10 Egyptian Foods To Try

While you’re in Egypt you’ll find the likes of KFC, Hardee’s, Mc Donalds and other western based franchises, but it’s always worth trying out some traditional Egyptian food to get a true appreciation of the rich Egyptian culture.

Fuul

The most popular street food snack in Egypt, fuul is a paste of mashed black-eyed beans flavoured with garlic and olive oil.  It is ladled out of large copper pots, often into pockets of pitta bread and typically sold as an inexpensive takeaway sandwich.

Taamiya

Another Egyptian street food staple, known elsewhere as falafel,taamiya is made with mashed fuul beans and parsley (instead of chickpeas, which are used elsewhere around the Mediterranean). It is made in the shape of flat discs rather than round balls and is typically eaten as a sandwich with salad.

Koshari

A mix of rice, brown lentils and macaroni topped with fried onions and a spicy tomato sauce, koshari is normally eaten in dedicated koshari restaurants that serve the dish exclusively.

Shawarma

Like the Turkish doner kebab, shawarma is a large cone of pressed lamb or chicken that is rotated vertically in front of a flame grill. As the meat is cooked it is sliced off and mixed on a griddle with chopped tomato, onion and parsley before being rolled in a large disc of flatbread and wrapped in foil to take away.

Kofta and Kebab

Flame-grilled chunks of lamb (kebab) and spiced minced meat made into a sausage and grilled on a skewer (kofta) are a favourite Egyptian meal. It is typically eaten with a simple chopped tomato and cucumber salad and a disc of flatbread.

Molokhiya

Perhaps an acquired taste, this soup is made from mallow leaves. Green in colour, it has a thick, viscous texture. Egyptians eat it with meat such as rabbit or lamb. The Fatimid Sultan Hakim found the dish so unappetizing that he had it banned in the 11th century.

Pigeon

A traditional delicacy, pigeons (hamaam) are bred throughout Egypt in conical pigeon towers. They are stuffed with seasoned rice or, even better, bulgur wheat (freek) before being grilled or baked.

Desserts

Egyptian desserts are quite light. Mahalabiya is a delicate rosewater-flavoured ground rice dessert, topped with toasted nuts and cinnamon. Um Ali is similar to the English bread and butter pudding but is less soft and spongy as it is made with local dry breads. Roz bi laban is rice pudding, which is always served cold.

Baklava

Egyptians are big fans of the sticky, syrup-drenched, nut-filled filo pastries known collectively as baklava. There are numerous different kinds such as konafa, which has a cream base and a crunchy vermicelli pastry crust and basbousa, made of semolina pastry soaked in honey and topped with hazelnuts.

Fiteer

Fiteer is a light, flaky multilayered bread made from dough stretched paper thin and folded several times. It is served stuffed with minced meat or cheese or just plain, brushed with samneh (ghee) or dusted with icing sugar.