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Cairo, Egypt


lperry

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I'll be in Egypt for the month of February. I have three weeks in Cairo during that time, and I am going to be staying in the Maadi district. My Egyptian colleague tells me my hotel is within walking distance of all sorts of interesting restaurants and grocery stores, although I don't think I will have a kitchen or even a hot plate. :mellow: I am told this is the diplomat/ex-pat section of town, so I am hoping for good food from many different cuisines.

Has anyone been to Cairo lately? Suggestions? Thoughts? Recommendations?

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Don't know if Cairo has evolved considerably in the 7 years since I have been that close to the scourge of humanity but a traveling Belgian nutritionist there warned us vagabond westerners to stay clear of any and all tap water that had not been boiled lest we get very, very sick, ie: thunder in the belly and diluvial hot rain, or, when you are standing in line to check out a Pharaonic mummy and there's runny in your tummy... yup, you guessed it, diarrhea, and unlessin' you're playing scrabble (62pts), its not cool to get it on vacation in a developing country.

Flying-by-the-seat-of-second-hand-pants budget restraints called for kushari (pasta, rice, lentils and fried onions) from street vendors as welcomed sustenance. The itinerant nutritionists sanctioned the consumption of raw fruits and vegetables and anything washed with what the locals knew as water. Soothe temptations of Indiana Jones fantasies and eat with the tourists. There are Carrefour supermarkets for food stuffs and sundries. The Ataba meat market has assorted meat (by)products on construction-paper covered ice and the mixture of ice water and blood trickles into a gutter/aisle of sorts through which Egyptian women shuffle in flip-flops. Based on this picture, it has hardly changed. Not much in the way of refrigeration but a memorable spectacle (think Istanbul's Grand Bazaar beyond Thunderdome).

More amazing than the Pyramids is the amount of garbage strewn about and the hundreds of empty apartment buildings outside of Cairo (unfinished building owners do not have to pay taxes). Traffic signals and women's lib were not yet commodities then and the smog that obscured the end of thoroughfares can only have gotten worse. If you have never been to a country rich in the tradition of haggling and souks, anyone whom you find to be genuinely friendly will inevitably end up selling you a carpet, oils or caponic bric-a-brac at inflated “special” discounts so it is best to have a particular color or scent in mind, room on the mantle and study the hallmarks of hand weaving. Accessorize yourself humbly, offer half the sum demanded, dodge their spit and walk away.

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Hmmm. Sounds and looks about like what I find in places in South America.

I am told that Maadi is better than Cairo proper in terms of food, and I actually like those bean/rice type dishes, so I may be OK. The water situation is worrisome, however, and I'll take my usual packet of Cipro just in case. I haven't had to use it yet (knocking on wood), and I hope I never do. Since I get to shop for myself a bit, I'll be able to wash things in the hotel, and a bit of dish soap and bleach (or ethanol in a pinch) tends to do the trick.

During the days I'll be at Helwan University, and I need to check to see where that actually is located. Colleagues there should be able to point me to good lunch places, I think.

I've been advised by others to offer 1/4 of what the street vendors ask :mellow: . It should be fun!

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I was in Cairo for roughly a week 5-6y ago. I loved the Kushari. Interestingly, my Egyptian friends all recommended choosing one's kushari source carefully. They clearly considered a vector for disease (Mubarak's revenge, as I liked to think of it). And speaking of which, yes, I came down with it. On the bright side, pharmacists can prescribe meds there. So, if you come down with something, go to a pharmacy where you think there is a chance they'll speak English. If you describe your symptoms (be sure to mention any meds you're allergic to, as well), they should be able to hook you up. It cleared up my problems.

We loved a bakery called El Abd (IIRC). It's been so long, however, that the recommendation probably has little standing. As a broad statement, however, I do recommend the desserts. They've got the flavor of a place that was colonized by the French while maintaining the things that a mid-E/African location does well (meaning, I remember lots of permutations on puff pastry/nuts/honey/coconuts/dates combos). If you ordered coffee 'a la Turk' you got the most wonderful coffee that could grow hair on your chest. I loved it. Oh, and delicious mint tea. Most of the food I could have taken or left. I didn't try anything in the neighborhood you're staying in or in any other expat-type neighborhood.

