Bon appetit! – Belhana Welshefa!
Egyptian cuisine is oriental and diverse. The dishes show Arabic, Persian, Syrian, and Turkish influences and are usually very fatty and heavily spiced. Cardamom, cumin, chili, and garlic are frequently used.
If you're ever invited to a truly Egyptian meal, you should be well prepared! That means it's best not to eat anything all day, because once you're seated at your host's table, it's not enough to simply say you enjoy the food; you'll have to put your words into practice. Don't worry, a vibrant mix of diverse cultural influences and incredibly delicious dishes awaits you!
Preparing these dishes typically requires not only a variety of ingredients but also a great deal of time. Nevertheless, the locals manage to combine the simplest and always very fresh ingredients into a special culinary delight.
Pork is not on the menu, as the Koran forbids its consumption, but kebab and kofta made from beef and lamb are very tasty.
Essential and a staple food for most Egyptians are flatbread (Aish Balladi), often eaten with white cheese and tomatoes, broad bean porridge (Fûl), and vegetable fritters (Tamija), which are frequently on the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pasta, rice, and legumes such as beans and lentils are served as filling side dishes.
The selection of desserts is also diverse and typically oriental: sugary sweet and heavy with honey.
And after every good meal in Egypt, chai (tea) and shisha (water pipe) are essential.
Starters
| Machalil: | pickled vegetables |
| Batingan: | marinated, roasted eggplant |
| Hummus: | Chickpea cream |
| Tehîna: | oily sesame cream |
| Baba Ghanug: | Sesame paste with grilled eggplant pieces |
| Bisra: | Bean soup with garlic and roasted onions |
| Fûl: | Porridge made from cooked broad beans |
| Shurbet atz: | lentil soup |
| Salata baladi: | Egyptian salad |
| Warak' Aynab: | Vine leaves stuffed with rice or minced meat |
Main courses and side dishes
| Okra: | Okra with tomato sauce |
| Besella: | Peas and carrots in tomato sauce |
| Mahshi: | Vegetables stuffed with herbed rice (depending on the season) |
| Cossa: | Zucchini stuffed with finely chopped meat |
| Saneyet batates: | Potatoes with peppers, onions and tomatoes |
| Shish Kebab: | Meat skewer made from lamb, liver and onions, sometimes also with chicken, grilled over a charcoal fire (Firakh) |
| Kebab Hall: | Lamb goulash with cumin |
| Kufta: | grilled, strongly seasoned minced meat rolls |
| Fatta: | Lamb on flatbread in a spicy sauce |
| Kebabs: | mutton or beef skewers |
| Hamam mahshi: | filled pigeons |
| Falafel: | small, oil-fried meatballs made from beans, onions, herbs and garlic |
| Kushari: | Rice, pasta, peas and lentils with onions, served with a spicy tomato sauce. |
| Mulluchiyya: | Soup made from spinach-like ingredients |
| Aisch Baladi: | flatbread |
dessert
| Baqlawa: | sweet puff pastry cake with almonds, sugar, cinnamon, honey |
| Basbusa: | Honey cake with nuts/sugar cake |
| Umm Ali: | A hot delicacy made from puff pastry, raisins, cinnamon, nuts and vanilla, topped with milk and cream. |
| Konafa: | Sweet macaron dough with almonds, syrup and nuts |
| Mahalabeya: | Rice pudding with rose oil |
