Egyptian Food Guide by HT Couple

We wanted a getaway.  We wanted to eat something different.  HT wife wanted to go to a continent that she hasn't stepped on to.  We wanted to dive in tropical water.  And now, we are in Egypt.

Inspite of the political chaos and mini-protests are still present once in a while, we bravely flew to this super hot and sunny country to suffice our wants.

Bordered by several countries, Egypt's table has been influenced by its neighboring fellas.  And as tourism is one of the countries main sources of income, international fare is not uncommon.  From pizza, burgers to curries, name it, and they'll have it.

For almost 2 weeks of expedition in this side of the world, HT couple has been stuffing themselves with the Egyptian staples.

The main staple is the flat Egyptian bread ( a softer lebanese bread).  Whether your meal goes with rice, expect to get a basket of bread.  The locals used it to scoop dips, mezze and tagins.  Carbo loading as it may sound, you'll be needing it exploring this 40 degrees Celsius land especially in the month of July.

We've been eating like pigs and here's a list of our tummies' faves:

Koshari - a bowl of pasta look-alike topped with bountiful fried onions which may look simple but the first scoop really made me want to eat it over and over again.  Different carbs mixed all together in tomato sauce, chili sauce and the special ingredient which gives the bowl its wonderful flavor is the garlicky vinegar.  Give the bowl numerous drops and you're up for a delicious treat.

And what made this apart from pasta is the combination of macaroni pasta, spaghetti, noodles, rice and chick peas.  It's not koshary if you decided to skip one of these main ingredients :).

A famous koshary shop in Cairo is Abou Tarek.  But beware when walking into the street going to this shop as you might end up in another koshary shop claiming that they're another branch  and treat yourself with a few good hours in the toilet :D.  The shop has its English name on it so if you only see Arabic name, walk further.  (80 euro cents for a decent serving)

Molokhiyya soup - is made of green leafy veggies that is slimy in texture.  I was curious.  It was considered as the most popular dish of the country.  I dipped my bread in the soup and had my first taste.  It reminded me of saluyot a Filipino veggie that we also make into a vegetable dish and has the same texture but ours is more salty and we eat it always with rice.  This was prepared in the house of a Bedouin family, an ethnic group living in the desert.

Ta'amiyya or Felafel - deep fried and shaped into balls which is made of mashed beans with some spices giving its taste.  It's addictive even if there's no meat in it.  You would see this typically on breakfast tables of the locals.  This is also available as mezze.

Fuul - mashed beans slow-cooked in garlic, cumin and other spices sprinkled with lemon.  Also a staple for breakfast, locals eat in bowls more than this in the picture (i just took a spoon to taste it :D).  Unfortunately, this didn't suit HT wife's palate but HT hubbie made this his breakfast must-have. :) This is considered their national dish. (Lonely Planet)

Just like Greeks, Egyptians take their mezze seriously.  Here's plate-like table with a number of appetizers.  This was ordered by an Egyptian friend of mine living in Cairo.  And after polishing all the plates, there's no more room for main courses.  Here are the must-haves (dishes from the pic are represented as time clock):

Mahsi (greens at 10:00) - stuffed vine leaves usually with rice and herbs but some places you can get it with  meat...Baked and served hot.  (similar to Greeks' dolmades)

Tahini (6:00)- made of sesame.  Used as a bread dip and seems to be the locals favorites among their wide variety of dips.

Felafel/Ta'amiyya (3:00) - a big version

Stuffed sausages (10:00 - beside Mahsi) - intestines cleaned and stuffed with rice and herbs

Chicken liver Alexandrian style (middle) - cooked in cumin, garlic lime and coriander.  It's cooked in wok style but with herby taste.

Baba Ghanoug - mashed eggplant paste with garlic.  I'm not sure if this originated from Egypt or Greece, but nevertheless, it's always available in the Egyptian menu.  I love the one prepared in the dive boat, the eggplant has a smoky flavor and still has good chunks in it.  They spiced it up which burnt the tongue of the other divers, mostly British but HT couple indulged it with full pleasure :).

Hummus -  mashed chick peas and this version we had was thick and creamy making it a very good dip for the bread. (As Sahaby Lane Restaurant in Luxor -  1 euro)

After the vegetarian varieties, it's time to replenish ourselves with meat proteins. :)

Hamam - pigeons stuffed with rice and frik,  green wheat as well as herbs wherein coriander was dominant.  I always love pigeons served in chinese lauriat during parties and it was already difficult to eat but Egyptians made it more complicated and messy by stuffing it.  I'm not complaining as it was super delicious!

Abou El Sid was recommended by lonely planet and several travel forums that i've read.  And this place didn't fail us.  It served Egyptian food just like how it's being served in Egyptian home.  A friend of mine who's a local in Cairo loves this place.  Most diners are Cairenes than tourists.  We went their twice for dinner and the place was packed.  They have a few branches around Cairo.  The mezze and hamam are both from this restaurant.  Highly recommended by HT Couple. Mezze ( about 1-3 euro per serving) and Main course (5-7 euro)

Egypt is also known for their Tagins just like Morocco.  Tagins are earthware where the dishes are cooked long and keeping all the taste and flavor intact.  It's the old version of pressure cooker but the conventional way has always its own charm.

Camel Meat Tagin - HT hubbie was curious how a camel taste like so he got this in one of our dinners in Luxor.  It was less succulent than beef but still tender enough.  Stronger taste than beef but lesser taste than mutton.  We liked the meat very much but just the thought of the cute face of a camel...we wouldn't order it again.

Isn't he cute?  Now, tell me, would you eat his meat? :D

Tagin Bamya Bil Mozza - Stewed lamb shanks with okra, tomatoes, onions, garlic and cumin was such a delight and heavenly.  It was a bit on the oily side but it was full of flavor and goes well with rice and bread.  The meat was so tender that it just melted in our mouth.  Okras are typical ingredients in tagin dishes in Egypt. 

Mixed Kebabs -  just like the Turkish, Egyptians like grilled items too.  The most famous is Kofta, minced lamb and shaped into sausage and grilled.  Herby and smoky taste combined can never go wrong.

 Get this delicious bowl and kebab plate in Sofra Restaurant in Luxor (about 4 euro and 5.50 respectively).

For the sweet tooth, Egypt is the place to be.  All their desserts are very sweet.  This one was recommended by a local friend.

Fetir - egyptian pancake which is made of layers of filo topped with nuts, tasting similar to Greek Baklava.  This is usually eaten with honey (the normal honey or the famous black honey in Arab countries) and cream.  We were recommended to mix the black honey with the tahini (see dip from above), to give the pancakes its sweet and sour taste.  I love the softness of the layers and how well it absorbed the natural taste of honey.  I prefer just the honey instead of the mix.

Other famous desserts are Ruz Bi Laban - sticky rice in milk cream aka rice pudding - I had it in the dive boat but forgot to take pictures :D and my favorite Omm Ali - layers of pastry soaked in cream and milk sometimes with nuts and baked in the oven.  A friend of mine when she was still living in Belgium, would use croissants to make this dessert, it's not exactly the same but similar.  I would try making it too. :)

Drinking tea (shai)  is a past time here in Egypt just like in Turkey.  Hot tea with mint is popular but you can washed down your throat with Karkadai, hibiscus tea which is served either hot or cold.  With the weather here, a cold glass is a must.

You want to dine like locals?  Smoke seesha after a meal (well, they do it even before breakfast :D).  Apple flavor is the best seller but HT couple decided to just eat like locals and then look for a shop that sells beer. :D

Most restaurants add 10% sales tax and baksheesh,  a tip of few egyptian pounds wouldn't hurt.

