Egyptian Food and Beverages

Food and Beverages

The Egyptian cuisine is in contrast to the exquisite Lebanese- Arabic cuisine, down to earth, but still creative and imaginative. Unfortunately Egyptian dishes are rarely served in the hotels. In most cases, the offer is limited to a weekly Arab theme night in the hotel restaurant or there is an Arabic specialty restaurant. But that typical Egyptian dishes are on the buffet, is an exception. In order to experience culinary Egypt, you should absolutely go out of the hotel and into a restaurant or buy something in one of the small snack stands to be found everywhere. Egyptian families often sit on the floor around a low table. The various dishes are placed on a large tray with short legs in individual plates on the floor and the family sits in a circle around it. So you do not have long across the whole tray to go to a feed on the "other" side of the tray is often placed a large bowl of rice in the middle and around the outside at least 2x served in small plates of rest, so that everyone has all the food in sight.
Typical Egyptian dishes that are worth a try : Flatbread : Flatbread is THE staple food and is therefore offered subsidized by the state favorable for the poor. You can Often see long queues at the outlet bakeries. In Modern Standard Arabic bread actually means "Chobs", but in Egypt it is called "aish", which literally means "life". Foul : Foul is a bean paste from cooked fava beans, seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper and tomato pieces. Admittedly, the final mass doesn’t look very appetizing , but it tastes very intense and is extremely satisfying. Foul is a typical breakfast dish in Egypt, which is eaten with pita bread from the bowl. You can buy it as a sandwich, then you will also receive a half pita bread filled with foul, as desired pieces of boiled egg in it. In some hotels you find foul at the breakfast buffet. Do you dare to take a bowl of it, like you can season to taste with salt, pepper or lemon.
Molokhia : No other Egyptian dish divides the tastes as molokhia does. Some love it , others find it disgusting, especially because of its slimy consistency. The plant is called in English. The leaves are finely chopped and then doused with hot (meat) broth. Then fried garlic and crushed coriander seeds are added. In hotels it is often offered as soup, while Egyptians usually eat it as vegetables with rice, pita bread, or dip them in molokhia and then pulling strings .
Tameia : Tameia are also known as falafel. The batter consists of beans, onions, parsley and spices, then it is fried in hot oil and then eaten plain or in a pita bread with salad and Tahina. Tameia are available for a few pounds in the countless small snackshops. Tameia are often found in hotel buffets at breakfast and are definitely worth a try.
Koshary : Koshary is a mixture of rice, lentils, chickpeas and pasta, served with tomato sauce - enriched with lots of garlic - and browned onions. Depending on your taste you can add vinegar and / or spicy tomato sauce. It is extremely tasty and very filling because of the many carbohydrates.
Kebda : If you order Kebda, you will get chopped fried beef liver, usually served with chips and pita bread. The meat is placed in a special marinade that give the characteristic flavor. Kebda also tastes very good to koshary or just macaroni. One serving Kebda with bread and salad costs only about 6 LE in an Egyptian snack. Kofta : Grilled rolls of minced beef or mutton. Tahina : Tahina sauce is THE quintessential Egyptian sauce. It is mixed with tahini (sesame paste), garlic and other spices and matches perfectly as a salad dressing or dip as for Tameia. Tahina can be found in hotels often as salad dressings variant. It has a yellow-beige color and is slightly thick and can be given on all salads, but also fits well with fish or meat dishes. Mixed with eggplant Tahina is called Baba Ghanoub Baba, a tasty version of the sauce . Shorba Ads : Delicious lentil soup made from red lentils, served with fried onions. Hurghada on the Red Sea also has a large selection of fish specialties and therefore also offers a large selection of fish restaurants.

