With a return trip to Egypt in the works, my mind has wandered back to one of my favourite things about travel, the local food and drink. And despite warnings, prior to travelling in foreign lands to be careful of eating street food, I have to admit that street food is one of my favourite culinary experiences wherever I go, and Egypt is no different. As I think back on my trip to Cairo and Alexandria this past December, and forward to my trip to the Red Sea, I keep envisioning the Egyptian street food that I started to tease the taste buds with and look forward to all sorts of new flavours and experiences.
Amoung my favourite street food experiences in Cairo, included:
Corner Stores with counter tops piled high with roasted seeds and nuts.
Wish our North American Corner Stores offered snacks like these.
The men and women that made the delicious flatbreads wherever we went.
Not as easy as it would appear, as you’ll see from a video of me trying to make this bread, that I’ll share later this week.
And Sugar Cane Juice! Which my friend Tharwat Abouraya insisted we all must try and then announced with a smile to our empty glasses that now we were all guaranteed to come back to Egypt, having drank from sugar cane juice grown next to the Nile. Thinking clearly this superstition is indeed true, based on my current travel plans.
Will be sure to post on the process of making the sugar cane juice, as it really was quite interesting to watch. Thanks to Tharwat, we got to see it being made at Cairo’s oldest sugar cane juice stand.
I’d just bring my own cup with me next time, realising the washing system after I was done.
So what to expect of the street food from my next visit to Egypt? Well, I’m not completely sure yet, but I do hope to enjoy in a meal in a Bedouin Camp. Any suggestions or recommendations?
Can’t wait to read about the sugar cane juice making process – looks really interesting. I’m curious about the washing technique of the cups, it’s a little hard to tell what he is doing in the picture, is he just dumping the cups out and reusing them?
Well I shall be sure to write about it them Kate.
I miss the smell of roasted sweet corn, and the delicious bakery on Zamalek that I would always go to!
Now, you’re making me miss Egypt Julia.
OMG, SOBIA!!! How much I miss thee! That delicious, sweet concoction was the perfect day of closing any hot day in the desert. I wrote a post about Egyptian food and street delights in my blog a while ago, here it is, so you see which are my favorites not mentioned on this post! 😀
http://www.latinabroad.com/2011/10/traveling-through-egyptian-food-photo-essay/
I miss Egypt 🙁
Thanks for sharing the link and sugar cane juices Egyptian name, Sobia, Maria.
I miss Egypt too!
So you had a try at making flat bread? So did I, with the equivalent in Turkey. I don’t even want to remember what the endresult looked like: totally embarassing.
Well, I am in good company then Inka.
I have such a tender tummy that I only look wistfully at the delicious looking (and smelling) street food in places we’ve visited. Wish I had a better tum to taste test with. I’m clearly missing out!
Feel for you Courtney, as the street food in the places I visit is often my favourite culinary experiences.
I love sugar cane juice, it’s one of my favourite travel drinks.
It is good, isn’t it!
Oh, how I miss Egyptian street food! This post makes me sooo hungry. I need pita bread, hummus, and falafel ASAP!
Damn! Now I’m missing it too!
I’m curious to know how Egyptian meat fares. I’ve been sticking to a safe vegetarian diet here in India due to the possibility of improper meat handling and preparation. Food, and especially meat, is very much a part of the Arab diet and I’d love to try it…any recommendations here?
I’ve been fed quite large amounts of meat in Egypt, as I think it is a sign of wealth and respect. A lot of chicken and beef. Much more than I would eat at home, mostly in a kebab-style. It was good. The Egyptian’s quite like an elongate minced beef stick, that I think might include liver. It is tender, but I am not such a fan. They also eat a lot of pigeon, but I didn’t get to try any.
I think my favourite was the fish.
I enjoyed fresh sugar cane juice a few years ago when I was on holiday in southern India. It was made by roadside vendors using a machine like an old-fashioned wringer, with serrated rollers, driven by an electric motor. The cane was fed in and the juice trickled into a glass. Delicious !
That is exactly how this sugar can juice was made Allan, only with a hand crank.
Oaaa, i want to go to Egypt. that kind of bread looks like Chapati in India 🙂
suger can juice is quite cool isnt it, even in many asian country its really popular
hey i really miss sugar cane its really awesome egyptian street food. i love this food very much