Well, I've just returned from one of the most amazing places on earth. I visited Egypt last weekwith a friend and I have to say it was truly spectacular from the minute we arrived in Luxor towhen we left 8 days later in Cairo.
Our first morning we hopped onto a tour bus and went to visit The Valley of the Kings, TheValley of the Queens, Hatchepsut's Temple and The Colossi of Memnon and that was all beforewe had our first traditional Egyptian lunch...falafel, of course and chicken shish tawook.Throughout the week we sampled some really amazing foods. Every meal I had was local andbeautifully fresh. The Egyptians grow fields upon fields of cucumbers and tomatoes and youwould always get a fresh salad with your meal, just what you need on a hot day in the desert.
Living in the Middle East for the past 8 months has opened up a whole new world of tastes andflavours for me. So I knew when I arrived in Egypt we were in for a treat!
Falafel, a staple for many Arabs, Eggplant Tajine (pronounced Ta-geen in Egyptian), Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Grilled Sea Bass, Carp Tajine, Chicken Shish, all kinds of Kababs and finally Kushari….which was my favourite Egyptian meal, we ate it on our last day in a restaurant called ‘Abu Tarek’ which is famous for serving some of the finest Kushari in town!
A local Cairene, Mohammed, whom we randomly met in the street told us all about it and I had been dying to try some all week so off we went to find this “Temple”.
Kushari is a very healthy but cheap vegetarian dish; It is a mix of lentils, noodles and rice, topped with chick peas and lemon, crispy fried onions, a spicy tomato sauce and garlicky vinegar. As you can imagine it tickles every taste bud in your mouth and is extremely satisfying. The flavours all work so well together. A medium sized bowl cost around 2 Euro and kept us going all day.