Hurghada on the Red Sea also has a large selection of fish specialties and therefore also offers a large selection of fish restaurants. Directly on Sheraton Road near Mc Donald's, there is the Fish House and continuing towards Sekalla Square ( Midan Arabic Sekalla ) on the left you will find Starfish Restaurant and directly on Sekalla Square El Joker Restaurant. In the marina and around the fish market there are still many other restaurants serving fresh fish dishes.
Just as there are typical Egyptian dishes, you can also designate a spice as THE seasoning for the typical Egyptian taste: Cumin Ground cumin has a yellowish - green color. Adding a bit of Cumin to any dish will give it the typical Egyptian Arabian flavor. Other typical spices are coriander, chilli and garlic.
The Arab and therefore also the Egyptian cuisine are known for their dessert and sweets. In the hotels you will find a wide selection of sweets for dessert. Artfully decorated cakes, small pastries or pudding - the choice is enormous. One of the most famous dishes is Umm Ali . This is a kind of pudding puff pastry raisins and cream. It is served hot and is very sweet, but definitely worth a try. In general, almost all pastries , cakes , etc. are heavily sweetened or are often doused with sugar syrup. Sticky fingers after eating are certain.
Egyptians love to nibble different seeds like pumpkin , watermelon and sunflower seeds. They are all called "Lip " and are sold in special stores . The tiny melon seeds require some skill to crack them in the mouth and to separate the core from the shell , without taking your hands to help.
In terms of drinks , Egypt has something new to offer to your taste buds : Tap water is not recommended for drinking. Bottled water is widely available at low cost in plastic bottles. Check that the original seal is intact before purchase. Sooner or later you will invited for a cupo of tea, which symbolizes Egyptian hospitality. In the hotel or in a shop, you will be offered either Karkadeh or black tea. Egyptians love black tea, they can not understand by the way , if you drink his tea without sugar - here 2-3 teaspoons per cup are normal " Shay Masri " (Egyptian tea) or just order only " Shay " (tea), then you get blacktea - either in a bag or tea leaves directly in the Tea Glass . This tea is very bitter without sugar. A tasty alternative for the morning is when you are a little milk in the tea. Other popular teas are Shay bil Nana (black tea with fresh mint) and Yansoon (fennel). Another typical hot drink is Qahwa (" ahwa " - coffee). It is Turkish coffee with cardamom. The waiter will serve the coffee it directly at your place from a small tin jug into a small glass - including coffee grounds! The most frequently ordered variant is " ahwa masbut " which means that sugar is added in mediocrity. You can buy Turkish coffee in small packets in all supermarkets for home use. Karkadeh is made with dried mallow flowers. Classically, you get a glass of tea (or a glass cup, never a porcelain cup , etc.) in which the flowers were directly doused with hot water and stay in the water during consumption. The tea tastes good with or without sugar. Dried mallow flowers you can be bought anywhere, so you can also enjoy this tea at home.
You should definitely try a fresh juice. Depending on the season, juices like Orange juice, guava juice, mango juice and strawberry juice available in cafes , restaurants and juice bars . Guava juice is also very delicious and exotic. The guava is a pearlike fruit , yellow with white flesh and small hard seeds. You should enjoy freshly squeezed mango juice – it can’t be compared with the one you can buy in the supermarkets in Tetra Packs . Uncommon for foreign taste buds is the” Aisir Asab” - sugar cane juice. However, the greenish drink is very refreshing when you like the sweet-sour taste. A very refreshing drink on a hot day is Asir Laimun. This is sweetened lemon juice, like a lemonade.
Since Egypt is a Muslim country, the consumption of alcohol is not allowed for Muslims, therefore it is difficult to find shops where you can buy alcoholic drinks. In restaurants and hotels, however often beer, wine and spirits are available . Nevertheless, three different beers are offered in Egypt: Stella, Sakara, Luxor. It is similar to the German beer flavor, mostly Lager.. As import Heineken beer is usually offered. Beer in cans you can be bought in pubs and restaurants that have it on the menu. On Sheraton Road there are e.g. the pubs Spices and Joker (El Pasha Street) and the Golf Hotel is a focal point, or simply ask directly in a pub.
In restaurants and hotels and local wines are available and well worth a try. We do not recommend the purchase of other spirits. Schnapps, vodka, rum etc. can contain methyl alcohol. Its consumption can lead to serious health problems. Would you like hard drinks, it is recommended to purchase imported liquors from the Duty Free Shops. Within 48 hours of entry you can purchase up to 3 liters of alcohol upon presentation of passport with entry visa. In restaurants or pub it is advisable to see the bottle, before you order. As a non-alcoholic alternative to beer two kinds of malt drinks are available : Birell (corresponding to the non-alcoholic beer taste extremely similar) and Fairouz , which is available in the following flavors: pineapple, peach and apple. Cold Fairouz is a less sweet alternative to the usual soft drinks such as cola and lemonade and should definitely be tried . Our tip : Take a piece of your holiday with you and buy a few typical ingredients in Hurghada, then cook an Egyptian menu at home.