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Egyptian cuisine consists of the local culinary traditions of Egypt. Egyptian cuisine makes heavy use of legumes and vegetables, as Egypt's rich Nile Valley and Delta produce large quantities of high-quality crops. Meat is less prominent in Egyptian cuisine than in the cuisines of North Africa or the Levant.
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History and characteristics
Egyptian cuisine's history goes back to Ancient Egypt. Archaeological excavations have found that workers on the Great Pyramids of Giza were paid in bread, beer, and onions, apparently their customary diet as peasants in the Egyptian countryside. Dental analysis of the mummified bodies of these workers seems to indicate that the bread was chewy and coarse but hearty, rather like the bread of modern Egypt; the occasional desiccated loaves found in tombs confirm this, in addition to indicating that ancient Egyptian bread was made with flour from emmer wheat. Though beer disappeared as a mainstay of Egyptian life following the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the year 654, onions remain the primary vegetable for flavoring and nutrition in Egyptian food. Beans were also a primary source of protein for the mass of the Egyptian populace, as they remain today.
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Egyptian cuisine is notably conducive to vegetarian- and vegan diets, as it relies so heavily on vegetable dishes. Though food in Alexandria and the coasts of Egypt tends to use a great deal of fish and other seafood, for the most part Egyptian cuisine is based on foods that grow out of the ground. Meat has traditionally been very expensive, and a great deal of vegetarian dishes have developed to work around this absence.
Dishes
Egyptian cuisine is characterized by dishes such as Ful Medames, Kushari and Mulukhiyya, while sharing similarities with food found throughout the eastern Mediterranean like kebab and falafel.
Bread forms the backbone of Egyptian cuisine. Bread is consumed at almost all Egyptian meals; a working-class or rural Egyptian meal might consist of little more than bread and beans. The local bread is a form of hearty, thick, glutenous pita bread called Eish Masri or Eish Baladi (Egyptian Arabic: عيش ʿēš) rather than the Standard Arabic خبز khubz. The word "Eish" comes from the verb "ʿāš, yuiʿīš" meaning "to live" indicating the centrality of bread to Egyptian life. In modern Egypt, the government subsidizes bread، dating back to a Nasser-era policy; as of 2008[update], however, a major food crisis has caused ever-longer bread lines at government-subsidized bakeries where there would normally be none; the occasional fight has broken out over bread, leading to fear of bread riots. [1] The bread subsidies are also viewed by political observers as a means by the government of mitigating opposition by the lower-classes to an authoritarian domestic political system.
Some Egyptians consider Kushari, a mixture of rice, lentils, and macaroni, to be the national dish. Ful Medames (mashed fava beans) is also popular and is used in making Ta'miyya (also known as Falafel), in contrast to elsewhere in the Middle East, where chick peas are the major ingredients for this dish.
Ancient Egyptians are known to have used a lot of garlic and onion in their everyday dishes. Fresh mashed garlic with other herbs is used in spicy tomato salad and is also stuffed in boiled or baked aubergines (eggplant). Garlic fried with coriander is added to Mulukhiyya, a popular green soup made from finely chopped jute leaves, sometimes with chicken or (preferably) rabbit. Fried onions can be added to Kushari.
Other popular dishes include kebab and kofta, usually of lamb meat, chops and minced meat on skewers grilled on charcoal. Egyptians are famous for stuffing spicy rice in vegetables like green pepper, aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes to make Mahshi. Mahshi is generally rolled in grapevine leaves to make dolma, or in cabbage leaves.
Shawerma (Arabic: شاورمة) is a popular sandwich of shredded beef, lamb or chicken meat, usually rolled in pita bread with Tahina sauce. Some Egyptians do not consider Shawerma to be authentically Egyptian, but rather a Levantine import.
Dukkah is a dry mixture of chopped nuts, seeds and Middle Eastern spices and flavors.
Mahshi (Greek Dolmades) is grape leaves stuffed with a rice mixture that can be made with sauteed ground beef or vegetarian style. The rice is seasoned with crushed red tomatoes, onion, parsley, dill, salt, pepper and Egyptian spices (boharat). This mixture is then stuffed and rolled into an individual grape leaf and placed in a pot and topped with two cans of tomato paste used for the sauce.
Musaka is sliced eggplants that are lightly grilled and placed in a flat pan with sliced onions, green peppers, and jalapenos. It is then covered with a red sauce made of tomato paste and Egyptian spices. This pan is cooked in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Babaghanoush is made with eggplants, chickpeas, lemon juice, salt, pepper, parsley,cumin and oil.
