The Egyptian cuisine is very simple, and its simplicity is what makes it very tasty. A lot of dishes on the menu rely on vegetables and legumes such as lentils and beans rather than meat. The onions are present in most of the dishes, and also Egyptian bread is very common in this cuisine and often used for “spooning” the food. This cuisine is not very fancy but tasty and delicious.
Let’s have a look at some yummy and traditional Egyptian dishes:
Aisch Baladi: Baladi bread is probably the essential food in the egypt cuisine. The bread is flat bread made of whole wheat and bran and is traditionally baked in a wood burning oven. It’s very similar to a pie.
Tahini: It’s made with only two ingredients: sesame seeds and oil.
Tehina: This dish is made with sesame paste, lemon juice, and garlic. It’s typically served with pie bread.
Tehina salad: It’s a cucumber and tomato salad dressed with tahini-lemon dressing and plenty of fresh herbs.
Torly: It’s a mixture of baked squash, potatoes, carrots, onions, and tomato sauce.
Baba Ghanoush: It’s also called eggplant dip and it’s prepared with tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. It’s served with Aisch Baladi.
Bram rice: It’s rice made with milk, stuffed with chicken liver.
Feseekh: It’s a fermented, salted and dried mullet fish.
Kofta: These are spiced meatballs often served on a skewer.
Kebda: It’s a fried liver.
Macaroni béchamel: It’s a ground mixture of two layers of macaroni (penne) smothered in a creamy bachamel sauce.
Mahshi: It’s a mixture of rice and stuffed vegetables such as zucchini, tomatoes, and green peppers, seasoned with herbs and spices. This mixture is then placed in a pot and topped with tomato sauce and lemon.
Samak mashwy: It’s grilled fish.
Roz meammar: This meal is baked in the oven. Contains milk, butter or cream, chicken stock with rice that has already been cooked .
Molokhia: A soup made from chopped mallow leaves mixed with coriander and garlic. Sometimes chicken, lamb or rabbit is added to this greenish soup.
Hawawshi: It’s called Egyptian meat pie and it’s spiced ground beef cooked in a whole loaf of baladi bread.
Sayadeya: It’s basically a fish cooked in yellow rice and some spices.
Besarah: This vegetarian dish is a mixture of herbs and spices. It’s made with parsley, dill, leek, crushed beans, onions, green bell pepper, fresh green coriander, and spices. It’s served with baladi bread.
Koshari: It’s an Egyptian dish made of rice, macaroni and lentils mixed together, topped with tomato sauce and garnished with chickpeas and crispy fried onions.
Egyptian Desserts
Baklava: There are numerous variations of baklava. It’s basically layers of flaky pastry filled with chopped nuts and honey syrup.
Halawa: A popular pastry in Egypt made from sesame paste.
Bouzat haleeb: It’s an egyptian ice-cream (more like milk sherbet than cream).
Umm Ali: Layers of bread soaked in milk and sometimes topped with nuts. It is served hot.
Kishk: It’s a milk pudding with nuts.
Roz Bel Laban: It’s a rice pudding with a hint of vanilla that can be served cold or warm.