Dubai

I wouldn't have come to Dubai had I not chosen to fly on Emirates Air. The local residents in UAE are only 15% Emirati and the rest are mostly South Asian, such as Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, etc. I usually look for authentic dishes when I travel, so UAE wasn't on my list. I arrived in Dubai yesterday. It's as hot as Egypt, but it's worse here in terms of humidity. Dubai is close to the Persian Gulf and that brings in the humidity. I managed to go out in the evening and tried Iranian food.

Today is the second day in Dubai. I found a Emirati restaurant, called Al Fanar Restaurant, which is by Dubai Creek. I learned of this restaurant from my favorite YouTube blogger, Mark Wiens. According to his video, this is the only restaurant that serves exclusively Emirati food.

This is Machboos Deyay, chicken on top of rice. The small piece next to the chicken is dried lemon. This is my first time trying dried lemon. Compared to the preserved lemon that I had in Morocco, the flavor wasn't as strong. But it still adds a nice and subtle aroma.

Saloona Samak is a fish stew. But it's more fish cooked in curry sauce, which reminds me of Northern Indian / Pakistani cuisine. It's not "chili spicy" but I tasted more cinnamon than in Indian / Pakistani curry.

This is the dessert I saw on Mark Wien's YouTube channel. This is Lugaimat and it's a popular sweet during Ramadan. It's fried dough topped with date syrup. The dough itself is very plain. And the syrup is not as sweet as it looks. I poured on a lot more of the date syrup that was provided in a separate container. It looks like donuts holes but the texture is quite different. It reminds me of the chewy texture of the Brazilian cheese bread (pao de queijo). 

The restaurant was offering Iftar, which is a meal after fasting during Ramadan. Iftar is actually a "Breakfast" because it "breaks" "fasting". I don't know what exactly the menu was because I arrived at the restaurant a touch too late. So, I had to order dishes from their regular menu. I still enjoyed their "regular" Emirati dishes.

After dinner, I went to a spice market. During Ramadan, stores are usually open until late (at least in Egypt), but most of the stores here are closed, unfortunately. This is one of the few stores that was still open. I got dried lemon here.

That's the end of this trip. I enjoyed it but I would strongly recommend to travel through Egypt / Dubai in the winter....

Back in Cairo

I booked this cooking class via Airbnb. The cooking class was scheduled from 2:00pm and I was wondering whether the hosts were going to taste the food with me since it's during Ramadan. Then, I found out that they are Christian. That makes sense...

Unlike a more commercially organized cooking class, this is a very intimate experience because the host's home is located in the residential area, which is 40 minutes away from the Cairo's city center. I took a metro to the closest station and the host came to pick me up. I've been annoyed by the very pushy vendors during this entire trip. But I had a nice chat with a local person in the metro and met a very friendly train station staff member. I'm glad that I left the touristy area and had a chance to interact with nice local people.

When I arrived at the host's apartment, I was welcomed by the host, his wife and their two adorable kids. I felt like I was visiting a local friend's family. Soon after I arrived, they served me a Turkish coffee in the Egyptian style.

The host's wife is the instructor. She is pretty young but a very good cook. I gave them a list of dishes that I wanted to learn. To accommodate my requests as much as possible, she prepped many things and made some dishes in advance.

The main dish of this cooking class is koshari. She prepared some topping, such as garbanzo beans and lentils ahead of time because they needed to be boiled with spices and aromatics. But of course, she left the important steps for me.

The tomato sauce for the koshari is made with both fresh tomatoes & tomato paste and garlic. The ingredient that sets this apart from Italian tomato sauce is the cumin.

It was very delicious! It's better than the one I tasted during the tasting tour on the first day.

Since I mentioned that I like it spicy, they made the chili sauce on the side. 

This is garlic vinegar. I saw this on the table as a condiment when I had the koshari on the first day. I was wondering what it was then. Now, I know.

