S-Rs in Egypt…what we eat

After two somewhat depressing posts, I decided to take some time to explain more about daily life in Egypt.

Many of you have asked me what we eat here. This is fun to write about….

Many Egyptians are poor and maybe eat meat once a week and/or daily during feasts such as the upcoming Ramadan. Most Egyptians also do not have a way to refrigerate stuff (either because they lack electricity or lack a fridge) and don’t have a lot of excess cash so shopping is done daily.

That said, there are a lot of Americans and Europeans here and as quaint as it is to shop every day, it can get really old to never have any food around when say, your 3 year old gets hungry for lunch at 10am. We do about half of our shopping for staples (milk, sugar, cereal, oatmeal, etc) at what is known as “hypermarkets”. Hypermarkets are new phenomenon for Egyptians and seem to draw some disdain but I love them. Most of them are approximately the size of a Whole Foods and laid out like a grocery store in Europe (somewhat like a grocery store in the US only the healthy stuff is at the front of the store and not hidden away at the back AND there are some household goods there). There is only one hypermarket within walking distance (Metro) so we usually have to get a cab to either Alfa Market (right on the Nile!) or Carrefour (the largest of all markets-size of at least 3 Super-Walmarts! Ironically, very near the Giza pyramids). This is fine because we are usually stocking up on hefty things like paper towels, pullups, etc.

The other 50% of our shopping is done in local markets. There are 3 local markets (in order in which I like them) Miriam, Seoudi, and Kimo. Each has a slightly different stock. They are the size of maybe a large 7-Eleven. Prices are missing from many items making price comparison between the three almost impossible. People swear by the prices at one or another and most people shop at all three but are loyal to one. For us, it is Miriam Market because the staff always give Virginia a banana (which she doesn’t like but keeps her mouth shut until we get out of the store and gives it to me!) and because they always follow me around and take heavy things from my basket (there is no room for push baskets) and keep them for me up front. You’d think it would be annoying but it is really nice to like have room for yogurt even though you happened to grab space-hogging toilet paper first. Note that experience has shown us that it isn’t a great idea to buy fruits and veggies at hyper or local supermarkets. There just isn’t enough turnover and the merchants have seemingly trained in the US to wax and buff rotten fruit to make it look scrumptious in the light of market but disgusting in your own home. Also, most Egyptians don’t drink fresh milk, opting for liquid “milk” that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. You’ve got to be careful about the expiration dates and the fact that a stocker could have gotten confused and accidentally left a case of fresh milk out and stuck it in the fridge 3 days later. Buy in small batches. Rely on other Americans to tell you that the milk is bad at such and such place.

As a last resort and for our fruits and veggies, we shop the real local markets where Egyptians do almost all of their shopping. These vary from little kiosks and fruit stands pulled by donkeys to small urban-style strip shops. These mostly provide fruits and vegetables (most vendors sell one or the other but not both). They compete fiercely for your business and Americans have to walk way around the block to avoid showing “their” vendor evidence of purchase elsewhere. “Our” vendor is quite a walk away (nice because it avoids the jealousy issues) but delivers for free. He has a great selection, a shady spot, relatively few flies, and I think he is fair with me on the price without me haggling all day. His name is Ossama (yep, you read that right but note the spelling is different which I am convinced he did so we wouldn’t make the association…ha ha.).

So, what do we actually eat here? Despite the fact that “dieting” isn’t really even a concept that most Egyptians understand, we are dieting…sort of. Joe and I have lost almost 10 lbs each just on eating fruits and vegetables. This is the cheapest food and the best for us nutrition-wise so we as a family eat lots of fresh food. We don’t have the variety we had in the US though. Imports are expensive and hard to find so we are eating whatever is in season. I used to scorn the “localvore” movement but now find that it is the only way to live here…without spending a fortune and risking some weird foodhandling practices. So, right now, we are eating lots of roast chicken, watermelon, red grapes, hummus, baladi bread (like pita only yummier!), corn, peaches (imported but great!), broccoli (Joe is less-than-thrilled but is eating it), potatoes, tabouli, cucumbers, and red/green peppers. Red meat is expensive, steak is very hard to find…you can forget about pork. Even pepperoni is beef here. Yuck!

We also eat some of what I thought were American foods but turns out are European…like cinnabon. There is an infusion of American fast food chains here…Pizza Hut, McDonalds (with playland!), Burger King, KFC, Little Caesars, etc. Hardees stands heads and shoulders above the rest using local meats and fruits and veggies. Although we ate a lot of this initially, we find we just don’t have the taste for it anymore. Maybe if there was a Bojangles here, it would be different!

We typically eat breakfast and lunch from the cupboard and then order out for dinner. It seems extravagant but delivery can actually be cheaper than assembling it all yourself…especially given the bargaining disadvantage of my skin color. Of course, I am so disappointed not to be cooking all day (NOT!). We have kind of a routine…Monday is Dominos (3 medium pizzas for 50LE—the deals transcend cultures!), Tuesday is Mediterranean (hummus, cucumber sauce, tobouli, etc), Wednesday is scrambled eggs (I actually do those), Thursday is Italian, etc.

What is Egyptian cuisine? I know this disappoints many of you expecting a nice Egyptian meal from me when we return but it doesn’t seem to me that there is a distinct Egyptian cuisine. Egyptians eat local foods and tend towards a more Mediterranean diet (high in fruits and veggies, low on carbs especially white breads, etc, really low on meat), eat stuff with LOADS of sugar (like do you really need 4 heaping teaspoons of sugar in a small cup of tea?). Egyptians also eat a lot of northern Italian food (spaghetti with light sauce, fish, veal, etc), lots of lamb, and a fair bit of stinky French cheese (yum!). There are Egyptian cooking classes (someone making money off people like me, I’m sure) and we have tried Fuol (supposedly an Egyptian staple). Probably other people will love Fuol…it is like refried beans with a nice, mild flavor and Egyptians eat it in a bowl, wrapped in a sub sandwich, or on pita. It really does taste good but it smells a fright. I have no idea why it smells so bad but it does. The S-Rs hate refried beans but we managed a couple of servings one day. It is that good tasting…but we don’t put that in our fridge to stink up the house.

Although there isn’t necessarily Egyptian cuisine, there is definitely an Egyptian approach to eating. Egyptians are showy when it comes to food. Food is always served on fancy plates and looking its best with sprinkles of herbs, etc. Egyptians eat late…like lunch is around 2:30 or 3pm and a 10pm dinner (starting with a soup course) is not out of order. We often catch the tail end of the lunch crowd when we feed the kids at 5pm. Egyptian kids get like 5 hours of sleep per night but that is a story for another day…Anyway, the Egyptians take their time with the meal (something impossible for us to do if we have waited until 10pm) and smoke Shisha (water) pipes (long, lamp-looking things sitting on the floor with a hose and a mouthpiece) between courses. They eat a lot. They hang out with friends. Every day. It is pretty cool if you aren’t starving (which we are-see above diet of fruits and veggies).

So in sum, the S-Rs are surviving on a somewhat local diet with the occasional western-treat (like Mac and Cheese for $10 or Ritz Crackers for $6 a small box). When we get desperate for calories…there are always the 18cent cokes in the glass bottle at the vendor just outside! J

Have a good week!

-Ashley