kinds of breads you can get, they always also have a nice selection of pastries (often filled with either dates, if you're feeling sweet, or a white cheese kind of like feta, if you're hoping for savory) and cookies. Sesame and/or anise seeds show up on EVERYTHING! Honestly, I haven't purchased anything from a bakery yet that I don't like ... of course, the same could be said in the States.
Part of the reason that Egypt doesn't have much in the way of notable meals is that eating out isn't as popular here as it is in America. Which is bad, because then it's harder for people like me to get an idea of "real" Egyptian food, but also fun, because it means there are tons of open-air markets to wander and shop. On Friday, I went down to big market near our apartment and stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies, fresh-baked bread (and a couple of pastries), and cheese. There were also fish vendors and butchers (nothing like a fresh-skinned cow carcass first thing in the morning ...), but the idea of purchasing and preparing a hunk of meat without getting sick is just a bit overwhelming for me, so I think I'll stick to eggs. (Oh! Speaking of, I went to the grocery store last night, and there were eggs with "50% less cholesterol" ... could someone please tell me how that works? I don't get it, and I'm quite curious!) Anyhow, it's possible to buy enough of these staples to get me through the week for maybe $5 ... and that's a high number, because I splurged on some Washington state red delicious apples some dude was selling ... more expensive and less natural than the local apples, which I've actually heard are quite good, but I figured it was a legitimate indulgence - just this once. (To be honest, I don't really like red delicious apples in general ... but it's amazing what a reminder of home is worth!) So, with home cooking so cheap, it's no wonder that the locals rarely eat away from home.
But after dinner, when the sun is down and everyone is out, it's totally legit to get some ice cream! (Well, it actually seems pretty acceptable any time of day or night ...) Definitely a big deal around here, it seems that more or less every restaurant/cafe/take-away place has an ice cream freezer and a stack of cones out front. The most popular flavor by far is mango, although strawberry is also pretty well-received. Personally, I'm digging the vanilla - it tastes different than I'm used to, almost more like ice milk than ice cream ... or something. I could be blowing smoke here, since I'm not really an ice cream eater in the states. It's just so hot here that concessions need to be made, and I'm willing to make them in the arena of frozen desserts.
My roommate Mona, who is half-Egyptian (but grew up in Germany), told me that she "doesn't trust" most of the street vendors, and will only get ice cream from El Abd, a very popular bakery, or from the grocery store ... I've tried it in a number of places, and have never had any problems (for some reason, ice cream doesn't seem to be to be a particularly risky food ... I would assume that, as long as it's still frozen and covered, there's not much that can go wrong), but last night instead of going out for ice cream, we made it. Not with an ice cream maker, of course - they actually sell ice cream powder in the stores in Egypt. Basically like pudding mix (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually IS pudding mix), you just beat it with milk and then stick it in the freezer. Sadly, it took so long to freeze, and our craving hit so late last night, that I didn't even get to try it! But it'll be waiting for me when I get home this afternoon ... and if it's not good, I'm going out for a cone!
Mmm ... kushari for lunch today! Life is good ...
I've been telling people that the pinnacle of Egyptian cuisine is a dish called kushari, and although I'm not necessarily taking that back, I think there's a drink that also deserves some room on that pedestal. I first had it at market the other day, and can't understand why I haven't tried it sooner! It's called azap, and it's pure sugar cane juice. The guy takes a couple sugar canes, a good four feet long each, and presses them into this huge, loud metal monstrosity ... and out of the bottom comes enough juice for maybe three mugs. I can get it at any of the juice stands, and it's a fun change from the "healthy" orange and mango juices that I've been getting ... it's pretty hard to turn down what's essentially a hearty sugar-water! And, icing on the cake, it's actually substantially cheaper than any of the fruit juices (possibly because of a 100% lack in nutritional value)!
But a girl cannot live on azap alone, which brings us back to kushari. I've ranted about it to a few individuals, so if this is sounding oddly familiar, you may consider skipping to the next paragraph. Kushari is about as close as Egypt gets to a unique "national dish," since most of the cuisine is sort of generically adopted from surrounding countries. Many kushari restaurants only sell kushari, and you can recognize them from the big bowls of noodles and rice in the front window. A small bowl of kushari will set you back about 1.5 LE, and is generally enough to constitute a meal. Anyhow, to the nitty-gritty: kushari is nothing more than rice, spaghetti and macaroni (and sometimes also vermicelli) noodles, lentils, chickpeas and fried onions, topped with a small amount of spaghetti sauce and served with little packets of garlic oil and chili oil on the side. Absolutely DELICIOUS! And, for the individual who feels that the meal just doesn't contain enough carbs already, some of the locals spoon the concoction into pita bread, instead of sticking to a fork like I do (clearly, I'm a timid soul).