Although it's an obvious statement, the local liquor is abysmal (and I'm not even much of a drinker). I dont' know if you can get imported liquor. Didn't look into it.

(Side note unlrelated to food:

I felt a lot of hostility while we were there (before the war in Iraq). I was never sure whether it was because I wasn't dressed sufficiently conservatively (and compared to most of the Western tourists I saw, I felt like I was dressed like a nun), because I was clearly from a Western country, because i was a woman, something else, maybe there was no hostility, who knows. I would definitely say it would behoove you to dress conservatively. At least you're going at a cool time. We were there in September and it was hard to wear pants in 37C weather.)

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Since I'm here and have occasional access to the internet, I thought I'd write about a few places in case someone else is contemplating a trip.

I've been here just a week now and have been eating in more than out. There are several grocery stores, Massoud Market and Metro Market are good. I recommend the Istanbulli cheese - very salty and strong fresh, white cheese that is feta-like but somehow different. I also got a hard, yellow Egyptian cheese whose name I don't recall. The cookies are great - Napoleon's influence I think. I got butter cookies with date filling. Very good. Most pastry is a safe bet because of the French influence - it is all made with real butter if you go to a bakery and not the grocery store. Everything is listed in English and Arabic, and the shopkeepers are very helpful.

I'm staying in Maadi, a small garden district just south of Cairo proper, and the big "strip" of shops and restaurants is on Road 9. (They are numbered from the Nile). The Chinese restaurant just over the bridge that spans the Metro tracks is very good. I had the Moo Shoo vegetables. There is also a small restaurant just near the Metro stop that is a counter with a room next door that has two or three tables set up. They serve very good felafel (it is encrusted with crushed coriander seeds that get toasted in the frying), tahina, baba ghanoug (made with large amounts of tahina here), ful (think hummous made with spicy fava beans), and this incredible silky roasted eggplant stuffed with garlic and spices. I think it is marinated as well. The eggplants are about two to three inches long and so sweet. (obviously, this was my favorite). All the bread is made the day you eat it.

At Giza, Fel Felaf is a very nice place to eat just off the main square. The name is semi-reversed because it can be written in Arabic script to make the shape of a ship - this is the symbol of the restaurant. Again, typical Egyptian fare and all very good. Here I had a beet root salad and bessara, a spicy bean dish with crispy fried onions on it. The bread at this one is incredible - soft and filled with tiny pockets of air, still warm from the oven. The "lemonade" is made with freshly pressed key limes and is nice and sour. They have three or four restaurants throughout Cairo - it's a very safe bet.

In the Khan el Khalili market, the huge one downtown, everyone should visit the oldest operating cafe, El Fishawy. It is very easy to get lost in the market, but for a pound, you can get someone to show you. El Fishawy has been in constant operation for 250 years and claims to be the oldest cafe anywhere (I have no idea if this is true or not). A friend had the Turkish coffee and indicated that he makes it much better, and I had the pomegranate drink called ruman (or something like that in lovely Arabic script that I am not able to write). The fruit drinks come sweetened and with the glass filled with the fruit itself. We also saw strawberry. Just lovely.

As everyone mentioned, the tap water is off limits, but 1 1/2 liter bottles of water cost about 50 cents and are everywhere, so there isn't really a problem. I'm not a meat eater, so I can't comment on it, although I have heard from colleagues here that it tends to be pretty expensive due to the absence of any range land in the country. The produce is just exquisite. I had some wonderful Mandarins that had an incredible fragrance. My parents have a Satsuma tree in their yard in Florida, so I consider myself a fairly good judge of citrus, and there is excellent citrus here. I also saw some artichokes still on the stem and wished that I had a kitchen in my hotel.

The people are friendly, helpful, and kind, the scenery is incredible, and the food is excellent. Tonight I have the fortune of heading to a friend's house where I am going to learn how to cook some of the main staple dishes of Egypt. If I can replicate these eggplants at home, the trip will have been well worth it!

-Linda

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Notes and thoughts on koshary. Koshary is typical street food made from lentils, rice, pasta, tomato sauce, fried onions, and various spices. I had it homemade, and having it made at home is typical of middle and upper classes in Egypt, I'm told. I'm also told they don't trust food outside the home. Before I get accused of profiling.... My Egyptian friend cooked the koshary for me, and his Australian wife told me about the "food outside the home" issue, and instead of arguing, he looked at us like, yes, well, doesn't everyone know that?

At any rate, we had a discussion about getting sick in foreign countries and street food. I travel a lot and have only gotten the evil beasties one time (knocking on wood) in Mexico about fifteen years ago. I typically don't drink the water, but I do brush my teeth with it to try to incorporate some of the local flora in small amounts, and I eat yogurt when I get a chance. I also do not shy away from street food if it looks like the vendor is doing good business (and if it smells really good...). And in our discussion last night, this seemed to be the take-home message from a table full of people who work long field seasons in developing countries. It's all about trying to slowly incorporate the local foods, and for prepared food, it's all about the turnover. You are more likely to get sick from your hotel that doesn't serve a lot of people (so food sits a while) than you are from the guy who serves three hundred portions of koshary a day. I realize that this may be an atypical point of view coming from a person who grew up in a country with anti-bacterial everything. But there you have my two cents (even if you didn't really want it...) So far, so good, and I'm enjoying the food very much which is the entire point of the exercise. :mellow: So back to the koshary, I rather liked it. A nice spiced stew that covers the big three (fat/carb/protein), and tastes pretty good too.

The fruit here looks incredible. Last night I went to the vendor and bought about a kilo of strawberries (very sweet and decently flavorful) and some small fruits called harankash. They look like tiny orange tomatillos (cape gooseberries maybe?) and are tart and wonderful. I probably won't go for the berries again - they seem to be growing the typical "this ships well" variety, which is a real shame, but those little lanterns will definitely find their way into the bag next trip. I also may try some of the little melons. I saw what look like tiny cantaloupes, baseball size, and some others that were yellow.

-Linda

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Hi Anna- It is wonderful, and I hope that this information will be useful to someone else. I've been very lucky on this trip to be in with people who either live here or spend three months of the year here, so I have insider information that I did not expect to have. If I didn't, it would be much more hit or miss on the food.

The tea. This area is famous for mint tea, and the mint is peppermint. A good brand to look for in the grocery is Isis, but if you start quoting the cheesy 1970s Saturday morning show, nobody will get it. This brand of teas is organically grown and must have good turnover in the market because the wrapped box perfumed my entire bag during a five minute walk back to the hotel. They also make different herbal teas - cinnamon, anise, linden flower, chamomile etc. The other common herbal tea here is hibiscus, which is called kardakay. It is served very strongly brewed, sweetened, hot in the winter and cold in the summer. I like it, but I drink a lot of Celestial Seasonings tea, and this plant is the base of most of their blends. You can buy this in grocery stores in tea bags or from the spice vendors in the Khan al Khalili market from huge bulk baskets. Black tea at restaurants tends to be Lipton Yellow Label, but if you can find it, there is tea from Kenya that is very good. It has a red number "1" on the label and is dark, strong, and rich, much like the good tea I had in England. One minute in the cup and you can't see through the liquid any more.

Coffee is riskier than tea and ranges from abysmal to wonderful. Costas bakery is a safe bet - better than Beano coffee houses, and Costas has really good cheesecake if you are craving a fix. The toppings are made with fresh fruit.

