#18 Egypt
- Jen
- Jul 3, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2022
Egypt is dry. In 2014, out of 177 countries where measurements were recorded, Egypt had the lowest rainfall of just 51mm(https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/precipitation/). To put that into context, the UK had 1,220mm in the same year and Colombia had over 3,000mm!
In 2014, by my back-of-fag-packet (it’s an engineering term) calculation, that would mean that each person in Egypt would have had less than 1,400 litres of water per day. You might think that means they all had their paddling pools and sprinklers out but, even assuming that every drop of rain gets caught for use, which is the wildest of wild assumptions, 1,400 litres PPPD is still F.A. It takes 120 litres to grow a cucumber, 720 litres to make a bottle of wine, 100 litres to keep a cow hydrated for a day…in fact, according to one source, on average globally, it takes over 3,000 litres of water to keep one person fed for one day. (https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/average-daily-water-usage )
Egypt, in ancient times and now, is “the gift of the Nile”, the longest river in the world. The Nile’s seasonal flooding leaves behind silt deposits transported all the way from Ethiopia (that’s the next-door-but-one-neighbour country) that makes fabulously fertile soil. In addition to the nutritious soil, large scale farming was made possible by the development of irrigation systems by the ancient people that allowed them to keep hold of the flood waters to grow crops.
It’s fairly obvious, as soon as you pause to consider it, that Egypt is at the whim of all those who situated upstream. For instance, there is a large dam (oh here we go, Jen’s talking about dams again) currently nearing completion in Ethiopia, that, incidentally, will become Africa’s largest hydropower scheme, that would technically give Ethiopia the power to dry out Egypt. With 100 million thirsty inhabitants, 40 million farmers and Cairo’s power being generated by turbines in the Aswan Dam (drink!), it’s understandable that Egypt would consider going to war over such a structure.
As I’m keen to get back to food, I’ll tell Ethiopia’s side of the story when they get their turn in the pan…but how we manage water as populations grow, climates changes, demands Westernise is both a fascinating and terrifying conundrum.
Ancient food
The Egyptians grew cereals, beans, lentils, chickpeas, onions, lettuces and fruits and they were uninhibited with the preparation of their ingredients, happy to stew, roast, fry or boil. They added herbs and spices for flavour, used a variety of oils and sweetened things with honey.
Bread
Bread was (and is) a staple, eaten by both the rich and the poor. It was made from a type of wheat called emmer, referred to as farro nowadays and really only now found in “ancient grain” loaves that seem to have become quite fashionable. They made dense, nutty-tasting loaves.
Beer
“In Egypt beer was a primary source of nutrition, and consumed daily.” - Wikipedia. That sounds so idyllic that I’m almost sorry to have to continue. Egyptian beer was gross. Its nutrient density was a direct result of all the solids floating and sinking in it. But, they obviously thought it was great, so great it was used as currency!
The Egyptians held lavish feasts for harvests and family celebrations. Parallels can be drawn from these to Hampton Court shindigs in Henry VIII’s reign: music, dancing, food and booze aplenty. There would be fish, beef, pork, duck, goat, foie gras(!), various breads, vegetables and jugs of wine and beer.
Here’s a conversation topic for your next DP (dinner party): would you rather party with Henry VIII or Tutankhamun?
Modern food
Modern cuisine in Egypt makes full use of the fertile Nile soils, with a large variety of fruits, vegetables and beans grown.
Meat is eaten (beef, lamb, pigeon, offal) and lots of seafood is eaten near the coast, but there are also a lot of plant-based Egyptian dishes.
Cheese has been made and eaten since ancient times. The most widely consumed cheese in Egypt today is domiati, a soft, salty cow milk cheese. What goes well with cheese? Bread. Bread is considered to be such a staple that it’s subsidised by the government. Breads are typically flatbreads but baguette-like rolls are also popular.
Cumin appears to be a favourite for flavouring but other herbs and spices such as coriander, ginger, cinnamon, mint and others are also common ingredients.
Egyptians do meze-style dinners with breads and a selection of salads being served prior to the main event. These starter dishes are the sort of thing you’d expect to find in Middle Eastern restaurants: baba ghannoug (ganoush in the Levant), which is an a-mazing aubergine dip, filo pastries stuffed with tasty meats or cheeses, pickles, salads, hummus.
Lots of main dishes are bean or lentil-based and, more often than not, are strongly flavoured with garlic. That’s a big win for me. Stuffed vegetables are common too: another big win for me; think I actually mentioned that in the last post too. You know how to make Jen happy now!
A favourite breakfast is ful medames, which is mashed fava beans (broad beans) with lemon juice.
The national dish is kushari. This is spaghetti, macaroni, rice, lentils and chickpeas topped with tomato sauce and arranged prettily on a plate. Back in university halls, how silly I was to turn my nose up at the platefuls of pasta, beans and sauce the lads used to serve up; I didn’t realise they were so au fait with their Egyptian cuisine!
Another one that students would love is fattah and it’s aptly named. This involves layers of fried bread and rice with tomato and vinegar sauce and chunks of meat on top.
Rice pudding is a thing in many different places around the world. Egypt’s version is roz bel laban: cooked in milk and sugar and topped with pistachios. Another hearty dessert is umm Ali, which is a bread pudding with raisins and nuts.
Ta'amia
This is a controversial topic. Because ta’amia is falafel. Falafel is the national dish of Israel. They like to think it’s their thing…but Egyptians were frying pulse patties long before the Israelis…
In Egypt, falafel is not made from chickpeas, but from fava beans. I’ve actually had non-chickpea falafel before in a zero-animal-products café in Thailand (yeah I know, niche), made from mung beans and I wasn’t a massive fan.
I stumbled across this recipe*, thought it sounded tasty, and Henry Dimbleby makes a convincing case for its authenticity so The Guardian is what we’ve gone with.
*If this recipe doesn’t float your boat, The Guardian actually has another recipe for Egyptian falafel!
I won’t go into too much detail as you can see the recipe for yourselves using the link, but in summary: broad bean falafel served with spiced aubergine and tomatoes and a tahini yoghurt sauce.
I’m inclined to agree with Mr Dimbleby’s assessment: this could be “falafel heaven”. It turns out that broad beans make better falafel than mung beans anyway. I loved everything about it: the moisture from the beans, the crispy coating of sesame seeds and especially the beautifully subtle leek flavour. The spiced aubergine and tomatoes went with it really well and the garlicky, lemony tahini-y yoghurt provided cool, tang and smooth. I ate these off a plate with a knife and fork, but you should definitely smash these into a high-quality (or homemade?) fresh flatbread. Y-U-M: yum!
Let’s mosey on over to CHILE shall we?
Comments