If it sounds like Egypt is a bit carb-heavy - kushari and sugar water - then you're on the right track. This is not a world for Atkins-followers! The other sort of national meal, fu'ul, is almost as bad - basically, mashed fava beans stuffed in a pita. Or, if you're not in the mood for fu'ul, you can get a "potato sandwich" - french fries and a bit of salad, stuffed in a pita. The most protein-intensive meal I've had was shawarma, which was beef shaved off a spit, mixed with tomatoes and a yogurt sauce ... and stuffed in a pita. This is the kind of stuff we order in at lunch, and probably counts as Egyptian fast food. Lately, for lunch I've been on a baba ganoosh kick ... a sandwich consisting of baba ganoosh, stuffed in a pita.
After kushari, juice stands, and various pita sandwiches, the most notable consumable is bakery goods. The guide book says that Egypt is as big into baklava as Turkey, which I'm not seeing - in Istanbul, every third shop only sold baklava, but here I've seen it in maybe a handful of places. However, because carbs are such a big part of the diet here, there are bakeries EVERYWHERE. In addition to the seventy million different kinds of breads you can get, they always also have a nice selection of pastries (often filled with either dates, if you're feeling sweet, or a white cheese kind of like feta, if you're hoping for savory) and cookies. Sesame and/or anise seeds show up on EVERYTHING! Honestly, I haven't purchased anything from a bakery yet that I don't like ... of course, the same could be said in the States.
Part of the reason that Egypt doesn't have much in the way of notable meals is that eating out isn't as popular here as it is in America. Which is bad, because then it's harder for people like me to get an idea of "real" Egyptian food, but also fun, because it means there are tons of open-air markets to wander and shop. On Friday, I went down to big market near our apartment and stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies, fresh-baked bread (and a couple of pastries), and cheese. There were also fish vendors and butchers (nothing like a fresh-skinned cow carcass first thing in the morning ...), but the idea of purchasing and preparing a hunk of meat without getting sick is just a bit overwhelming for me, so I think I'll stick to eggs. (Oh! Speaking of, I went to the grocery store last night, and there were eggs with "50% less cholesterol" ... could someone please tell me how that works? I don't get it, and I'm quite curious!) Anyhow, it's possible to buy enough of these staples to get me through the week for maybe $5 ... and that's a high number, because I splurged on some Washington state red delicious apples some dude was selling ... more expensive and less natural than the local apples, which I've actually heard are quite good, but I figured it was a legitimate indulgence - just this once. (To be honest, I don't really like red delicious apples in general ... but it's amazing what a reminder of home is worth!) So, with home cooking so cheap, it's no wonder that the locals rarely eat away from home.
But after dinner, when the sun is down and everyone is out, it's totally legit to get some ice cream! (Well, it actually seems pretty acceptable any time of day or night ...) Definitely a big deal around here, it seems that more or less every restaurant/cafe/take-away place has an ice cream freezer and a stack of cones out front. The most popular flavor by far is mango, although strawberry is also pretty well-received. Personally, I'm digging the vanilla - it tastes different than I'm used to, almost more like ice milk than ice cream ... or something. I could be blowing smoke here, since I'm not really an ice cream eater in the states. It's just so hot here that concessions need to be made, and I'm willing to make them in the arena of frozen desserts.
My roommate Mona, who is half-Egyptian (but grew up in Germany), told me that she "doesn't trust" most of the street vendors, and will only get ice cream from El Abd, a very popular bakery, or from the grocery store ... I've tried it in a number of places, and have never had any problems (for some reason, ice cream doesn't seem to be to be a particularly risky food ... I would assume that, as long as it's still frozen and covered, there's not much that can go wrong), but last night instead of going out for ice cream, we made it. Not with an ice cream maker, of course - they actually sell ice cream powder in the stores in Egypt. Basically like pudding mix (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually IS pudding mix), you just beat it with milk and then stick it in the freezer. Sadly, it took so long to freeze, and our craving hit so late last night, that I didn't even get to try it! But it'll be waiting for me when I get home this afternoon ... and if it's not good, I'm going out for a cone!
Mmm ... kushari for lunch today! Life is good ...
posted by Teale at 10:48 AM
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