Hamaam (Pigeons) are stuffed with seasoned rice and grilled. A delicacy in Egypt!
Desserts
Egyptian desserts are similar to lebanese desserts. However, Egyptian desserts contain very small amounts of rose water, if any, whereas, lebanese desserts use rose water plentifully.
Fatir are pancakes (filo dough) stuffed with everything from eggs to apricots or fruit of choice.
Basbousa or sometimes called Harissa (in Morrocco and Alexandria) is a sweet dish made from semolina and is soaked in a sugar syrup. It is usually topped with almonds and traditionally cut diagonally into pieces so that each piece resembles a diamond shape.
Umm ali is a national dish of Egypt. It is a raisin cake soaked in milk and served hot.
Kanafa is a dish of batter "strings" fried on a hot grill and stuffed with nuts (usually pistachios), meats, heavy whipped cream or sweets.
Kahk is a traditional sweet dish served most commonly during Eid ul-Fitr in Egypt. It is a shortbread biscuit covered with icing sugar, which may be stuffed with dates, walnuts, agameya (like turkish-delight), or just served plain.
Ghreyba Ghreyba is a common dish in all of North Africa. It is a sweet dish similar to kahk but much thinner. It is like shortbread and is usually topped with roasted almonds.
Baklava is a sweet dish made from many layers of phyllo pastry, an assortment of nuts, and soaked in a sweet syrup.
Luqmat al-qadi literally translates to "the bite of the judge". They are small, round donuts which are crunchy on the outside and soft and syrupy on the inside. They may be served with dusted cinnamon and icing sugar.
Religious varieties
Although Ramadan is a month of fasting for Muslims in Egypt, it is usually when Egyptians pay a lot of attention to food in variety and richness, since breaking the fast is a family affair, often with entire extended families meeting at the table just after sunset. There are several special desserts almost exclusive to Ramadan such as Konafah and Atayef (Arabic: كنافة وقطايف). In this month, many Egyptians will make a special table for the poor or passers-by, usually in a tent in the street, called Ma'edat Al Rahman (Arabic: مائدة الرحمن) which translates literally as Table of (God) the Gracious (Merciful).
Observant Copts (Egypt's native Oriental Orthodox Christian population), observe fasting periods according to the Coptic Calendar that practically extend to more than two-thirds of the year. The Coptic diet for fasting is essentially vegan. During this fasting, Copts will usually eat vegetables and legumes fried in oil as they avoid meat, chicken, and dairy products including butter.
List of the most important Egyptian Dishes
- Baba ghannoug.
- Bird Tongue Noodles Soup.
- Bisara.
- Bram rice (rice made with milk in a special kind of plate, usually stuffed with chicken liver).
- Ducks.
- Du'aah.
- Eggs with pastrami.
- Falafel.
- Fisikh (salted or fermented mullet, generally eaten on the spring festival of Sham El Nessim, which falls on Easter Monday).
- Ful medames.
- Geese.
- Kebab.
- Kebba (Kofta with shreaded carrots and meat).
- Kirsha (Sheep jelatin with vegetables).
- Kofta.
- Kushari.
- Lentil Soup.
- Liver (chicken or beef).
- Mahshi (grape leaves dolma, cabbage, green pepper, eggplant, squash, aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes).
- Moussaka.
- Molokheya (Egyptian stile), with rabbits, chicken or other types of meat.
- Pastitsio, known in Egypt as Macaroni with Béchamel.
- Pigeon stuffed with rice.
- Shack-shooka (Eggs with tomato sauce and vegetables).
- Shawerma.
- Shish taouk.
- Siyyadiyeh.
- Turlli (a tray of squash, potatoes, carrots, onions, and tomato sauce).
- White cheese & tomatoes.
List of the most important Egyptian Desserts
- Atayef.
- Baklava.
- Basbousa.
- Cous Cous (Egyptian style).
- Halawa.
- Kahk.
- Harissa.
- Honey and coconut pie.
- Künefe.
- Ladida.
- Mehalabeyya.
- Melabesa.
- Um Ali.
See also
References
- ^ "A City Where You Can’t Hear Yourself Scream". The New York Times. 14 April 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/world/middleeast/14cairo.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Cairo%20Journal&st=nyt. Retrieved on 7 May 2008.
Bibliography
- Balkwill, Richard. (1994). Food & feasts in ancient Egypt. New York: New Discovery.
External links
- Ancient Egyptian Food
- Eating the Egyptian way
- Egyptian Food and Cookery
- Egyptian food from cooks.com
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