Egyptian Food Desriptions

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Hurghada Lady
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Egyptian Food Desriptions

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Asab
Sugar cane juice. After the suger cane is pressed through a machine, it comes out a frothy green liquid, that tastes sweet, "green" and refreshing. Get it at any juice shop for about 50 piasters.

Ayesh Beladi
Flat unleavened pocket bread made of whole meal flour, chewy and delicious and hearty

Ayesh El Shams
A raised round loaf of bread that is the staple bread parts of Upper Egypt, including Aswan, and is traditionally left to bake under the sun in the hot sand. It is slightly sweet, and delightfully chewy with a good crust.

Ayesh Shami
Flat unleavened pocket bread made with white flour.

Baba Ganoogh
A blend of pureed eggplant/aubergine prepared with garlic, lemon, and tahina paste, served as a "salad/appetizer."

Balah
Dates. They can be red, orange, black, tan, or brown, and firm and crunchy, or melt-in-your-mouth soft and sweet, depending on the season. They are abundant, and the palm trees that line the streets are filled with them every fall. Don't be afraid to try this often unappetizing looking little fruit. When ripened to perfection, it is a delicacy indeed.

Fiteer
Sometimes referred to as the Egyptian pancake, it is a round pastry made with layers of filo dough and butter. It can be served warm with powdered sugar, or topped with pizza toppings, but is often eaten alone with a cup of tea as a breakfast or snack.

Fuul
Brown broad beans. As the staple of the common Egyptian diet, fuul is slow-cooked in a huge thin-necked pot over a fire. Each serving can then be prepared in a variety of ways: mixed with herbs and butter; mixed with olive oil and tomatoes; with tahina (sesame seed paste) stirred in; or spiced up with onions and peppers and a dash of cumin. Sometimes a hard boiled egg is crumbled in, and there is even a dish called Fuul Mubarak where the fuul is served with a hefty dollop of fresh cream sauce and a poached egg. It is eaten in a sandwich for those on the go, but preferably is served in a stainless steel bowl and scooped out with pieces of fresh pocket bread.

Fuul Nabit
Sprouted broad beans. Typically sold by local women out of plastic buckets covered with a cloth sack, the sprouted beans are lightly salted and undeniably healthy. It is usually then boiled in water or broth to make a soup, and is often served to someone with the flu or other ailment.

Gargir
"Rocket". This is a spicy salad green that is often served in salads or as whole leaf accompaniment to the main meal. It is said to sexually invigorate men.

Guava
Guava. The local guava is a yellowish color and can be mistaken for a pear. It is soft and mealy when ripe, with a large center full of seeds.

Hammam
Pigeon. (Not to be confused with Hammam, the Arabic word for bathroom!). Considered a delicacy, these birds are raised as other poultry and often served stuffed with rice or a grain called Fereex. They have a slightly gamey flavor.

Hummos
Chick peas or Garbanzo beans. Sometimes pureed with tahina and lemon and served as a dip, (hommos salata), but more commonly in Egypt it is brewed up by a street vendor with spices and served in a glass as a kind of soup.

Kahk
A special biscuit or cookie prepared on festive occasions, the term applies to everything from a short-bread like sweet cookie coated in powdered sugar to a fluffy loaf of challah-like bread with raisins.

Libb
Seeds. Every few hundred yards in the local section of town, you'll most likely find a seed shop, with piles of different kinds of toasted and roasted and salted squash or melon seeds sold in little bags. Egyptian men in particular often have a few handfuls in their pockets and expertly crack and expel the shell while conversing in the street or at the coffee shop.

Mashi
"Stuffed" anything, as in stuffed pigeon or stuffed vegetables of any kind. Zucchini/courgettes, eggplants/aubergines, bell peppers and cabbage are the common receptacles of delicious rice stuffing.

Mish
Fermented cheese. This concoction really only appeals to those with an acquired taste. Look for women in the markets with a covered bucket and lots of flies hovering about. The cheese is usually orange and extremely pungent.

Mulohkiya
This is a leafy vegetable similar to spinach or the like, but with small leaves that are practically pulped before cooking in broth with lots of garlic and butter. The cooked product is a bit slimy like okra, and is eaten either over rice, or by dipping pieces of bread into it.

Om Ali
A warm dessert consisting of a pudding with raisins and coconut and a cereal topping.

