Orange Juice

I've spoken elsewhere about juices in Egypt but orange juice deserves its own post. The local oranges here are fabulous almost year-round. They squeeze into fresh juice so fabulously and make a superb way to start your day.

Egyptian Salad

Egyptian salad usually has delicious vegetables, nice spices and vinegar dressing (including cumin plus a mix of spices you can buy in the grocery store called "mixed spice") and the bits of vegetables are usually cut up super small and yummy.

Maschi

Speaking of vegan delights,

Maschi is an amazing Egyptian dish. Basically maschi is a general term that applies to 

a variety of lovely rice&spice stuffed vegetables including zucchini, aubergine (which are are available in slim small sizes in both purple and white in Egypt), peppers, cabbage (like miniature cabbage rolls, with less tomato sauce), and rolled grape leaves. They are delicious, fabulously addictive, and great to take "on the go" for picnics or other travel. (Indeed, my sister-in-law always tells me that you can always identify Egyptian families at airports, because the mothers are the ones chasing after their children waving them down with the maschi they are trying to get them to eat). Maschi sometimes has meat in it (so watch out if you are vegetarian/vegan), though mostly I've seen it prepared without.

Barbecued sweet potatoes

One word: Fabulous.

Hibiscus

The Hibiscus flower (called "karkaday" by the Egyptians) is not only gorgeous, all over the place in Egypt, but also made into a fabulous drink which can be served both hot and cold. Drinking it hot is a great natural remedy for lowering your blood pressure. The drink is prepared with quite a bit of sugar, and it is really refreshing in both summer (cold) and winter (hot). The hot version is interestingly a bit like German gluhwein, minus the wine.

Hibiscus comes also in other variations of color, such as pink, white and even blue, but the most common variety here in Egypt is red.

Sun-kissed Laundry

Yes. Do a favor to the earth, and stop using up electricity by putting your clothes in the dryer; instead let your bedsheets and clothes dry the natural way, kissed by rays of sunshine. In Egypt - it's easy, in the summer  - depending on the heat - you can take half an hour to dry sometimes, even faster than your machine, and great for naturally bleaching your whites (though a bit less fabulous for your darker colors - take care not to leave them out too long!)

Almond Milk (yummy vegan alternative to rice and soy milk)

For people who are lactose intolerant, vegan, or just enjoy a nice sweet drink, then smooth and creamy Almond milk will tantalize your taste buds. This healthy alternative to milk and other milk replacements (like soy and rice) is a great source of protein and is just plain delicious. Visit the Alf Hana blog for a recipe on how to make almond milk.

Pigeon delicacies (Hamaam)

Pigeons have been a delicacy raised and eaten in Egypt since around 3000 BC. The below bird was served to me at my company iftar (breaking the fast) just the other night.

Garlic

Garlic, is a staple of the Egyptian diet. It figures prominently many famous Egyptian dishes, from moloheya to those spicy eggplant appetizers. They even have an entire fast food chain called "Tom & Basil" (Garlic and Onion). Mmmmm.

Dates

Dates are eaten all year in Egypt, however during Ramadan they take on special significance as they are used to break one's fast. Muslims believe that dates have special health benefits, this stems from the Quran. In one of the "Chapters" (Suras) of the Quran called Maryam (the Virgin Mary), there is a description of Mary experiencing the pangs of giving birth to Jesus. A voice calls out to her, "Do not grieve! Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm towards you and fresh, ripe dates will drop down onto you. Eat and drink and delight your eyes…" (Qur'an, 19:23-26)

The health benefits of eating dates while pregnant have been proposed in other places as well, however the benefits of eating dates extend beyond pregnant women, reputed as a good way to lose weight, a laxative, good for the nervous system and fighting melancholy and stress, good for lowering cholesterol, a great source of dietary fibers and antioxidants, rich in iron, potassium and minerals like calcium, copper and magnesium, chock full of vitamins, and fabulously delicious to boot. (They make for really healthy ingredients in cookies and desserts, avoiding excessive use of sugars in cooking)

Khoshev

This is one of my favorite fabulous things about Ramadan. Khoshev is the first thing you eat after you break your fast at sunset. It can be made in a number of ways, but the basic recipe is dates, with prunes, apricots, raisins, soaked in either water or milk. You prepare this first thing in the morning, so by the time you break your fast, the water/milk has taken on all the sweetness of the dates and raisins, etc. and tastes fabulously delicious.

Kosherie

Kosherie is a staple of the Egyptian diet, and its wonderful. The word kosherie apparently means a mixture of many different things (a great symbol for Egypt really...). To make it, you need small round pasta, lentils, rice, chick peas, some burnt onions and garlicy spicy tomato sauce to throw on top. See this post more about Healthy and Delicious fast food in Egypt.

