Top Traditional Egyptian Food & Drinks to Try

The Traditional Egyptian Food :

Top Traditional Egyptian Food & Drinks are influenced by Mediterranean food. And the food of the Middle East. The following spices are used: coriander, cumin, saffron, and black pepper. Egyptian chili is ubiquitous. If you have a pepper allergy or don't like spicy food. Don't put it in your food.

Egyptian food has elements from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It's not fair to say that the outcome was mild. Egyptians don't think a meal is complete unless it has meat. Taymiyyah, But Full (fried bean paste and green herbs, also known as falafel).

Koshari is a dish that everyone eats. It is made of macaroni, rice, lentils, onions, and spices. European restaurants can be found in most Egyptian cities. In addition to fast food and ethnic restaurants. Restaurants feature more typical local meals.

Egypt loves dessert. Here, the food of the country really shines. Even more so when it's served with dark, thick, delicious coffee and tasty treats. When you feel like your stomach is going to burst, tell your server to bring you an apple-scented sheesha (water pipe). Some drawn-out puff pastry is good for the stomach, the mind, and the nerves.

The famous dishes of typical Egyptian Food :

• Mezze:

The mezze is starter. These are mainly sauces, including the well-known tahina and all the sauces of which it is the basic ingredient, such as hummus (tahina + chickpea cream) and baba ghannog (tahini + cream of eggplant previously roasted in the oven). If you are waiting for it to be ready at the table and want a small aperitif, try the torshy, pickled vegetables and mekhallil aubergines, also fried and seasoned with vinegar and garlic.

• Koshari:

Among the most famous Egyptian dishes, we must mention Koshari, a dish made of pasta (tubes), rice, legumes (lentils and sometimes chickpeas), sauce, a sauce made of vinegar and garlic and a sprinkling of caramelized onions, and Molokhiyya, a mallow soup, flavored with garlic and oil, pepper, salt, and coriander.

Meat dishes (kebab, Kofta, Hawawshy, Shish Tawooq) :

Kofta, a thin, elongated minced meatball, Hawawshy, a baked and packed sandwich with spicy minced meat, Shish Tawooq, a chicken skewer roasted on coals, and Kebab are popular meat dishes. Kebab and Kofta are mashwiyat (grilled meat). Chicken, beef, veal, and lamb are popular. Hamam (stuffed pigeon) and camel meat are also popular.

Pork is uncommon in Islamic countries (only in some areas with a Christian majority you can find it in some shops). Egyptians enjoy innards; street kiosks sell Kibda (liver) and Mokh (brain) sandwiches. Mumbar is a spicy rice-filled stomach. Vegans, don't give up! You have options. Torly is a pan of roasted vegetables (potatoes, aubergines, carrots).

Shorbat 'ads, a crimson lentil soup, is delicious in winter. Mahshy, veggies and vine leaves stuffed with spicy rice, is another distinctive vegetarian meal. Plenty of fruit, nuts, and seeds. Bananas, dates, mangoes, guavas, sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds are good.

Carob and Dom are southern specialties. It's sold in hard bits that can be softened with water (remotely reminiscent of licorice). Egyptian meals are varied, flavorful, and vegetarian-friendly.

Egyptian cuisine: characteristics and main foods :

• Feteer :

The typical Egyptian pizza is the Fateera, a kind of focaccia typical of the south and rural areas, where you can eat for breakfast with fresh cheese or honey or for lunch, stuffed with meat or vegetables.

• Bread or 'aysh :

One of the best things about Egyptian cuisine is a bread called 'aysh, which means 'life' in Arabic. If, in fact, everywhere in the world it is a basic and inevitable food, this is especially true in Egypt, where most dishes are eaten with aysh baladi, an unleavened bread similar to pita. The aysh is used as a spoon to eat sauces (already mentioned halves), the ful or wrapped in mashwiyat, and Tamiya. Another essential food for Egyptians is rice in white, which accompanies the juiciest dishes.

• Fish or Samak :

Also noteworthy is the variety of fish (samak) both sea. Freshwater, normally roasted, cut in half and seasoned with garlic, tomato, and aromatic herbs. Typical is the Tilapia del Nilo, the bolty, one of the most consumed of all. The Egyptians also love herring and Feseekh, a type of dried and fermented fish. The smell is not inviting but many find it irresistible!

The Traditional Egyptian Drinks :

• Tea & Coffee :

Drinking shai (tea) is the signature pastime of the country, and it is seen as strange and decidedly antisocial not to swig the tannin-laden beverage at regular intervals throughout the day. Shai will either come in the form of a teabag plonked in a cup or glass of hot water (Lipton is the usual brand) or a strong brew of the local leaves (the brew of choice is El Arosa).

It is always served sweet; to moderate this, order it sukar shwaiyya,

with ‘a little sugar’. If you don’t want any sugar, ask for min ghayr sukar. Far more refreshing, when it’s in season, is shai served with mint leaves: ask for shai na’na’. Be warned that you’ll risk severe embarrassment if you ask for milk anywhere but in tourist hotels and restaurants. In these places, ask for b’laban.

Turkish and Arabic coffee (ahwa; the word is also used for coffeehouse) aren’t widely consumed in the region; instant coffee (always called neskaf) is far more common. If you do find the real stuff, it’s likely to be a thick and powerful Turkish-style brew that’s served in small cups and drunk in a couple of short sips.

