Koneifa

Koneifa is soooooooooo fabulous. And when it is mixed with a layer of eshta, it skyrockets right off the fabulousness chart.

Pistachios top off the rapturous perfection that is Koneifa with Esta

Basically, Koneifa is tiny bits of shredded phyllo dough baked and covered with gooey sugary love. It sort of reminds me of eating Shredded Wheat cereal - but only a whole lot more yummy and sinful for the waistline.

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.

Fasting

Egyptians, when you combine Muslims and Christians together, probably have the world record for most days of fasting per year. According to the Encyclopedia Coptica, Coptic Christians alone fast 210 days a year. Wow. Talk about self-discipline.

Around 60 of those days Copts live on a vegan diet, and for the rest they may eat fish but refrain from other meat or animal products and similar to Muslims also refrain from eating food from sunrise to sunset (see Marie Henein's great article for some excellent recipes and info on veganism in the Coptic Church). The Coptic Church sees fasting and asceticism in a positive spiritual light, as an emulation of the life of Jesus (Matt. 4:2), and also of Moses and Elijah (Exod. 40:28; 1 Kings 19:8), and a sublimation to the glory of God and an expression of love.

As with the Coptic Christians, Muslims in Egypt view fasting in a highly positive sense. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The time of fasting is not just about abstaining, but also about doing good deeds, increasing compassion and mercy for the suffering of others, developing self-control, and love of others and of God. "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious)."  [Soorah al-Baqarah (2):183] Muslims also fast outside of Ramadan as well, though it is not required of them unless they are making up for days lost during Ramadan (as in the case of travel for example, wherein they are exempt). Read this nice article on: "The fasting of Ramadan: A time for Thought, Action and Change!"

Ramadan Iftar Parties

Iftar, made huge and fabulous.

Iftar

Iftar is the meal that Muslims share with their friends and family during Ramadan as they are breaking their fast from sunrise to sunset. Everyone sits together in anticipation, and at the sound of the Magreb (sunset) adhan (or in Egypt - the cannon!) everyone begins to dine together, starting first with Khoshev, and then getting to the main course and afterwards sweets.

Prayer Carpets

The five times of prayer a day in Islam are meant to be a direct channel of communication between a person and God. As such, Muslims have ritual washing (wudu) before prayer, among which is cleaning the feet, and also standing on a clean carpet before praying to God. Prayer carpets have a nice velvety soft feeling under your feet, and are often made of bright colors. This picture is taken from a store just outside of Khan al Khalili. Note, prayer carpets are not essential for praying, here in Egypt you will often see people praying in the grass for example, over "nature's carpet" (especially the case for the Eid prayer), though carpets are added over the grass too when available.

Knitted Caps

Varieties of knitted caps for sale just outside of
Al Hussein Mosque next to Khan al Khalili

Personally, I think these are great. They make me think of Bakar, the cute little Egyptian cartoon. Men in Muslim countries wear such hats in emulation of the Prophet Muhammad, however wearing head coverings is a tradition that predates Islam in Arabia - which seems natural, since it is so well-fitting to the geography in protecting the skull from the sun's strong rays, and keeping in body heat during the cold desert nights.