Recently, I had the somewhat disturbing epiphany that I have only been homesick in terms of food. Specifically, I miss Trader Joe’s and Thai Place. I am not going to delve into what that says about my psyche in this post, but instead talk about the new foods I have found to enjoy. D.C. food withdrawals are assuaged by the fact that being here is much better for my student budget.
Alex Top is a hole-in-the-wall koshary place on Zamalek. Koshary is a concoction of macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, tomato, and rice. It is served in plastic tubs and staves off hunger for about 48 hours. Hot sauce is provided but must be dispensed carefully; there is a fine line between perfectly spicy and bursting into tears from the pain. This happened to me the first time I bought it and enthusiastically dumped in the whole bag of sauce. Alex offers ruz w laban (rice and milk) as well- a gooey, delicious mixture of sugar and happiness.
For breakfast, I grab a foul and egg sandwich on campus. Foul is bean paste and is an Egyptian staple. Alf Leila, within walking distance of my dorm, has falafel sandwiches for about 25 cents. After getting a ticket, you shoulder your way into the throng of customers around the counter and wait for your order to be tossed to you. A free baggie of pickled vegetables is always thrown in. Occasionally a few inexplicable French fries end up in there too.
Sometimes you need to load up on carbohydrates; sometimes you just need a good American-style bagel. International students frequent Munch & Bagel, which is run by an Egyptian man and his Polish wife. My favorite is tomato, egg and feta on an everything bagel.
I could happily live on juice- strawberry, mango, pear, guava, banana, watermelon. It’s full of pulp and seeds and chunks of fruit and ice and is absolutely perfect- nothing like the sugary, watered-down stuff we get in the U. S. Sometimes for a treat, I order om ali from Kazaz, a restaurant near Tahrir Square. I still don’t know exactly what’s in it, but I intend to keep eating it. It tastes like a bread, banana, and vanilla soup, and that’s fine by me. That about sums up eating in Egypt- you rarely plan where you’re going to eat and sometimes you might not know what you’re eating, but you’re going to find something delicious.