As with tea, you have to specify how much sugar you want: ahwa mazboot comes with a moderate amount of sugar but is still fairly sweet; if you don’t want any sugar to ask for ahwa saada.

• Water :

Don’t even think of drinking from the tap in Egypt – the dreaded ‘Nile Piles’ is enough to ruin any traveler’s day. Cheap bottled water is readily available in even the smallest towns. With that said, there is some debate regarding the drinkability of water in Cairo. Although we’ll leave it to you to see whether or not your body can cope, according to one Cairo ex-pat: ‘You can drink the water in Cairo, I swear. It just tastes less than delicious.’

• Other Drinks :

Over the hot summer months, many ahwa-goers forgo their regular teas and coffees for cooler drinks such as the crimson-hued, iced karkadai, a wonderfully refreshing drink boiled up from hibiscus leaves; limoon (lemon juice); or zabaady (yogurt beaten with cold water and salt).

In winter many prefer sahlab, a warm drink made with semolina powder, milk and chopped nuts; or yansoon, a medicinal-tasting aniseed drink. Juice stands are recognisable by the hanging bags of netted fruit (and carrots) that adorn their façades and are an absolute godsend on a hot summer’s day. Standard juices (asiir) include moz (banana), guafa (guava), limoon (lemon), manga (mango), bortuaan (orange), rumman (pomegranate), farawla (strawberry), and asab (sugar cane).

Celebrations :

Egyptians love nothing more than a celebration, and food plays an important role when it comes to thanksgiving for birth, the celebration of engagement, marriage, harvest, or celebration of a major religious holiday.

The most important religious holidays occur during Ramadan, the holy month of Ramadan. Breakfast, the evening meal prepared for breakfast, is a special feast that invites large soup, chicken, meat, and other delicacies. It is often enjoyed en masse on the street or specially constructed large tents.

Family celebrations always accompany a batch of bread. Ataïf (pancakes dipped in syrup) eaten on engagement day and biscuits are known as kahk bi loz (almond bracelets) are a favorite at weddings. The birth of the son is characterized by the presence of aromatic rice pudding with anise called boiled. Mullins also include eating a lot of sweet pastries.

The Egyptian sweet

Among the desserts, very popular especially during Ramadan, the month of fasting, are Konafa, Basbousa, Atayef, Roz bil laban (a kind of rice pudding). Halawa is, instead, a spreadable cream made from sesame, which is widely used in Egypt and the Middle East in general.

Finally, Egypt abounds in coffee shops where you can sip excellent shay (red or green tea), qahwa turkey (Turkish coffee), karkadeh (hibiscus), and excellent fresh fruit juices. Many small shops are selling freshly made fruit juices and permute and they are very precious in summer when people debilitated by the sultry heat take refuge there to fill up on sugar.

In these moments characterized by a drop in energy, nothing is more suitable than qasab, a very sweet liquid made from sugar cane! If you want to eat and try all these typical Egyptian dishes, you can plan one of the best Egyptian trips visiting the pyramids and the sphinx and eat most of the delicious Egyptian food!

Where & When to Eat & Drink

In Egypt, one rule stands firm: the best food is always served in private homes. If you are fortunate enough to be invited to share a home-cooked meal, make sure you take up the offer. Be warned however that you will most likely be stuffed to the point of bursting – the minute you look close to cleaning your plate, you will be showered with more food, which no amount of protesting can stop.

The only place we’d recommend branching out and trying other regional cuisines in Cairo as well as in tourist cities such as Luxor, Sharm el-Sheikh, and Dahab. Otherwise, look for where the locals are eating. In Alexandria for instance, you should follow their lead and dine out in the local seafood restaurants – they’re some of the best in the region.

When you do eat out, you’ll find that locals usually dine at a later hour than is the norm in the West. It’s usual to see diners arrive at a restaurant at 10 pm or even later in the big cities, particularly in summer. They also dine in large family groups, order up big, smoke like chimneys, and linger over their meals.

Quick Eats, Egyptian Street Food :

Once you've tried Egyptian street cuisine, you'll never go back to McDonald's or the colonel.

Fuul and ta'amiyya are both delicious when prepared and eaten fresh. National food is fuul, slow-cooked fava beans with garlic, parsley, olive oil, lemon, salt, black pepper, and cumin. As a sandwich, it's wonderful. Ta'amiyya is mashed broad beans and seasonings shaped into balls and deep-fried.

Shwarma is the local equivalent of the Greek gyros sandwich or the Turkish döner kebap. Strips of compressed lamb or chicken are sliced from a vertical spit and sizzled on a hot plate with chopped tomatoes and garnish. Look for shops with enormous metal tureens in the window; these serve kushari. A vegetarian dish of noodles, rice, lentils, and fried onions in a spicy tomato sauce.

It's affordable, filling, and genuinely Egyptian, despite resembling your mom's leftovers. Splash garlicky vinegar on kushari. The local pizza features a flaky pastry foundation. Top it with halloumi or sugar-dusted berries. Even though they're picturesque, avoid merchants' street carts. The food has often been out in the sun all day, exposed to fumes, dust, and insects.