Most of the tahini sauce I've had at Mediterranean restaurants in the US seems like it's just tahini. But the Egyptian version is mixed with vinegar. I saw this at almost every restaurant. It must be an essential condiment in Egyptian cuisine.

This is another side dish that I had at every restaurant. So-called Mediterranean salad but their vegetables are cut into bigger pieces than in the other countries, I think. The dish on the left is Ful medames (stewed fava beans with spices). I've had this so many times since I've been in Egypt. But they poured on the tahini sauce that is mentioned above. That acidity made the flavor more clear. The ful was made in advance. 

This is another type of ful with tomato sauce.

She made moussaka the day before as well. The Egyptian version doesn't have bechamel sauce or potato. It was more like stewed eggplant. Very flavorful.

This is the real feteer. Unlike the one I had at the restaurant in Luxor, it's much flakier. Since it takes long to make this, they made it the day before.

These are unique sweets that are eaten during Ramadan, called qatayef. When I was waiting to be picked up at the metro station, I saw a few street vendor selling small pancakes. Now, I know the pancake is for this. I asked a few guides whether there any special dishes during Ramadan but they all said nothing. I wonder why they didn't mention this... Dates and nuts are wrapped inside the pancake, deep fried and soaked in syrup. I was expecting something greasy and super sweet but it wasn't like that at all. I really liked them.

It was very enjoyable cooking class experience. Moreover, the host took me to a church afterwards. This was way more than just a cooking class.




I had lots of food at the cooking class so I wasn't that hungry for dinner. But this is the last chance to have Egyptian food since I'm leaving tomorrow morning. So, I pushed myself and headed to my first (and last) seafood restaurant in Egypt. This is a branch of a restaurant in Alexandria. Alexandria is facing the Mediterranean so that they have an easy access to fresh seafood. I wanted to go to Alexandria for the seafood but I wasn't sure if that was worth it during Ramadan. So, here's my compromise.


The name is Kadoura restaurant. All the fresh seafood is displayed and I can choose what I want before seating. The communication wasn't easy but I ordered soup and rice. I wasn't sure if that's complimentary or charged... The soup was creamy so that I thought it may taste like seafood chowder. But it's less sweet and a bit more salty. And it was very thin. 

According to what I read later, this rice was cooked with seafood broth. But it didn't have much flavor.

Nice size shrimp. It's a bit overcooked.

I picked sea bass-like fish. The texture was similar but the flavor was slightly different. I was surprised that they grilled it with the guts inside. I'm not sure if that's the Egyptian style.

Despite the restriction in food options due to Ramadan, I think I did pretty well trying various foods in Egypt. I'm leaving for Dubai tomorrow. It's supposed to be an overnight layover. But I decided to spend another day.

Aswan Day 2

Initially, I planned a tour to Abu Simbel departing at 8:00am. It would have taken 3 hours from Aswan so I would have been there around 11:00am. However, the previous tour guide told me that this would be too late and it'd be so hot by then. I took his recommendation and changed the departure time to 4:00am. I arrived at 7:00am, which is a little after sunrise. It's already hot...... it could have been much worse if I didn't listen to his advice.

I usually feel bad drinking water in front of Muslim guides because they still have to walk with the guests under the brutal heat, yet they can't drink water during the daytime. But today's guide and driver were Christian so they can eat and drink during Ramadan.


I came back to Aswan in early afternoon and rested in the B&B until sunset. I went to the kebab restaurant, called El Masry, which is recommended by today's guide. The meal was accompanied by the regular side dishes.

Tahini based tangy dipping sauce

Baba ganoush

Tomato & Cucumber salad

Egyptian flat bread (Aish Baladi) - almost identical to pita

Stewed okra - This is something new. Okra is a popular ingredient for Nubians so this may be the Nubian influence.

I thought this is another complimentary stewed potato. But it's more like a soup.



This is beef kebab and kofta. The beef kebab was well marinated and very flavorful. Kofta is usually described as a meat ball. In some cultures (such as Morocco), it's prepared like a meatball. But the seasoned ground meat is usually wrapped around the skewers and grilled. So, I'm not sure if "meat ball" is the right description...

I found many dishes that I've had so far had are a bit salty. The more local the restaurants are, the saltier the dishes become. The hotel breakfast wasn't salty at all. In this kind of heat, additional salt makes sense as a preservative.

Stuffed pigeon (Hamam Mahshi) is another unique Egyptian dish. In fact, this is squab, which is young domestic pigeon, which is normally less than 4 weeks old. So there are not much meat to eat...

The picture below is a bit too graphic, though. The skin was nice and crispy. But unfortunately, the stuffed grain inside the squab was pretty cold. By now I started to have some stomach problems.. I was being very careful about what to eat & drink. I don't have any symptoms of food poisoning. So, there must be something I can't digest well... But just in case, I skipped the stuffing...

Tomorrow morning, I'm flying back to Cairo. I'll be paranoid about checking my passport....

Aswan Day 1

I hired a car & driver to transfer from Luxor to Cairo. Aswan is a gateway city to Nubia, a region between southern Egypt and central Sudan. I was looking forward to tasting Nubian cuisine.

I chose a B&B on the Elephantine Island, which lays in the Nile River. Almost all the residents on the island are Nubian. So, I chose a Nubian restaurant on the island, called Nubian Dream Restaurant & Cafe. It's located just by the boat pier. It was pretty late and I was getting some breeze from the river. But it's still very hot!

Like other restaurants in Egypt, any main dish comes with complimentary side dishes, such as salad, rice, stewed potatoes, etc. I saw Nubian Vegetable Tagine with Meat on the menu. I asked the waiter what kind of meat. The answer was beef. I also asked what would make it "Nubian". He said it's different. It tastes Nubian and good. Well..... Let's see.

It was pretty tasty. But I'm not sure if I tasted anything distinctively different from other Egyptian foods.

This is another main dish, Spicy Meat Tagine. Compared to other dishes I've had in Egypt, the color is different, more green. I believe their definition of "spicy" is not "heat" coming from chili. It's just rich in spices. I did like this a lot.

Later, I asked the host of the B&B about Nubian food. He described Nubian food as different, saying that it tastes good and fresh. Well..... I'm sure Egyptians would describe their food almost the same way...


Compared to Luxor, Aswan is much more laid back. Fewer scammy people.... Despite the heat, Aswan has been my favorite city in Egypt. 

Luxor

The heat of Egypt was way beyond my expectations. Not only is the temperature excessively high at 45C, but the strong sun is also killing me. I guess my brain wasn't functioning normally due to the heat and sun and I ended up leaving my passport in the aircraft from Cairo to Luxor... Because it was a domestic flight, I didn't even realize this until I arrived at the hotel. It was a chaos after that. Luckily the hotel concierge helped me to retrieve the passport. When I finally had my passport in hand, it was pretty late and I was exhausted, so I skipped dinner.

So now, it's the second day in Luxor. The day tour in Luxor included a lunch. Especially during Ramadan, any restaurants that are open for lunch are for tourists. I didn't expect much for this meal but it turned out to be very delicious. The guide had me choose the main dish and the rest are all fixed dishes. All the foods are a bit on the salty side but they are all very flavorful. The restaurant is called Africa Restaurant (interesting name...) located on the other side of the river from the city center. So, I wouldn't have come here unless the guide brought me here.

 Lentil Soup

Baba ganoush - again very creamy with tahini but pretty acidic 

Fried battered eggplant (I think....) 

 Stewed potato in tomato sauce

Rice and tomato & cucumber salad 

Beef kofta (main dish)

 Stewed beef - this is my favorite (another main dish)

The restaurant had a nice river view. But it was way too hot (after 1:00pm) and I left as soon as I had finished eating. The tour had two more stops after lunch. But I decided to skip the last stop and had them drop me off at the hotel due to the heat. Yes, it was that hot....