Kosherie often scooped into plastic cartons and served to go!

Kids leaning over a kosherie cart in Old Cairo

Tamarind, Carob, Hibiscus, Apricot mmmmmmmmmmmm yummy drinks

I love this. In Arabic Tamarind is Tamra Hindi.
In Egypt they boil the Tamarind and make a delicious and very refreshing drink with it. Other similar traditional oriental health drinks (?I think? depending on the amount of sugar!) those made from Carob, and also from apricots and hibiscus. You can buy them easy peasy (like I do) at the grocery store in cartons such as the below, or bottled, or make it the natural way yourself.

A man walking through the streets selling cups of Tamarind drink

Moloheya

Moloheya is one of those things that looks gross because of it can be slimy (trust me, if eating it cold is NOT good), BUT, if you have a GOOD dish of moloheya, then it is the most truly delicious and healthy greeness possible, bursting full of essential minerals and vitamins and packed with garlicky taste. It is cooked with meat and is a bit thicker than a soup, eaten with Egyptian bread and/or white rice. It's easy to prepare delicious vegan and vegetarian versions too. YUM!

My daughter's bowl.

Amazingly, ALL of the children I know in Egypt LOVE to eat moloheya. Even my daughter, who is about the pickiest eater on the planet. So its a great food for parents to prepare for their children to ensure they get enough of the daily vitamins and minerals they require.

Juice Shops

The fresh juices in Egypt are faaa-bu-lous!

For any inductee to Egyptian juice stands, there is one which is very delicious and a must-try is a drink called Fahfahina, which features a blend of seasonal fruit (but usually something like banana and strawberries, mango juice, guava juice, melon, apples, maybe pomegranate seeds, even some crushed nuts and icecream)

My personal favorite is Asab juice (sugar cane). (This guy has captured an awesome photo of it here: Shawnbaldwin.com) They literally take the whole sugar cane stalk and push it into a big juicer that churns out this green yummy sugary and refreshing drink.

Amazing fruits and vegetables year-round

I grew up in Canada. Then I moved to rainy Europe. I can really say, that I don't think I ever really tasted a tomato until I went to Egypt (for more reasons on why North American tomatoes are so bland read this nice article on how "industrial farming has destroyed the tasty tomato". Compared to Egyptian tomatoes, all other tomatoes taste like water, really. In the past, I used to be dazed by people who could just eat a full tomato like an apple, but after living in Egypt I can start to understand why.

Egyptian Bread

Egyptian bread tastes so good once you start eating it is really hard to stop.

It is super delicious with hummus, baba ganouj, cheese, pickled lemons, and even nutella.

It is also fascinating to watch them make the bread in the outdoor stone fired ovens. Another fabulous thing is to see delivery men riding on bicycles in the busy streets of Cairo, balancing large wooden racks on their heads as they ride with loaves upon loaves of bread stacked on top.

source: dailytravelphotos.com

Yogurt

It seems like a really trite thing to mention, but it's something I love and so I am giving it a whole post: Yogurt. Before living in Egypt, I used to eat yogurt, but more out of health considerations than out of pure love. But in Egypt, it is a love affair. The yogurt here is the best I've eaten.

On another note - one of my favorite drinks here is Zibedi wa asal (yogurt with honey), its a great healthy alternative to a milkshake, terribly refreshing, served in almost any restaurant and cafe, and absolutely delicious.

Fabulous Stuffed Eggplant

Fabulous eggplant features prominently in a lot of Egyptian meals. These lovely hors d'oeuvres are made from these small thin plum eggplants sliced down the middle, stewed in vinegar (somehow - don't ask me details of the mysterious art of cooking) and stuffed with pungent garlic, hot green pepper, olive oil maybe tomatoes as well and some other mystery spices the chef who made this particular plate magically added.
Bon appetit!

Termis (Lupinis)

Just love eating these little salty guys. In Egypt they call these legumes Termis. I've read about them elsewhere as being called Lupinis. And have found some scientific papers referring to them as Lupinus Termis.

Whatever you want to call them. I love them. The first time I ate them was not in Egypt actually, but in Jordan, but they are as popular here in Egypt as they were there. Fabulous. High in protein (see my post on veganism in Middle East) and high in calcium and phosphorus. Overall, a great healthy snack food.

A man sitting under a wide umbrella in front of a mosque,
selling cups of Termis (with lemon) and peanuts

Selling paper tubes of Termis in front of another mosque