A Taste of Egypt

The time had come to not just enjoy tasting Egyptian food, but to learn how to cook it as well! Again, through Casual Cairo, we booked a cooking lesson with a local lady in her home. Pulling up outside a tall grey & dreary apartment block, we wondered what we were in for...and after climbing several flights of stairs (ohhhh my knees!), we were relieved to be allowed entrance into a warm & cheerful home. Vivienne is a tiny, beautiful woman over whom we towered, but thankfully, that didn't seem to upset her! She had a kitchen almost as small as ours, so we soon sorted ourselves out so that I would help with the hands on work, J1 would take photos & mel (our guide) would be scribe, taking down notes that were different to the printed recipes!! (This proved to be VITALLY important!) We began with the main dish, which is the Egyptian variation of Moussaka, which, being one of our families favorite dishes, we were interested to discover the differences. Once that was safely tucked away in the oven we moved onto the essential Egyptian dish...Babaghanouj, then salad, Egyptian rice and dessert. The dessert is another classic dish called Omaly, which is a variant of bread & butter pudding! Instead of bread though...we broke up great slabs of cooked flaky pastry! We tried very hard not to think about our arteries & cholesterol levels as we watched the oil, ghee,salt, cream & sugar get piled into the various dishes. Cooking was over before we knew it & after a refreshing cuppa, we loaded the food into the back of Tarek's car & went off to board a Falouka. We were going to dine in style, on the Nile as the sun set.......VERY cool experience...um, both literally & metaphorically!! The food was scrumptious & there was much more than we could polish off, so we gave the falouka captain some sustenance as well! Mel had thoughtfully brought some local beer & a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all. Back on dry land, knowing it was our last day together with them, Tarek took us past a number of sites we had visited together. I have to say that Cairo is actually beautiful at night, vibrant & colorful. The dirt & rubbish isn't quite as obvious & with the street lights everything takes on a golden glow. It was the end of a perfect time together, so we bid both Tarek (who should win the Nobel Peace price for incredible driving) & Mel, Ma'a salaam.