Qahwa
(Pronounced in Egypt as "ahwa.") Coffee. If you ask for coffee at the café, they will assume you mean Arabic coffee, which is similar to Turkish coffee and flavored with cardamom. It is brewed with the grounds in a little pot over a fire, sweetened with sugar, and served in a small glass. If you want western-style coffee, you must order "American" coffee or cappuccino. If that is not available, Nescafe instant coffee is the usual offer.

Qolqas
(Pronounced in Egypt as " 'ol'ass.") Taro Root. This is a large, round, pinkish jumbo-turnip looking root vegetable that appears in the vegetable stalls in the fall and winter months. You can cook it like potatoes, but it is best to pre-boil and rinse off the abundant starch. In Egypt, it is served in a soupy mixture with garlic, butter, and a green called salh.

Romann
Pomegranate. Some scholars say this was the true "apple" in the garden of Eden. Ruby red seeds reward the eater with drops of tangy juice. Best to go to a juice shop and have others do the work of extracting the juice for you.

Semna
Ghee. The authentic semna is prepared from real buffalo milk, cooked down and skimmed until the impurities are out. Newer products are vegetable-oil based.

Tahina
Sesame Seed paste. Often served mildly spiced with lemon, garlic, salt and pepper as a dip for bread as part of the "salad/appetizer" offerings. Also used as a dip for fish and kebabs and mixed into other pureed appetizers.

Tammeya
This is a fried vegetable patty made of ground broad beans (fuul) in Egypt and spices, whereas other countries use the chick pea as the base. Best eaten fresh and hot. Another staple of the Egyptian diet.

Teen
Figs. The variety in Egypt is a brown color with a reddish interior, very sweet and moist. Often served after the main meal in lieu of dessert.

Teen Shouki
Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit. In the summer months only, vendors will wander the streets with carts full of this fruit on ice. They will expertly skin the dangerous fruit for you, then serve the refreshing flesh within.

Torshi
Pickled vegetables. Similar to antipasto, torshi is served with practically every meal and the proud Egyptian housewife will make her own. Particularly good are the pickled salty lemons.


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Post by Goddess »

Food! My favourite topic!

Thanks to you I now know the arabic for a prickly pear fruit - never knew what it was called before, but never really wanted to know after I tried it once. I really didn't like it - but it does seem to be very popular over here.
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Post by Hurghada Lady »

Add any you know to the list. :)
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Post by Nilegoddess »

Hmm Hurghadalady your making my mouth water, I just love Um Ali........but anyway please ship me 20 kilos of 'Gargir' finding out its health giving properties I can give some to a few people I know ha ha
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Post by Hurghada Lady »

Its actually Cress, the big green one, dont know what it is called but plenty of iron it!
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Post by LittleLee »

I was always told it was pigeon (hamam) so who needs the iron, plenty of lead in the pencil.... :lol:
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Post by Hurghada Lady »

and Staccosa Lee, (Lobster) supposed to do the same thing.
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Post by Goddess »

Good Lord! Is this a topic about food or mens willies???!

Years and years ago - lettuce oil used to be the big thing in Luxor. Big being the operative word methinks!
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Post by Hurghada Lady »

:snig:
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Post by Horus »

Goddess wrote:Good Lord! Is this a topic about food or mens willies???!

Years and years ago - lettuce oil used to be the big thing in Luxor. Big being the operative word methinks!
You are not on about my uncle Min are you Goddess? :lol:
For those of you not familiar with him, here is his picture ;)

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He is often depicted with large Cos lettuce leaves behind him as a symbol of fertility.
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Post by Hurghada Lady »

Are you serious Horus?? I have not noticed the lettuce leaves before !
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Post by Horus »

Absolutely HL, :) I have searched through my 24,673 pictures to find you one showing the Lettuce leaves behind him. They are of course depicted as much larger than life, as is everything else, :lol: but in ancient times the plant would have been a lot taller and valued for its seeds that were used to produce oil. You may be wondering why the connection to a fertility god? :roll: I will give you the scientific name and you can make up your own mind: Lactuca sativa. Lactuca means 'milk forming', sativa means 'common'. When the stalks were broken this plant would ooze a milk like fluid. ;) All perfectly clear now I hope, enjoy your milky coffee. :P

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Senusret I making offerings to the god Min
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Post by Hurghada Lady »

Thanks for that Horus, I am amazed. Think I will take my coffee black from now on :lol:
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