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Delightful Egyptian Dishes and Delicacies

Apart from legendary architectural sights, mystical desert landscapes and endless sandy beaches; another thing Egypt holidays have in common is that they can positively tickle your taste-buds.
While Western food is widely available and an all too easy option to keep the kids happy, Egypt's own cuisine has some really interesting dishes that date back to Pharaonic times and won't bust the budget either. Roadside vendors or cheap eateries are plentiful, offering up the country's most typical dishes from as little as 50p for a meal. So if you're keen to give your family a taste of the real Egypt, here are five traditional dishes you must try.

1. Kushari
Widely recognised as Egypt's national dish, this cheap vegetarian dish is extremely tasty and an easy meal to grab on the go from street vendors or dedicated Kushari eateries and restaurants. The meal is made by combining rice with brown lentils, chickpeas and macaroni and then topping this with a spicy Egyptian chilli salsa, garlic sauce and tasty caramelised onions. The result of this strange fast-food combination is surprisingly divine! And the best bit? A portion can cost as little as 50 pence...

2. Foul Medames
Pronounced 'Fool', this is another hugely popular and cheap Egyptian dish made of mashed fava beans, olive oil, chopped parsley, cumin, onion, garlic and lemon juice. The beans are slowly simmered and lightly mashed before they are mixed with the other ingredients, creating a slightly slushy dish that tastes far better than it looks! The locals eat this for breakfast with bread, but it works a treat as a cheap lunch too and is often served with egg and pita bread.

3. Mulukhiyah
Made with dried leaves from the Jute (also called Jew's Mallow) plant; Mulukhiyah is a thick, green soup with a stew-like quality and is often poured over rice, sometimes with added chicken or rabbit meat. The leaves have a slightly bitter taste and are combined with garlic and coriander to create this historical and popular Egyptian dish, but recipes vary from region to region. Either way, it's a nutritious dish and a great way to include some greens in your Egyptian diet.

4. Hamam Mahshi
Ask for this dish in Egypt and you'll be served stuffed pigeon! Pigeons are raised along the Nile by villagers and native chickens are fairly scrawny, which is why this dish has become a widespread delicacy in Egypt. The small birds are filled with bulgur wheat or rice stuffing and then fried, roasted or grilled and served with several birds making up one portion of this unusual dish. Other pigeon-based dishes are popular as well, just look out for the word 'hamam' on the menu, which means pigeon.

5. Feteer Meshaltet
While Egypt has many classic sweets, Feteer Meshaltet is probably the most typical of all. Made from thin layers of pastry that have been laced with clarified butter (Samna), Feteer Meshaltet is extremely tasty but fattening too! It is typically eaten with honey, cream, nuts and other fillings or toppings and is a perfect afternoon treat to be enjoyed with a hot cup of sweet mint tea or coffee.

Of course it's no secret that many people who travel to Egypt suffer from an 'Egypt belly' at some stage, so if you plan to sample any of the food there; read these five handy tips to avoid that happening:

1. Only drink bottled water.
2. Avoid ice and ice-cream.
3. Avoid anything that may have been washed in tap water, like salad.
4. Peel fruit before you eat it.
5. Boil unpasteurised milk before consumption.

It’s not just the food that can be cheap; Cheap holidays to Egypt are available from just £195pp with lowcostholidays.com, making this an affordable family destination.

Now without further ado: Bil hana wish shifa' !
(Enjoy your meal!)

Image Credit: Kushari (yuankuei on flickr)