Credits to Lonely Planet and Wikitravel for helping HT couple for this extensive food expedition. :D

TIME-OUT: HT wife...little did she know

Life is really full or surprises.  HT wife moved to this side of the world only knowing she'll be with HT husband freezing together in the land of milk and cheese...and windmills and clogs.

She had complaints.  She was almost at the point she wanted to go back to Asia.  Until, she slowly accepted that she is where she is now. 

Little did she know that it's also a full turn of her life.

She wanted to learn to drive.  She wanted to be independent.  Fate answered her prayers.  Little did she know that she learned how to drive but only with 2 wheels.  And for sure, she can handle 2 more wheels soon.

They said you learned a lot of words when you read books.  Carl Hiaasen and Stephen Clarke make her laugh.  Those chick lits( literature) brings out the woman in her.  Little did she know that at this side of the world, she wouldn't be spending any dime for more books, as she haven't finished her favorite book for a while.

HT wife has difficulty in saying NO.  Little did she know that this would be her most frequently used word.  With the dutch "no"....Nee (ney), it became more subtle and rejection suddenly is a song to one's ears. And at this side of the world, you can even say 'Nee' several times with up and down tone...just like singing.

Little did she know that she would still be in Holland...after a year.

But one thing she knows, she would be with HT hubbie...freezing again together for another year.

Yes!  It's been a year...sinced I moved myself to Holland.  I survived! 

HT couple in their first night of moving to this side of the world (thanks Poepels)

Turkish cooking lesson : Borek

I was invited by a friend to join a cooking lesson just around the neighborhood.  I knew it would be fun until I found out it will be conducted in Dutch (boo!) haha.  Well, i'm almost 1 year now in NL, and i would say i'm comfortable understanding de Dutchies.  I am still a bit shy to show them  the-dutch-in-me but i am getting there *wink*.  And just like love, FOOD doesn't speak any language. (i'm sure you fellow foodies would agree :D)

The class was run in a building in Utrecht where a worship room stands and a mini grocery where you can buy Turkish goodies.  And before we started cooking, we went shopping in the mini grocery to grab the ingredients for the day.

The dish was called Burek/Borek whatever it's real name is, it sounded good. :)  I've read in wikipedia about this dish but i was surprised with the different varieties of it.

And here's our Utrecht-style Borek

yummy-looking, isn't it?  read on to know how to make it.

I'm sure just like me, mostly everyone who's not well-versed in the kitchen, middle eastern or meditterenean cuisine sounds intimidating but be-scared-not...

What made this dish easy to make is the ready made thin dough, Yufka or Phyllo, unleavened flour that is oftenly used in the middle east.  You can get this in turks shop or anywhere in Lombok area in Utrecht  (i'm not sure where you can get this in Philippines or in Singapore though)

brushed oil on the rounded oven pan.  Ok, see that bottle of oil, we got that new and full, and see the amount that was used?  haha Shocked!  During the course, i noticed that it's normal for Turks to use a lot of it or better yet, they're fond of oil :D.  The phyllo was so thin that it's difficult to maintain it in one piece.  (check out the mess we did)

HT Hubbie loves borek.  But of a different kind with (gehakt or minced meat).  For the filling, we used 2 types of sausages (one that is similar to those you can get in cans and a fresh one), grated cheddar cheese and lots and lots of coriander.

just throw everything on top of the pan (easy, huh?) and more oil...whew!

we forgot the cheese but it was never too late.

if you think the thin phyllo makes this dish a light meal, think again...add more oil, then pour a cup of milk with flour all over...hmm..

use the remaining dough on top.  We cooked it on the fire instead of using the oven.  Our teacher, Fahtma, likes the conventional way :).  What's difficult with this method is you have to keep on turning the pan around so the dough is cooked evenly and it doesn't stick to the pan.  When the outer layer is a bit burnt, this was placed in the oven for 200C for about 10 mins.

it might not be appealing to the eye, but the taste said otherwise.

