Egypt
Ask what Egypt eats and the answer starts with this: ancient comfort food of beans, rice, bread and molokhia; vegetarian-leaning street classics with garlicky, cumin-scented depth. Look for Koshari (rice, lentils, macaroni and chickpeas under spiced tomato sauce and crispy onions), Ful medames (slow-stewed fava beans with cumin, oil and lemon; Egypt’s daily fuel) and Ta’ameya (herb-green fava-bean falafel crusted with sesame, stuffed into baladi bread). Assembled in Cairo in the late nineteenth century, combining Indian khichri brought by British-Indian troops, Italian pasta and Egyptian rice, lentils and chickpeas. This atlas has 51 Egypt dishes catalogued below, from everyday cooking to food kept for festivals and special occasions.
51 dishes.
QatayefStuffed pancakes filled with nuts or cream, fried or served fresh in syrup
Rengasmoked herring shredded with onion, oil and lemon, eaten with green onions
Roz bel labanchilled creamy rice pudding scented with vanilla or mastic
Roz mo’ammarrice baked slowly in milk, cream and butter until a golden crust forms
Rumi cheesehard aged cow's cheese, sharp and salty, sliced onto bread or grated
Sahlabwarm thickened milk drink topped with cinnamon, coconut and nuts
SambousekFolded pastry triangles filled with cheese, meat or spinach and fried
Sayadeyafish baked over caramelised-onion spiced rice; Alexandrian coastal favourite
Sobiathick sweet milky drink of rice or coconut, served very cold
Stellapale lager, Egypt's oldest and best-known beer brand
Sugarcane juicefresh-pressed asab, frothy and sweet, from juice shops everywhere
Ta’ameyaherb-green fava-bean falafel crusted with sesame, stuffed into baladi bread
Tamr hindichilled tamarind sharbat, dark and tart, a Ramadan cooler
TermesSalted lupin beans soaked and brined, popped from their skins by hand
Torshisalt-brined turnips, carrots, limes and peppers, stained pink with beetroot-
Eish baladi
Puffed wholemeal pocket flatbread, the bran-dusted staple of Egyptian meals. Ready in 25 min prep and 25 min cooking. 8…
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Erk sous
Foaming liquorice-root infusion, bitter-sweet, served ice cold. Ready in 20 min prep and none cooking. 2 litres. A drink recipe…
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Fattah
Layers of crisp bread, rice and meat in garlic-vinegar tomato sauce; feast dish. Ready in 40 min prep and 2…
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Feseekh
Fermented salted grey mullet eaten with onions at the Sham el-Nessim festival. A fermented & pickled recipe from Egypt.
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Feteer meshaltet
Many-layered buttery flaky pastry, eaten with honey, cheese or savoury fillings. Ready in 45 min prep and 20 min cooking.…
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Ful medames
Stewed fava beans mashed with oil, cumin and chilli, scooped with bread. Ready in 15 min prep and Overnight soak…
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Ghorayeba
Pale melting butter cookie topped with a single almond. Ready in 30 min prep and 20 min cooking. About 30…
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Hamam mahshi
Pigeon stuffed with freekeh or rice, then roasted; Cairo delicacy. Ready in 30 min prep and 1 hr 20 min…
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Hawawshi
Baladi bread packed with spiced minced beef, baked crisp. Ready in 20 min prep and 25 min cooking. 4 sandwiches.…
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Hummus el Sham
Hot chickpea broth with cumin and lemon, drunk from a cup on winter streets. Ready in 15 minutes prep and…