Egypt: Recipes and Cuisine

Fruit vendor in Aswan Souk, Egypt
Image by yeowatzup

Egyptian cuisine goes back 5000 years to the time of the pharaohs. The pyramid builders survived on a diet of onions, garlic, coarse bread and beer. Beer is now mostly out of the picture, but those other basic ingredients, supplemented by tomatoes, okra, eggplant, favas, lentils, pasta and rice, still form the foundation of Egyptian food today. Meat has always been spare for Egyptians, given the small sliver of grazable land either side of the Nile. But dairy cattle provide a variety of farmer-style cheeses, and dishes using domesticated pigeon are favorites.

Typical Egyptian Dishes

A list of typical Egyptian dishes and foods. Use it to help you plan an Egyptian-style meal, party or festival.

Appetizers

  • Baba Ghanoush (Middle Eastern eggplant dip)
  • Hummus bi Tahini (Chickpea and sesame dip)

Soups and Stews)

  • Milookhiyya (Green herb soup)

Eggs and Dairy

  • Beid Hamine (Egyptian slow-cooked eggs)
  • Gibna Beida (Feta-style cheese)
  • Gibna Rumy (Cheddar-style cheese)
  • Mish (Ancient farmhouse-style cheese)

Poultry

  • Biram Ruzz (Baked rice mold with chicken)
  • Hamam Mahshi (Pigeons stuffed with bulgur)

Meats

  • Bamia (Ground lamb and okra stew)
  • Kuftat (Spiced meatballs)

Vegetables and Beans

  • Fool Medames (Fava bean stew)
  • Koshari (Lentils, rice and pasta)
  • Tamiyah (Fried chickpea patties)

Breads and Grains

  • Aish (Pocket bread)
  • Biram Ruzz (Baked rice mold with chicken)
  • Feteer Meshaltet (Egyptian puff pastry with dips)
  • Fireek (Cracked green wheat)
  • Kushari (Lentils, rice and pasta)

Sauces

  • Dim’a Musabika (Spicy tomato sauce)
  • Taratour (Sesame sauce)

Desserts

  • Basboosa (Semolina cake with honey-lemon syrup)
  • Couscous (Cinnamon-scented sweet)
  • Esh es Seraya (Bread and honey sweet)
  • Mihallabiya (Rose-scented pudding)

Breakfast

  • Ful Medames (Fava bean stew)
  • Beid Hamine (Egyptian slow-cooked eggs)

Egyptian Recipes

Try these recipes from Egypt.



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