Guys, food is important, and much as we wish to deny our inner fatty and pretend like it doesn't have a significant effect on our lives, it totally does. The other day I was having a particularly hard time with my host family and I found a packet of American candy that I hadn't realized my Dad brought when he visited me in December and I literally cried, I was so happy. Food is important, especially when you don't have the food you're used to to remind you of home. So this post is dedicated to everything I've learned about how to eat well in Alex, and how you too can do this if and when you come here.
Egyptian food is known for being terrible, whereas food from Jordan/Syria/Lebanon/Palestine is known for being great. However, in the words of an excellent article I just read, "Unlike the food in places like Lebanon and Syria, where a meal is composed of dozens of dainty dishes to slowly sample as you sip Œaraq, the local firewater, Egyptian cuisine is strictly working class."
So yeah, our food isn't bad, it's just fashionably plebeian, ok? Egyptians are the type of people that love meat and beans and potatoes and who would never touch dainty Œaraq, if they drank they'd drink beer and that beer would be PBR, except before it became the hipster beer. We don't have time for your bourgeois delicious appetizers, all right, some people have to work for a living and that means we need something fast and filling aka variations on bean paste slapped in between some baladi bread with an occasional tomato, and that's what we'll eat until capitalist blood flows in the streets of Cairo. Solidarity forever.
Sorry, what I mean is that Egyptian food is actually incredibly hearty and surprisingly delicious, but more than this it's unpretentious and efficient. Branch out from foul and falafel and try shakshouka(egg delicious) and hawawshi and especially egyptian moussaqa, which is vegetarian and way better than anyone else's version. Try the kind with apples if you can find it, it’s delicious! All of the above can be purchased from Abu Rabie3, the college eatery, for less than 50 cents American. For a good sit-down place for Egyptian staples, try Mohammed Ahmed in Mahatat Raml, and Safwani which serves excellent kebabs (try stuffed pigeon) and more substantial mains. Good Egyptian mains include Macarona bil Bechamel/Negresco, a penne, cheese and beef/chicken casserole, various tagines and anything mahshi (stuffed vegetables).
Also, as Valerie said previously, Egypt is very season-oriented as far as produce goes, which makes for some of the best tasting fruits and vegetables in the world. You know how you go to farmers markets and what not at home and wrestle over whether you should spend the 6 dollars on those delicious looking tomatoes in the summer, well all of Egypt has those 6 dollar tomatoes and here they cost 35 cents a kilo.
Look out for guavas starting in September, pomegranates in the fall and winter, oranges in December through April, strawberry season peaks in March, mangoes, apricots, and grapes are everywhere in the summer, and peach season just began a couple of weeks ago. I made a delicious peach cobbler just now.
But this means vegetables too! In the early spring you'll see cabbages the size of small planets in the markets, and everyone will be making stuffed cabbage, my Egyptian host-grandma's greatest contribution to society. Take advantage of the gorgeous cauliflower and zucchini that is so cheap and so readily available and just cook as much as possible. Also, interested in local, organic meat? Go down to your local butcher and pick the chicken or rabbit you want to eat tonight. Rob even got to slaughter his own once. Seriously, just ask, they’ll let you do anything in this country.
Alexandria is also the bride of the Mediterranean, and the sea is catering its incredibly delicious wedding, so go to restaurants like Qadoura (both in Ras-El-Tin and in Bahary on the corniche) for delicious fish, calamari and shrimp. I recommend having some roasted sea-bass and fried shrimp. There is also usually a guy in every neighborhood who fries up calamari for people and grills whole fish. Our guy is a genius. Look out for flat fish Samak Musa and tiny shrimp that you can fry and eat whole with rice and salad. Delicious. Fish are also seasonal, but I haven’t figured that out yet.
Here are some places where you can get American food when you need it:
China House (next to San Stefano, on top of Cecil Hotel) has good (but a bit pricey) chinese and thai food, including glorious chicken coconut soup. if you order delivery, they give you 12% off!
Coffee Roastery in Kafr Abdoh is like the cheesecake factory of Egypt, and has some delicious and relatively authentic chicken nachos. If they don’t give you guacamole, ask for it. They have it, they’re just lazy.
Café Ole, also in Kafr Abdoh has this thing called a chicken quiche which is actually just an incredibly delicious chicken pot pie. It’s also 13 guinea. You’re welcome. They also have really good tomato soup.
For pizza, go to the local places on your street that serve pizza and fatir, a delicious sweet or savory calzone/crepe rather than ordering from pizza hut or pizza queen, which will inevitably be really expensive and not worth it. Egyptian pizza is usually pretty amazing despite being lacking in sauce. For the best pizza and fatir in Alex, go to Dahab between the big and little Sporting tram stops. Great Italian food can be found at Chez Gaby off Nabi Daniel street near the opera.
Metro is the place to go for American groceries (proper peanut butter, good cheese, etc) if you have a craving that simply cannot be contained, but check out Fathallah, where the middle class Egyptians go for most stuff, it’s much cheaper and the selection is usually pretty extensive. They even have good lunchmeat—I recommend getting the smoked chicken kind and not the beef—and dark chocolate—Corona is delicious! They also have a toy section where you can inevitably find something written in terrible English. It’s a fun place.
General advice on food: don’t eat too many raw vegetables your first couple weeks here, and if you get sick of your host-family’s food, cook for them. They will be amused and interested in your kitchen adventures and you will get to eat a meal you want to eat. It also gives your host-mom a well deserved night off. Also, be firm early on in your host family experience about the quantity that you are going to eat. If they pile on the food, politely spoon whatever you don't want back into the dish and talk about how it's a sin to waste food and you'd never want to throw something so delicious away. They have to learn early that you are not to be trifled with.
And so, dear friends, I wish you full (but not overly so) and contented stomachs. Sorry this post was so long. Hope some of it was helpful.