After sunset, I decided to walk to the city center. Unlike Cairo, it doesn't cool down much after sunset in Luxor. I think it's still in the mid-30s (Celsius). The hotel was located at the north edge of the city and the center is 4 km away. I wanted take a taxi or some sort of transportation. But the drivers are so aggressively scammy... I didn't want to deal with them. Anyway, I wasn't that hungry yet, so I thought this could be a good exercise before dinner. And no sun!

I headed to Al-Shaby Lane restaurant. This restaurant is highly rated. But TripAdvisor ratings can be tricky. Not everyone is looking for the most authentic food when they travel. Many popular restaurants in touristy areas serve "local" food arranged to accommodate the tourists from various countries.

I ordered two kinds of feteer, which is a flaky layered pastry. It can be plain or filled with sweet or savory ingredients. Unfortunately, I was disappointed when I found these feteers were filled with nicely melted mozzarella cheese. One of the feteers was topped with typical American BBQ sauce.... It didn't taste bad at all but that's not what I was looking for....

Later I found this type of feteer is a new style. It's normally served at a pizza restaurant. So, I guess this is a pizza-style feteer.

Cairo

I made two big mistakes for this trip to Egypt. First, I underestimated the heat in May. Second, I didn't even think about Ramadan.... No food and water for the locals between sunrise and sunset.

This is not the first time I've traveled to Muslim countries, but I had never been in those countries during Ramadan. So, I didn't think about it when I booked the trip. This may be a big problem for my foodie trip... Let's see how much food I can experience.

After a typical pyramid tour in Giza in the scorching hot weather, I came back to the hotel to rest until sunset. After sunset, the real food adventure begins. The guide for the food tasting tour that I booked through Airbnb showed up at my hotel at 7:30. Initially it was scheduled at 6:00, but it was adjusted to a later time because the sunset is after 6:00 and things open later than usual during Ramadan.

The first stop is at El Ahrir. This restaurant specializes in koshary, the national dish of Egypt. This could not be a more appropriate start to my food exploration in Egypt. While there are many similarities among Arabic countries' cuisine, koshary is very unique to Egypt. It's very starchy, made with rice, noodles and short pasta along with different types of beans. It's topped with tomato sauce and fried onion. It's usually served with two condiments, such as garlic vinegar and hot sauce. This is a naturally vegan dish but it's very satisfying.

At the next stop we had kebda, which is fried liver. Liver is very popular in Alexandria. It's usually chopped into small pieces and fried with bell pepper. However, this particular kebda is thinly sliced, breaded and deep fried. Because of the preparation, the gaminess was mostly removed. I'm not a big fan of liver but I still enjoyed it.

We had come to this restaurant first. However, they were still prepping. Because of Ramadan, all the restaurants open later. Now, we are back here. It's called GAD. This is neither a very local hole in wall eatery nor a westernized fast food restaurant. It's somewhere in between. Although I would love to have local authentic foods, I'm not sure that my stomach can take it. But I don't want to eat at touristy restaurants either. I think this is a happy medium.

              Tameya - Egyptian falafel, made with fava beans. It's a bit too dry.....

 Ful - Fava bean dip

Baba ganoush - This is creamier (because of tahini) than other baba ganoush I've had

This is a fruit juice bar. Although there are many fruit juices, I tried the sugar cane juice that the guide recommended. I didn't know sugar cane could grow in Egypt. I thought that sugar cane needs lots of water... Nonetheless, it was the same sugar cane juice that I've had in other countries.

The dessert is from a patisserie, El Abd. They had a mixture of traditional and western sweets. It was very crowded.

Kunafa is a thin, noodle-like pastry. This is not at all a traditional preparation of kunafa. In a small cup, kunafa and whipped cream are placed in layers. It's topped with dry fruits. I would say this is a kunafa parfait. Unlike traditional kunafa, it's not soaked in syrup, so it's not very sweet. Very unique.

Like other food tasting tours I have joined we tried a lot of food. Despite Ramadan, the trip is off to a good start.