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Not a Happy Camper
I have been thinking about this blog, naturally since my arrival to egypt was less than two weeks ago. But a number of contributing factors have restricted my ability to freely write about my experience. Currently I am dealing with cockroaches, pollution that burns my nose and gives me headaches, and bored children. Today I nearly got hit by a motor vehicle (screaming and crying ensued) and I am trying to determine if my bed is infested with bed bugs. On the positive side, I have picked up a considerable amount of Arabic. I have visited the Americian University of Cairo, navigated the Metro (inner city train), enjoyed the best cup of coffee in my life at Cilantro (a coffee shop), and most importantly, watched my children blossem under the influence of love and attention by their uncles and cousins.
A few days ago my husband and I went to a nearby shop that sells fresh fruit juice. The most notable thing about Egypt thus far is the absolute deliciousness of it’s fruit. Tomatoes that are bursing from ripeness; juicy green cantaloupe; lucious green grapes. It is a chef’s paradise.
I tried a drink made from sugercane, which my husband asserted was the national drink of egypt. The shopkeeper prepared the drink while we waited for a rather long time — he was preparing the sugarcane in the back of the shop — I could only see the long light yellowish green stalks protuding into the corrider. Large mesh bags hung from the ceiling, full of oranges and mangos. The shopkeepers son, about 8 years old, was nesting comfortably on the freezer — I wish I could do the same at home (a cool bed in a hot, humid climate). Another young boy assisted the shopkeeper with delivering orders to nearby parked cars. He was handsome, however he had really, really, really long fingernails. Yeech.
The drink was mediocure for my taste despite only being subtley sweet. I think this is one of the foods that fall into the ‘acquired taste’ category for foreigners. The color was also unattractive (a mossy, murky green with a thick layer of yellowish foam on top).
Did not spellcheck and too tired to proofread. I apologize.
Mediterranean Food
From Clifford Wright, recipes for Alexandria Style Griddled Fish, Egyptian Stewed Tomato Sauce, Ful Mudammas, Kushary, and Umm’Ali are here. Clifford Wright has been given a variety of prestigious awards for his cookbooks and his writing on Mediterranean food.
I have not tried the recipes…yet. He also offers an interesting historical and cultural background of Kushary here.
Couscous
A beautiful dish, simply prepared, and will easily impress guests. Delicious.
Note: to prepare squash for dicing, pre-cook it for approx. 20 minutes at 365 degrees C
1 medium sized butternut squash, diced (see note above)
2 cups yellow onion
1.5 cups carrots, diced
1.5 cups zuchhini, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1.5 cups chicken stock
1/4 c butter
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp saffron (or tumeric)
1.5 cups couscous
a few chives, chopped
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 C.
Toss vegtables together with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put upon a baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes until tender.
Bring stock to boil, add butter, salt, pepper, cumin and saffron. Simmer 15 minutes. Bring to boil again, place couscous and roasted vegetables in large metal bowl, pour stock over both. Cover with plastic wrap, let stand for 15 minutes. Add chives. Toss. Serve.
Vegetable Tian
An attractive vegetarian dish. Use vegetables with similiar diameter.
Ingredients:
olive oil
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 minced garlic cloves
2 unpeeled potatoes (well-scrubed)
2 zucchini
3 tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp thyme (or more, to taste)
sprinkling of white cheese, either Gruyere or mozzerella or parmasean
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees C.
Brush medium sized baking dish with olive oil. Put onions and garlic in. Slice vegetables in 1/4 inch thick and layer alternately in dish on top of inions. Make only one layer. Sprinkle sald, pepper, thyme, a little more olive oil. Cover with foil, bake 35 minutes (or more) until tender. Uncover, sprinkle cheese, bake another 30 minutes until cheese is browned.
Don’t Drink the Water
A good friend shared some tips about travelling:
1. Do. Not. Drink. The. Water.
2. Do not eat or drink fruit or salad outside the home (I probably will avoid it anyways unless properly washed)
3. Pepside (?) popsicles (to keep hydrated — especially for the kids)
4. Chlorine tablets — to use as water to clean face or hands or toothbrushes; other water can be used for shower
5. Hand sanitizer
6. Anticeptic (spray Lysol to toilet seat before using)
Fun stuff. A self-contained bubble suit would be nice too.
Kushary
NOTE: I AM TWEAKING THIS RECIPE — so don’t make it until I make sure the measurements are correct!!!
Practically a national dish of Egypt, this is a lentil-rice-tomato sauce mixture that is topped with caramalied onion. What distinguishes this recipe from others is the type of rice grain used — basmati– and the chicken stock used to flavor the rice (try to use homemade chicken stock).
Kushary
2 cups long grain rice (like basmati)
1/2 cup brown lentils
125 ml olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
1/2 cup small macaroni
5 ml ground cumin
1.5 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper
2 onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
*
For the tomato sauce (medium spicy-hot)
1 (14 oz) can of tomatoes
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
30 ml olive oil
5 ml harissa (or just use hot chili sauce)
*****
To make the spicy tomato sauce:
Put all ingredients (as listed for the tomato sauce above) in a saucepan, stir, and bring to a boil. Turn heat low, simmer 25 min. Stir. Keep warm
To make the rice and lentil mixture:
1. Rinse rice until water runs clear and then soak for 2 hours.
2. Wash lentils. Soak 30 minutes. Just-cover the lentils with fresh water and cook for 15 minutes. Do not overcook.
3. Heat 30 ml of olive oil in a pan and sauté one cup of finely chopped onion until brown.
4. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain. Put to side.
5. Drain lentils and rice. Add lentils, rice and cumin to the saucepan with the cooked onion. Cook for one minute, add chicken stock, some salt and pepper. Bring to boil, then simmer. Let the rice and lentil mixture cook, uncovered for about 20 minutes, by which time the liquid will have been absorbed. Stir in pasta.
6. In the meantime, brown the remaining 2 cups of onion in vegetable oil and scatter on top of rice mixture.
Serve with tomato sauce on the side.
Telephone Information
Information regarding making international calls, telephone repairs, complaints, inquiries:
http://alexandriaegypt.com/emergency/index.htm
Emergency Numbers
Contact information for fire, ambulance, airport, hospital and police can be found here:
