Celebration Streamers

When there is a celebration, it is time to hang up lights and beautiful swathes of traditional folk fabric, and streamers (or often a combination of all three together).

A street lined with shiny tinsel streamers

Streamers hanging outside of a meat shop (Mr. Meat).

Abu Treika

Abu Treika is one of Egyptian football's best players. In 2006 he was nominated for the CAF African Footballer of the Year award, and in 2008 he came second for African Footballer of the year, for his great role in helping Egypt win the African Cup of Nations in 2008 by scoring the winning goal. The ladies in my office are all smitten by him, and the men all seem to have respect for him. This was further emphasized in the 2008 African Cup when he appealed to strong local sentiment after scoring a goal over Sudan, he removed his shirt to reveal the statement "sympathize with Gaza". Apparently Abu Treika is not only an athlete, but he's also a thinker too - a graduate of Philosophy (wow, I am impressed!) and is a proud father of two twins! Here is a nice summary of Abu Treika's career.

Source: Al Ahram

This article by Gabriele Marcotti in the Sunday Times has a fantastic review on Treika, describes him as "possibly the greatest footballer in the history of the world with a bachelor's diploma in philosophy hanging on the wall of his sitting room" and  "arguably the best footballer on Earth not plying his trade in Europe or South America", remaining loyal to Egypt and refusing to move abroad just to advance his career.

Treika is apparently also involved a lot in leading a number of community and charity projects.

Desserts with Eshta and Dates

The sweetest combination of desserts - Eshta and Dates together. Yum.
Often, as in the picture below, also combined with vanilla ice cream, pistachios/slivered almonds, some cake or creamy rice pudding. The dates often make me feel less guilty about the calories for some reason. Mind you, I've been told that the Eshta - in small doses - is actually very healthy also, full of Vitamin A, and of course, calcium.

Eshta (clotted cream)

Eshta figures prominently in many of the Egyptian Ramadan desserts, like qatayef for example. Basically, it is the layer of cream that rises to the top when you heat the milk.

Source: Ethnic Gourmet

Eshta is equivalent of "cool" or "sick", when something is fabulous, you say it.

Here is a recipe from Beirut on how to make clotted cream.
For more information on varieties of yummy creamed dishes, read this nice article from the Washington Times on creme de la creme.

Field of Dreams

Egypt is a country, where everyone dreams - not of becoming the next David Beckham - but of becoming the next Abu Treika. You'll find football (soccer) being played in all corners of the country. And they have reasons to believe in themselves - they have won the African Cup of Nations more than any other country - seven times.

An impromptu match down a small side street in Mohandessin, Cairo

Arabian coffee

Yesterday, I tasted "arabic" coffee for the first time, and I start to understand why the Egyptian version of Turkish coffee is so flavorful - because it seems to be a blend of the two of them. Traditional arabic coffee seems to be made entirely from cardamom (hebaham). It is served with sweet delights (nuts covered in dates and then covered again in either sesame or caraway seeds). Combined, the coffee leaves this smooth and mesmerizingly warm all over feeling - refreshing especially after a day of fasting.

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.