Egypt Tasty Traditional Dishes

Ful Medames:
Ful Medames consists of lava beans served with oil, garlic and lemon juice. It can be traced to Pharaonic roots, and quantities have been found in the Twelfth dynasty. The word “Medames” is Coptic for “buried” which refers to the way it was initially cooked: in a pot buried in hot coal or sand. It can be served with many embellishments such as butter, tomato sauce, tahini, fried or boiled eggs and pastrami. However, the most traditional method is to eat it plain and salted in an Egyptian bread bun.


Kushari:
Kushari is the Egyptian national dish, it consists of pasta and tomato sauce, among other items, including rice, lentils, caramelized onions, garlic and chickpeas. Having four sources of carbohydrates has made it the most popular lunch item in most common food outlets in Egypt for over 100 years. Kushari’s origins are not Egyptian at all, in fact it was a dish brought in by the British army in Egypt in the 19th century and the pasta was imported from Italy, the tomatoes are from Latin America and the rice from Asia. The idea to mix them all together in one extremely delicious, tasty and vegetarian dish was conceived in Egypt Country.




Mulukhiya:
Mulukhiya is made from the leaves of jute and corchorus plants that grow in east and north Africa. In Egypt, it is prepared by chopping the leaves with garlic and coriander and cooking it in an animal stock such as chicken, beef or rabbit, and served with Egyptian bread or rice. For example fish or shrimp are used as bases for the broth in coastal cities such as Alexandria and Port Said. During the late tenth century, the dish was banned by the Fatimid Caliph Al Hakim Bi-Amr Allah, while the ban was lifted, religious sects such as the Druze still refuse to eat the dish in respect for the late Caliph. It's othername is "Green Dish".


Halawa:
Halawa is made from sesame paste and is available in all shapes and forms. It has blocks, hair Halawa, energy bars and spreads. It is sometimes infused with other types of food to add to its flavor, these includes pistachios, pine nuts and almonds. It is a common staple food among Egyptians and it is eaten as a snack. Halawa can be used as a main ingredient in many other dishes, among those is the Sakalans, which is mixture of Halawa, honey and whipped cream. It is one of the few foods that can tolerate the hot Egyptian weather without going bad, and it doesn’t need any special storage conditions. It is a middle-eastern food across all countries in the Mediterranean Counntries.


Gibna Domiati:
Gibna Domiati is a white soft cheese made in the north of Egypt. It is typically made from buffalo milk but sometimes cow milk is added to the mixture. It is the most common cheese found in Egypt and is incorporated into a lot of dishes, such as sambousak or fried thin pastry stuffed with cheese or a tomato and cheese dip. Gibna Domiati is aged for a period of 1-3 years in large tin cans, before being eaten. Most Egyptian families take pride in the number of cans they have stored and for how long. It is said that the more the cheese is aged.