If you are downtown in the evening, the Nile Hilton (located next to the Egyptian Museum) has a rooftop bar. It is a little strange and out of context - they have a Latin American mojito theme right now - but you can sit out on the roof and have a nice view of the city and the river. Drinks are OK and fairly pricey, but you are paying for the view, which is worth it, especially at night when all the lights are lit. We had a few appetizers which were decent. Calamari, baba ghanoug, hummous and a few other things made it across the table.

If you want something less expensive, the students here swear by the koshary stand outside the Egyptian museum. Prices will vary (there is a fluctuating, fairly large, you-look-like-a-foreigner tax here), but have been ranging between 12 and 17 LE which is between about 2 and 3 dollars. Eat here and you can have more money to spend in the Khan!

I've been eating lots of oranges. The nice ones are large, about ten cm across, and flattish like a tangerine. There is a small navel on the base of them, and the skins are shiny with intense color. They are mostly seedless and much more sour than the oranges back home. I really like them, and if you eat one in your room, you also get the benefit of an aromatherapy treatment that will last several hours.

Most of my time has been spent in the lab at the university, but today begins the weekend here, so I have two days to wander around and eat. I know that most people spend their time downtown when they visit Egypt, and I plan to be there tomorrow, so I will do some scouting. This is an excellent place to take one for the team. :mellow:

If anyone is thinking about a trip and has questions that are non-food related, (safety, how women should dress, culture shock etc), feel free to send me a note.

-Linda

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Snacking in Egypt seems to be a national pastime. When I'm working in the lab, every morning and afternoon I ride the Metro to and from the University, and there are cars reserved just for women, so I ride on those. (As an aside, this is a fantastic idea that I think the DC Metro authority should consider). The interesting thing about the women's metro car is that there are two major things happening during the ride. The first is chatting, and the second is eating. And everyone is eating some sort of snack from a shiny bag. So far I've tried the pretzels with nigella seeds that are sold in grocery stores and from street vendors (really good), and lots of different potato chips. The Chipsy brand rippled kind are good and the tomato flavor is my favorite. They run about 25 cents for a pretty big bag, so they are also dangerously accessible. After a few days out in the desert, they are a welcome source of salt as well.

I went south last week, and got to eat locally prepared food because the project had a cook who made us lunch every day. Dishes were typically fried potatoes, some sort of vegetable and/or meat stew served over rice and vermicelli, and oven-roasted vegetables. Everything was spiced with a blend containing cumin and black pepper, and oil is added liberally to everything. We had fresh fruit and dates also that are always excellent here.

In my few hours in Luxor during a train stop, I met up with a friend who showed me the Oasis cafe - a very nice little restaurant run by European ex pats. They have excellent salads, and if you are craving it, the hamburgers and fries are supposed to be good as well. There is a boat docked on the river that has a huge, neon cocktail glass on it. I can't remember the name, but it's difficult to miss the sign for cocktails and ice cream. This place has pretty good wine, although admittedly, the quality of the wine is somewhat dependent upon how long you have been here. It's a nice place to relax, have a drink, and watch the sun set.

Downtown in Cairo you can get nice food at the food court in the Nile Hilton shopping mall. Yes, I know, it's a food court, but the food really is decent and it's a good place to sit down and relax inside after you've been walking around for a while. Instead of having lots of little vendors, they have one kitchen that makes everything and they serve you like in a sit down restaurant. There is a bar there, but we didn't have anything so I can't vouch for the drinks. We had Thai curry chicken which was pronounced very good and a lentil burger which was also pretty good. The lemonade was great. There is a small cafe in the Egyptian Museum that has OK food but is a great stop for cold drinks and water.

This is my last week :mellow: . Hopefully I can get in some more restaurants. -Linda

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If you are in Egypt on business, it is likely that you will spend some time drinking tea and/or coffee with your clients. The beverage ritual is so important here that in the department where I worked, there were three people employed solely for the function of making tea and coffee for the guests of the administrators. My first day at work, I was literally shaking from the sugar and caffeine because I met everyone and had tea and sweets with them. It is one of those things that you don’t refuse. Also, if you are asked to stop by for tea in the future, it is not an insincere invitation. Both social and business pleasantries are completed over hot beverages.

