Historical pleasures of Egyptian cuisine

• 16 / 5 / 2023

 Egyptian cuisine includes rice-stuffed vegetables and grape leaves, hummus, falafel, shawarma, kebab, and kofta. Other dishes include ful medames (mashed fava beans), koshary (lentils and pasta), and molokhia (bush okra stew). Eish baladi is a native pita bread. Cheesemaking in Egypt dates back to the First Dynasty, with Domiati being the most common sort of cheese consumed today.

Egyptian cuisine is primarily vegetarian and legume-based, but it can sometimes include meats such as squab, chicken, and lamb. Grilling is commonly done with lamb and beef. Offal is a popular quick food in cities, and foie gras is a delicacy that has been made in the region since at least 2500 BC. Fish and seafood are abundant in Egypt's coastal regions. Because of the historically high cost of meat and the needs of the Coptic Christian community, which requires practically vegan diets for part of the year, a substantial portion of Egyptian cuisine is vegetarian.

Tea is Egypt's national drink, and beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage. While Islam is the dominant religion in Egypt, and observant Muslims tend to avoid alcohol, alcoholic beverages are nevertheless widely available in the country. Pork intake is likewise prohibited for Egyptian Muslims, hence it is only permissible for Egyptians who are not Muslim. Baqlawa, basbousa, and kunafa are among Egypt's most popular desserts. Desserts often contain dates, honey, and almonds.

Sorghum, like millet, was grown in Upper Egypt, although it was not a popular crop among Cairo people. It was only consumed during times of famine or scarcity when sorghum was chosen above other wheat substitutes used to manufacture emergency bread rations such as millet, bran, or broad beans.

In The Tale of Judar and His Brothers, an Egyptian story from Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the main character, a poor fisherman named Judar, gets a magic bag belonging to a necromancer of Maghrebi descent. This bag provides its owner with food such as rozz falafel, a rice dish seasoned with cinnamon and mastic, occasionally colored with saffron, and prepared stock and tail fat. 

Ancient Egyptian food included not only bread and drink, but also fruit, vegetables, and fish for the poor. Many of the carvings depicting gastronomy are from the Old and New Kingdom periods.

Egyptian cuisine is particularly suited to vegetarian diets, as it is heavy on bean and vegetable dishes. Though food in Alexandria and around Egypt's coast sometimes includes fish and other seafood, Egyptian cuisine is mostly based on crops that grow in the ground. 

Egypt's Red Sea ports were the primary sites of entry for spices into Europe. Egyptian cuisine has been influenced by the easy availability of numerous spices over the years. Cumin is the most often used spice. Other frequent spices include coriander, cardamom, chile, anise, bay leaves, dill, parsley, ginger, cinnamon, mint, and cloves.

Pigeon, chicken, and duck are common meats used in Egyptian cuisine. These are frequently boiled to provide the broth for various stews and soups. The most common meats for grilling are lamb and beef. Mashwiyat refers to grilled meats such as kofta, kabab, and cutlets. 

Offal, or a variety of meats, is popular in Egypt. Liver sandwiches, an Alexandria specialty, are a popular fast food option in cities. Chopped liver fried with bell peppers, chile, garlic, cumin, and other spices is served in a baguette-like bread known as eish fino. Egyptians consume cow and sheep brains.

Egyptians continue to appreciate foie Gras, a well-known delicacy. Its flavor is regarded as creamy, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of typical duck or goose livers. Foie Gras is sold whole or made into mousse, parfait, or pâté, and it can also be served as a complement to other foods, such as steak. The process of gavage, or shoving food down the throats of domesticated ducks and geese, dates back to 2500 BC when the ancient Egyptians began keeping birds for food.

Cheeses include domiati , the most widely eaten in Egypt;[16][17] Areesh cheese manufactured from laban rayb Rumi cheese, a firm, salty, ripened form of cheese that belongs to the same family as Pecorino Romano and Manchego.

The local bread is a form of hearty, thick, gluten-rich pita bread called eish balad   meaning "to live, be alive." The word means "life, way of living...; livelihood.
Egypt's government subsidizes bread, a program that dates back to the Nasser era. In 2008, a serious food crisis produced ever-longer bread lines at government-subsidized bakeries where there would ordinarily be none; occasional battles over bread erupted, resulting in 11 deaths. Egyptian dissidents and outside observers of the former National Democratic Party regime frequently criticized the bread subsidy as an attempt to buy off Egypt's urban working classes to promote acceptance of the authoritarian system; however, the subsidy persisted after the 2011 revolution.

Bread is often utilized as a tool in Egyptian cuisine, while also delivering carbohydrates and protein. Egyptians use bread to scoop up food, sauces, and dips, as well as wrap kebabs and falafel, to keep their hands from becoming greasy. Most pita breads are baked at high temperatures (450 °F or 232 °C), causing the flattened rounds of dough to expand substantially. When removed from the oven, the layers of baked dough remain divided within the deflated pita, allowing the bread to be opened into pockets and used in a variety of meals. Common breads include:

In Egypt, meze, also known as salatat, includes salads, cheeses, and bread before the main dish.[22] Popular dishes include: 

Baba ghannoug is a dip consisting of eggplant, lemon juice, salt, pepper, parsley, cumin, and oil.
Duqqa is a dry mixture of chopped nuts, seeds, and spices. 
Salata Baladi — a salad made with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and chili topped with parsley, cumin, coriander, vinegar, and oil. 
Tehina —a sesame paste dip or spread made of sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. 
Torshi —an assortment of pickled vegetables 

Egyptian cuisine is characterized by dishes such as ful medames, mashed fava beans; koshary, a mixture of lentils, rice, pasta, and other ingredients; molokhiya, chopped and cooked jute leaf with garlic and coriander sauce; and feteer meshaltet. 

 most popular dishes. Falafel, also known as ta'ameya in Egypt, is made from fava beans and served with fresh tomatoes, tahini sauce, and arugula.

Egyptians are notorious for using a lot of garlic and onions in their daily recipes. Fresh garlic blended with other herbs is used in spicy tomato salad and can also be put into boiled or baked eggplant. Garlic cooked with coriander is added to molokhiya, a famous green soup made from finely chopped jute leaves and sometimes chicken or rabbit. Fried onions can also be added to the koshary.