I think I’ve promised you a food post a few times now. So let’s do it.
My first introduction to real Egyptian food came on my first day in Edfu when we ordered koushari. I’m not counting what we had on the boat during our honeymoon as “real Egyptian”, because honestly, it’s far from it. Koushari is a strange dish. Its ingredient list goes something like this:
Rice
Macarroni and spaghetti noodles
Lentils
Chickpeas
Fried onions
Tomato sauce
Mix all that together and you have koushari. Sounds delightful, huh? Actually, when done correctly, it’s really quite good and filling.
Most of our meals are made by our cook Muhammad and served by Taib. When I asked if I could take their picture, Muhammad gave me a little dance.
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| Muhammad is on the left, Taib on the right. |
Breakfast (at 5:30am) consists of local breads, cheeses, yogurt, and bananas. Lunch (when we return from site around 2) has some of the same breads and fruits and cheeses, but we add some kind of meat (like tuna from a can mixed with vegetables, or cold leftovers from the night before’s meat dish mixed into pasta) and some salads/spreads (cucumber/tomato/onion salad, babaganoush, soft cheeses mixed with veggies, etc). There’s also occasionally an omelet with nothing inside. Dinner (7:30pm) is slightly more elaborate. That usually has a soup (these are SUPER good. We’ve had vegetable, lentil, and a ‘birdseed’ that is my absolute favorite. I’m tempted to bring Muhammad home with me just for the soups); main meat dish (pigeon and fish, being some, or the super awesome chicken from last night- oven roasted with American herbs) with sides of rice, vegetables usually cooked in kind of stew form, and french fries; and a dessert, usually of fruit salad, but occasionally something more elaborate (like the most amazing baklava I’ve ever eaten or banana crepes). Our food is mainly traditional Egyptian fare, but we’ve trained Muhammad to cook them in a slightly more Western-palate-pleasing way (read: don’t fry everything).
We do eat one other meal: we have a “second breakfast” on site that is sandwiches from a local shop that a workman gets for us around 10am. There’s one that’s a spicy bean paste; one with cucumbers, tomatoes, and falafel; and what Kat likes to call “greasy stuff”, which has greasy eggplant and... other things in it. We’ve only had the ‘greasy stuff’ once, and since it was my first day on site, I thought I’d better let m stomach get used to the food a little more before trying it. All of the sandwiches are served on this chewy pita bread that is delicious! I must say, though, eating these things every single day is getting a little tiresome. There’s no variety and I’m not a huge fan of them to begin with, so second breakfast is always a mixed feeling for me- I’m hungry, but I don’t really want another sandwich.
I now have a new role in the food business: accountant. Basically, once a week I sit down with one of our cooks/housemen and we balance the books. He tells me what he bought and how much it costs, I keep a tally of it so that Nadine can get paid back at the end of the season from her grant. It’s kind of fun, since both the cook and I learn new words.
Overall, the food isn’t bad. I really, really love the soups and I’m usually quite pleased with dinner. I have to say that I’m getting a little bored of breakfast and second breakfast, but I think if I pick up some things to add to the yogurt (it’s plain now and the only add-in is honey) when we go to Luxor, it might spice things up a bit. At least I don’t totally hate everything, so that’s good.
- Food critic and accountant
PS. I have not yet had to make multiple trips to the bathroom for one reason or another, so let’s hope that keeps up. There’s always the chance that some of the food will not be stored completely correctly which will upset me, but I should now be past the point of getting sick because I’m not used to the bacteria here.
PPS. I might have said this already, but we’re heading to Luxor right after work on Saturday for Chicago House’s Halloween party, then we’re staying on Sunday to get our passport visas renewed. Since I probably won’t have time to physically post this weekend, so I’ve got a few things that will automatically post for you. Next week I’ll have tons to tell, since I want to tell you all about the party and our day in Luxor on Sunday. Also, provided everything goes as planned, I’ll have a surprise for you early next week :)