This was divided into 8 and i had a slice but it stuffed me like i had 2 slices of pizza or a hearty quiche.  And there's something with the deeg or dough that made this borek so tasty...whatever it is, i have to learn to read in Turks but since food doesn't speak any language then i'll stick to the ready made. :)

Have you done any unusual dish or attended any cooking lessons? :) Share your experience here :)

Prague, Czech Republic : HT Couple hits Praha!

Netherlands has a little over 5 days of public holidays and whitmonday is one of them. 

HT wife: "hey, whitmonday is a holiday in NL"

HT hubbie: "yeah, so?"

HT wife: "Time for a short holiday!"

HT hubbie: "Ok..."

TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK...

HT wife: "booked"

Yes...we try to travel hard while we can still walk long distances and when age is not yet a concern.  And this time, we decided to go East in Europe and we didn't think twice but to explore the beautiful Prague. 

Prague has maintained its charm despite of wars and floods.  And if you love Paris, think of Prague as a cleaner Paris (volgens mij - according to me).  And Prague is a place that wherever you stumble and whatever time of the day, you can see something interesting and beautiful. 

Tyn Church at night

Municipal House

Prague Castle

St. Martin Rotunda in Vysehrad

even Vysehrad cemetery made sure they're truly Prague

Being a walkable city, comfy shoes is a must and few stops here and there are necessary.  And Prague made sure that in every few steps, you have a place to hang around.

We arrived pretty late in the beautiful city, and the first thing we did after dropping our bags was...

to gulp glasses of beer (I had the Kozel, which is dark but light in taste which was favorable for me).  I don't really like beers, but hey, i'm in Prague...I will drink beer :).  For touristy area, you can get -0.5l Pilsnr for about 60-80czk~3.80 euro.  If you're adventurous enough and wanted to save a few kroners, check those small streets which serves the same beer and size for 35-40czk ~1.68 euro.  Drop by during happy hours...it does exist in Prague!

And you can never go hungry...

you can get ham in old town square and watch how it's being smoked

or this foot long inside the Prague Castle when your tummy starts growling...for food while walking around the area - it's better to have your tummy full before you started exploring the place if you mind being ripped off.  This foot long costs 120 czk~ 5.80 euro

HT couple, as tourists, ate like tourist so we made sure that we visit this raved cafe...

old cafe louvre building

with their famous hot chocolate

one thing i noticed in Prague, almost all menu, have measurements of what you order...the no. of grams, the no. of liters...i guess, right expectations are quite important here.

aside from beers, start your day right with MEAATTT...and that's what i did though i skipped the beer...(a good variation of Moravian ham, salami, chorizo and ham with pickles) 100+czk~5-7 euro

the bread is served to everyone with cover charge of 12 CZK whether you order it or not.  And expect additional few czk if you want milk with your coffee.

Czech cuisine is not very famous to locals.  But when you're a tourist, you should try it at least once.  But the gauge is more of, which place serves good or unique beers or cheap beers then you eat it with a Czech plate instead of the other way around. :)

and this is what made Pivovarsky Dum famous in Prague (beer sampler- consisting of 8 - 0.1L and uniquely served in this restaurant/brewery in one...do follow the arrow to savor each beers correctly) - 130czk~6 euro.  My favorite was the banana beer and HT hubbie settled with their wheat beer.

color wise, i love this green beer (made of nettle)!

Czech cuisine is similar to Germany or Austria.  HT hubbie indulged in this beef goulash with all types of dumplings(meat but starchy, bread and potatoes) 200czk~10 euro deluxe .  Nothing special other than the dish was pretty salty.  Gulp down a big glass of beer to wash out the salt from your body.

and i hate those advertisements or banners...it made me ordered pork knuckle (200czk~10euro/kg) that is almost half a piglet.  Good thing there's no side dishes other than horseradish and mustard sauce.  The meat was bit dry but i guess that's usual for roasted pig and it's bland without anything with it.  So if you don't fancy the pickled veggies and mustard sauce, i wouldn't recommend this plate.  (trivia: I finished it...whew!)

