Most Egyptians have grown up thinking their staple, mainstream, simple foods were at best nondescript. Despite these foods being hearty and tasty and, to use modern-day categorisation, very healthy, they appeared to pale before the better-known foods of other countries or regions, that have become international favourites. To say nothing of the huge variety of modern culinary ever-present on the Internet and social media. But maybe it was just that huge digital variety of foods that persuaded Egyptians that their well-loved, time-honoured cuisine was nothing to laugh at.
Dishes popular today that go back to ancient Egypt include okra cooked in tomato sauce, a dish that spread from Egypt to other Middle East countries then to Andalusia; lentil soup, a dish that provides warmth and energy in the cold winter time; the dessert sadd al-hanak, a fatty syrupy pastry that comes in handy when energy is needed such as following childbirth; also the famous kahk, the smooth sugared butter cookies baked to celebrate festive occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and Eid al-Fitr. Medieval times brought to Egypt dishes from neighbouring countries, such as the highly popular kishk made of preserved wheat balls and chicken soup.
Bites by the sea
Egyptians have been undergoing an awakening regarding the worth and rich tradition of their cuisine, with recent years seeing attempts to promote Egyptian food.
The most recent such attempt was held against a backdrop of the idyllic turquoise waters and white sands off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, in New Alamein City.
On 16 August, one of the largest food festivals “Bites by the Sea”, was held among the activities of Alamein Festival which was organised by the government to promote the young city of New Alamein. Bites by the Sea was jointly organised by the food satellite channel Sofra, literally dining table, and Cairo Bites. Cairo Bites identifies itself as Egypt’s first and biggest food festival featuring a wide and diversified line-up of local, regional and international eating establishments and food-related businesses in a fun, warm and dynamic environment showcasing the Egyptian food industry.
Bites by the Sea, however, was only one of the events displaying unmissable interest in promoting Egyptian dishes over the last few years.
No fine dining?
In 2023, Cairo Food Week (CFW) was born. It was a venue where tastemakers and food creators could gather with the aim of promoting the extraordinary history and culture of the Egyptian dining table. CFW was such a success that its founders decided to hold it as an annual event; it has since attracted international chefs, industry experts and Egypt’s leading talents in the culinary and hospitality businesses, blending international techniques with local ingredients.
CFW was the brainchild of Hoda El Sherif and Sherif Tamim, both co-founders of Flavor Republic, an Egyptian startup that is in the business of food marketing. “We felt that the food industry in our region needed the chance to get the same kind of treatment and spotlight that international food has,” Ms Sherif said in an interview with Enterpriseback in 2023. Flavor Republic started CFW as the sole investor, but many other big names, some even not connected to the culinary field pooled in and partnered with them. “Our colonial histories have embedded within us a deeply rooted belief that our traditional cuisines could [not] be considered ‘fine dining’ or otherwise worthy of competing on an international level,” Ms Sherif proceeded, “and that’s something we really want to change.” And so CFW was born.
In museums and markets
CFW’s 2024 edition took place at the Grand Egyptian Museum, in restaurants across Cairo, and at cultural centres and revamped historical venues in Cairo’s Downtown.
Alongside the cultural and culinary events, CFW 2024 featured the “When We Eat Downtown Market” where producers and food startups got to showcase and sell their products, and the interested public got what many described as an absolutely interesting, unique experience that satisfied their palates. The Downtown Market offered street food walks, film screenings, and a series of talks exploring the trends and initiatives shaping the future of gastronomy and hospitality, both locally and globally.
Many of the food offered at CFW 2024 were either traditional dishes with an international twist, or international dishes with an Egyptian twist. To name but a few, there were omelettes cooked with Egyptian dates, pizza with oriental sausages, or brownies with halawa, to say nothing of a wide, exciting range of juices and coffee.
The Egyptian tabliya
In February 2023, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC) located on the shores of the Nile in Islamic Cairo’s Fustat district, launched its Tabliet Misr initiative. Tabliya is the Egyptian version of the dining table; it is a short, round, wide wooden table around which the family gather for a meal, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Once the meal concludes and the tabliya is cleared, it is turned on its side—that being an easy task given its low height—and stowed in a corner till the next meal, or till whenever it might be needed for tasks such as food preparation, when it is pulled out again.
Tabliet Misr focuses on safeguarding traditional cuisine and reviving culinary traditions through cultural activities such as seminars and workshops, also through culinary festivals. The initiative was launched with the aim of reviving Egypt’s food heritage and promoting the most important Egyptian dishes that have been handed down to successive generations from time immemorial.
