Food of Egypt

Most of the population consumes bread, rice, beans, fruits, and vegetables on a daily basis. Those who can afford to also eat red meat, poultry, and fish.

The typical Egyptian breakfast consists of “Fool Mudammes” (fava bean dip) with pita bread, hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, and cup of hot tea with boiled milk. There are two major variations of Fool Mudammes, and recipes for them follow:

Fool Mudammas With Tomato:
1 15-ounce-can cooked fava beans ¼ cup olive oil 1 small onion, chopped 4 ounces tomato sauce ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper ¼ teaspoon paprika A few springs of fresh parsley Pita bread	In a skillet, sauté the chopped onion in the olive oil until the onion is transparent. Add salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Drain and rinse the fava beans, and add to the tomato mixture. Cook over miduim heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into serving dish, and garnish with paprika and olive oil. Eat with pita bread (small bites of bread rolled to form a spoon shape)

Fool Mudammas with Lemon and Garlic
1 15-ounce-can cooked fava beans ½ cup water 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ¼ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper ¼ cup olive oil ¼ teaspoon paprika A few springs of fresh parsley Pita bread	Drain and rinse fava beans. Place beans in a skillet and add ½ cup water. Heat over medium heat, allowing water to evaporate. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into serving dish, and garnish with paprika, parsley and olive oil. Eat with pita bread. (small bites of bread rolled to form a spoon shape)

Fool Mudammas is available in carryout restaurants in almost every neighborhood in Egypt and is an inexpensive yet nutritious meal. The same restaurants that serve fool also serve ta’miyyah, known as falafel in most of the Arab world and in the west.

Ta’miyyah is a deep-fried patty made of a dough-like paste that consists of fava beans, onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, and parsley. The patties are served in sandwiches with pickles, and are often a quick meal at lunch time.

Egypt national dinner is a spinach-like vegetable known as Mulukhiyyah. This leafy vegetable is a member of the hibiscus family and is grown in abundance in Egypt. When in season, Egyptians pick the leaves off the stems and cook them fresh. Out of season, Mulukhiyyah is available dried. Middle Eastern and Greek stores around Canada sell dried and/or frozen mulukhiyyah.

Mulukhiyyah
1/3 pound dried mulukhiyyah 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces 1 quart water 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper 6-7 gloves of garlic, mashed or finely chopped 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 teaspoon dried coriander	Boil the chicken pieces in water, skimming off and discarding the froth that appears during the boiling process. Add salt and pepper, and cook chicken until tender (about 30 minutes). Add mulukhiyyah and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, sauté garlic in olive oil, add coriander to garlic and stir well. When mulukhiyyah soup is finished cooking, pour garlic mixture into soup and simmer another 2 minutes. Serve mulukhiyyah over a bed of rice or eat with pita bread.

Fool, Ta’miyyah, and Mulukhiyyah are Egypt’s most popular foods. Other common foods include stuffed cabbage leaves, stuffed grape leaves, Musaqqa’a (eggplant and tomato casserole), macaroni baked with béchamel sauce, shick kebab, and shawirma (gyro) sandwiches.

Common desserts include kunafa, a baked pastry made of layers of shredded wheat dough and nuts and covered with syryp; baklawa (baklava), a baked pastery made of layers of filo dough and nuts and covered with syrup; and basbusa, a baked cake made of semolina flour and soaked in syrup.

Common drinks include hot tea with mint, Turkish coffee, a licorice root drink known as Irk sous, and fresh fruit juice including carrot juice and sugar cane juice squeezed fresh by street-side vendors.

Because they are predominately Muslims, Egyptians do not consume pork and prohibited from drinking alcoholic beverages. The latter, however, are served in expensive restaurants and hotels.