What's funny is that this restaurant stood just across the boutique hotel we stayed in so drinking too much and crawling home was possible.

We also tried the locals favorite hang out places..

Kozicka meaning little goat is an unpredictable place.  Peaking inside, you would only see wine cellars and bottles unless you really know the place, you wouldn't bother going in.  The actual dining area is at the basement and it's not just a wine and cheese place but serves real food!  Thanks again to Dahlia Inn's owner for his suggestion.

HT hubbie sticked to his principle that he's in Czech, he would eat only Czech food.  Kozicka, only has 3 different type of Czech cuisine and only the beef goulash sounded enticing.  And HT hubbie got it right this time, the beef was so tender that it melts in your mouth and the sauce was so tasty and well-balanced.  To top it off, this interesting potato pancakes were lovely and not oily.

and without much czechy choice, i settled to this rump steak (200g) but kozel style.  Topped with baked blue cheese with almond and chili sauce, i was scared that the chili sauce might overshadow the steak itself but it didn't!  I was surprised how it blended well with the saltiness of blue cheese and the aroma of almonds.  It was a perfect steak and a must-have!  (side dishes are ordered separately).  I got the goat potatoes, in onion and garlic cream.

even though they forgot to ask me how do i want it to be cooked, they still know what medium rare is.

Check out the blue cheese and almonds with oozing chili sauce? :) Unique, isn't it? :)  It was so delicious that I can't sleep that night despite of complementing it with a bottle of Moravian wine (Czech wine).

And after 2 days of eating meat and more meat...on our last lunch in Prague, we decided to go green.

tucked in a small street Borsova in old town, which is not visible to tourists' eyes.  (Thanks again Dahlia Inn owner!)

once you enter the place, it has a different ambiance from outside.  We got this small table on one side as most tables were reserved.  We were pretty early there so we were able to have photo sessions but after an hour, the locals started coming in.  (Lunch is very important in Prague)

Soup of the day - spinach soup with champignons, quinoa (a type of grain) and cream.   

Pinto salad was HT hubbie's choice - healthy but tasty salad with sour cream, eggplant and tomato puree with nachos.  It was refreshing andlight...it was nice to have something different yet tasteful after being TOO carnivorous.

 I took the oriental fry as i've been craving for something Asian.  We were supposed to try Malai Buddha near the Strahov Monastery but it's closed on Mondays...bummer.  But this plate was pretty good and tasty despite the lack of meat.  It was a bit spicy and was a good partner of rice.

They have daily menu - soup and main course for only 108czk (5 euro).  And the drinks were all refreshing (55 czk - 2.50 euro).  I got a fresh glass of aloe vera.  It's still a restaurant in czech, so beers are available!

We left Prague with full tummy.  We went to more places but I let you guys discover it yourself.  One thing is for sure, you can never go hungry nor thirsty there...even if it's beyond midnight!

And the place we stayed was worth mentioning.  It was situated just a few blocks from the main square - Wenceslas Square and run by the owner himself.  He's very hands on and treated us, and the other guests with trust.  He gave suggestions that are not easy to find via internet and let you check out places where locals usually hang out.  The rooms are what you see in their website (unlike other hotels where the pictures all over internet was so pretty and clean but staying there says otherwise).  If ever, i'll be back in Prague, I would definitely stay in Dahlia Inn again.  And for 50-60 euro, with decent beds, clean rooms and a good guide...this was really cheap and worth it.

http://www.dahliainn.com/

Just like Rome and Madrid, Prague will be a place where i can visit over and over again...and will never get tired of appreciating its beauty.

ADDENDUM:

I forgot to post this traiditional Czech bread which i also love.  You can choose between almonds or cinnamon. 

i chose the one with almonds

the fun part is watching how it's being made