According to Ahmed Ghoneim, Managing Executive Director of the Authority of NMEC, the idea of Tabliet Misr was part of a plan to protect Egypt’s tangible and intangible heritage.
In a press release, NMEC explained: “Tabliet Misr is an initiative that aims at promoting and documenting Egypt’s traditional cuisine with its most prominent dishes that were usually served on a round dining table, famously known tabliya.”
According to Hend Taha who is among those in charge of the NMEC’s Tabliet Misr, the idea came up when Egyptian dishes were appropriated by people from other countries who went on to list these dishes among their own national heritage. Archaeologists at NMEC realised it was imperative to hold awareness activities to preserve our food heritage. Hence Tabliet Misr was born.
Growing, preserving as in ancient Egypt
Tabliet Misr is now in its second season which started in February 2024.
It has featured lectures on Egyptian cuisine, workshops and discussion panels on diverse culinary related topics that focused on the sustainability concept, combatting waste in Egyptian cuisine, confronting climate change through different agricultural seasons, how to grow one’s own food, and learning about food preservation as the ancient Egyptians did.
The second season has hosted three exhibitions, including one that featured some of the museum’s collection of mummified food and dining utensils, to explain how ancient Egyptians used tableware, and to reveal their dining etiquette. Another exhibition focused on recycling, and there was the solar kitchen exhibition which presented new ideas for young people. The 2024 season featured a tasting section, discussion circles and workshops for young chefs.
According to Dr Ghoneim, “many of the Egyptian foods we eat today date back to ancient Egypt, as discovered through the relics they left or as was documented on the walls of their tombs and temples.”
Ms Taha said that Egypt has already listed taameya, also known as falafel with ISO, and that active steps have been taken to list with UNESCO eish shamsi, literally sun bread because part of its rising and baking processes involves leaving it in the hot sun for a period of time.
Among the second season’s activities was an event held in early May to celebrate Egypt’s Spring feast of Shamm al-Nessim, a festivity that goes back to ancient times. The event, which included activities for the young and old, featured storytelling sessions, the Little Egyptian Chef programme, and demonstrations of traditional Egyptian foods passed down through generations, especially focusing on salted fish and coloured eggs, foods to this day traditional to Shamm al-Nessim.
The encyclopaedia
No talk about preserving traditional Egyptian food can be complete without mentioning The Encyclopedia of Egyptian Traditional Foods. It is considered the first authentic academic effort to gather Egyptian traditional foods in relation to heritage, cultural and social identities. The brainchild of Magdy M. El-Sayed, Professor with the National Research Centre and the project’s Principal Investigator, Volume 1 of the Encyclopedia was published by the Egyptian Research Academy in 2021, and focused on bread and baked foods.
In the preface to the first volume of the Encyclopedia, Dr Sayed wrote: “Our great Pharaonic ancestors documented every single part of their daily life regarding their food and drink habits on the walls of tombs and temples. We owe a lot to this documentation which offered us this wealthy cultural heritage and kept it from extinction… Our modern traditional food heritage might get lost and go extinct due to the lack of such documentation, and this might blur the Egyptian identity. Therefore, we ought to care a lot about this heritage to conserve our modern civilisation.” In volume 1, six regions in Egypt: Menoufiya, Red Sea, South Sinai, Qena, Fayyum, and Marsa Matrouh were selected to represent the varying topographical features of Egypt and their influence on gastronomic traditions as a part of the cultural heritage and identity of the Egyptians. As thoroughly researched as Volume 1, Volume 2 which was published in 2022, focuses on Cereal Based Foodstuff. Both volumes are written in English with a brief summary in Arabic, and printed in colour, with the texts supported by beautiful pictures.
Bon appétit!
It would look as though the effort being put into promoting Egyptian food has paid off. Last April, the Polish magazine Poradnik Restauratora published an article on “Tourism and Cooking in Egypt”. Poradnik Restauratora is a monthly trade magazine specialised in the gastronomy industry. It has been publishing since 1999.
The article commended the tourist and culinary experience in Egypt, particularly highlighting the hygiene level, diversity of dishes, and professional service offered. The article praised the quality of tourist services provided in hotel facilities in Egypt, pointing out that according to the report issued by the Polish Central Statistics Office on tourism, Egypt is one of the preferred tourist destinations for Polish. No doubt, Egypt’s tasty, exciting dishes will feature high on their itinerary. Our parting message: a cheery Bon appétit!
Watani International
28 August 2024
