Egyptian cuisine
Egyptian cuisine makes heavy use of poultry, legumes, vegetables and fruit from Egypt's rich Nile Valley and Delta.
Examples of Egyptian dishes include rice-stuffed vegetables and grape leaves, hummus, falafel, shawarma, kebab and kofta.
Others include ful medames, mashed fava beans; koshary, lentils and pasta; and molokhiyya, bush okra stew.
Egyptian cuisine relies heavily on vegetables and legumes, but can also feature meats, most commonly squab, chicken, and lamb.
A significant amount of Egyptian cuisine is vegetarian, due to both the historically high price of meat and the needs of the Coptic Christian community, whose religious restrictions require essentially vegan diets for much of the year.
There, it was consumed only during famine or other times of scarcity during which sorghum was preferred to other wheat substitutes used to make emergency bread rations like millet, bran, or broad beans.
This bag supplies its owner with food like rozz mefalfel, a rice dish seasoned with cinnamon and mastic, sometimes colored with saffron and prepared stock and tail fat.
Other common spices include coriander, cardamom, chili, aniseed, bay leaves, dill, parsley, ginger, cinnamon, mint and cloves.
Chopped-up pieces of liver fried with bell peppers, chili, garlic, cumin and other spices are served in a baguette-like bread called eish fino.
Foie gras is sold whole, or is prepared into mousse, parfait, or pâté, and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak.
An earlier tomb, that of King Hor-Aha, may also have contained cheese which, based on the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the two jars, appears to be from Upper and Lower Egypt.
Egyptians use bread to scoop up food, sauces, and dips and to wrap kebabs, falafel, to keep the hands from becoming greasy.
When removed from the oven, the layers of baked dough remain separated inside the deflated pita, which allows the bread to be opened into pockets, creating a space for use in various dishes.
[22] Popular dishes include: Egyptian cuisine is characterized by dishes such as ful medames,[23][24][25] mashed fava beans; koshary, a mixture of lentils, rice, pasta, and other ingredients; molokhiya, chopped and cooked jute leaf with garlic and coriander sauce; and feteer meshaltet.
Egyptian cuisine shares similarities with food of the Eastern Mediterranean region, such as rice-stuffed vegetables, grape leaves, shawerma, kebab and kofta, with some variation and differences in preparation.
Fava bean is also used in making falafel (most commonly referred to as ta‘ameya in Egypt, and served with fresh tomatoes, tahina sauce and arugula).
Garlic fried with coriander is added to molokhiya, a popular green soup made from finely chopped jute leaves, sometimes with chicken or rabbit.
[28] The ingredients, in the okra and molokhiya dishes, are whipped and blended with a tool called the wīka, used in ancient times and today, in Egypt.
Ghorayiba (غريبه) is a sweet biscuit made with sugar, flour and liberal quantities of butter, similar to shortbread.
It is covered with icing sugar, and can also be stuffed with dates, walnuts, or 'agameya (عجميه) which is similar in texture to Turkish delight, or just served plain.
Kunafa (كنافه) is a shredded pastry sandwiching a layer of cream اشطه) or desalted 'akkawi cheese soaked in a sweet syrup.
Luqmet el qadi (لقمة القاضى) are small, round donuts that are crunchy on the outside and soft and syrupy on the inside.
Atayef (اطايف) is a dessert served exclusively during the month of Ramadan, a sort of sweet mini pancake (made without eggs) filled with cream and nuts or raisins.
During this fasting, Copts usually eat vegetables and legumes fried in oil and avoid meat, chicken, eggs and dairy products, including butter and cream.
Se‘idi tea a somewhat similar beverage (essentially a weaker grade, but consumed in larger quantities) drunk in Upper Egypt and among Sa'idi people elsewhere.
Most of these herbal teas are considered to have medicinal properties as well; particularly common is an infusion of hot lemonade in which mint leaves have been steeped and sweetened with honey and used to combat mild sore throat.
[38] A sour, chilled drink made from tamarind is popular during the summer called tamr Hindi (تمر هندى).
[39] Islam is the majority religion in Egypt, and while observant Muslims tend to avoid the consumption of alcohol, it is readily available in the country.