Today I had tea with several people to say goodbye, and in one place I was offered Turkish coffee instead of the usual Nescafe instant. I admitted that I had never tried it, and it was brought to me with a glass of water just in case I didn’t care for it. Turkish coffee (for the three people other than me who have never tried it…) is dark roast, rich, thick, very sweet, and highly spiced with cardamom. It is made in a little single-serving handled pot called a kanehka (please excuse my phonetic spelling) and poured into a demitasse cup. The general consensus in the room was that it stems from the Ottoman occupation of the region. I usually choose tea over coffee, but I liked this quite a lot. It reminded me of Brazilian cafezinho with spices.

Dinner was at Max’s in Maadi. This is a pasta and steak restaurant with meat imported from Australia. I was with an Australian who explained that the meat in Egypt is not very good because of how it is fed/treated, and people who want a really nice steak like Max’s because everything is imported from an excellent producer. According to everyone who has been there, the food is always good and the wait staff is very helpful. Everyone speaks English here also. We had the Caprese salad that was made with real buffalo mozzarella (unusual – most times you see this on the menu, order, and are served something else) and nice, ripe tomatoes, the buffalo mozzarella seared in lemon sauce (just excellent), the steak in ginger sauce (pronounced delicious and perfectly cooked by my two dining companions who both ordered this entree), and the penne with mushroom, garlic, and tomato sauce (also quite good). The wine was the usual South African Cape Bay red. I am told that it arrives here in large vats and is bottled in Egypt. It’s drinkable, and since I’ve been here four weeks now, it tasted really good last night. If you are a serious wine drinker, you may wish to throw a couple of bottles in your suitcase when you come. All in all our bill came to about $60. If I haven’t mentioned it before, the food is really inexpensive here if you avoid the usual tourist traps and US chain hotels. I can’t imagine a meal this nice at home with appetizers and wine for three for this low a price.

-Linda

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I’m back in Virginia now, but I have a few more recommendations for the Cairo area. Recommendation #1 is buy the pistachios. If you can, get the ones from Iran – they are incredible. It can sometimes be difficult finding out sources because a lot of vendors will just tell you what you want to hear, so be sure to ask where they are from, not if they are from Iran. The California ones are good, but they are lacking in flavor in comparison to the ones in the Middle East.

If you like Turkish coffee, you can get the little tin-lined brass pots with the wooden handles in Egypt fairly easily from brass and copper vendors. There are many of these shops – they are surprisingly easy to find - and you are better off going in a shop on the street somewhere instead of in the Han el Halili market. Don’t pay more than 15 or 20 pounds for the one-cup size (that’s about 3 to 4 dollars), and if they want more, tell them you’ll give them 15, then just walk away. The price will drop in direct correlation with your distance from the vendor.

Coptic Cairo is at the Mar Girgis stop on the Metro – the museum is directly across from the exit, and the building is perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen. The food, however… So skip the coffee shop at the Coptic museum and go to the little outdoor one down the stairs from the Mar Girgis (St. George) church – that’s the big, round church just to the south of the Coptic Museum. They have nice fruit drinks, tea and coffee, decent snacks and sandwiches, and, perhaps more importantly, they have restrooms. You can sit in palm chairs, relax with a beverage, and watch the world go by.

Finally, I found out how to make the really intense limon drink that I liked so well. Buy key limes and let them get really ripe. Ripe ones are yellow skinned and pretty soft. It helps if organic are available, because you use the whole thing – skin and all. Cut the lime in half, take out the seeds, and throw it in the blender with some water and a bit of sugar. This is all to taste, and you can adjust it later, so don’t worry too much about the amounts. Blend until frothy. Pour this through a strainer and into a glass. This step takes out most of the bitterness, but leaves lots of mouth-puckering sourness. Taste it, and add more water and sugar if you need it. Add ice, and you are good to go.

Happy traveling! -Linda

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