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.