Guides ·Food & drink

The starches: koshari, ful and eish baladi

Koshari is the national dish — layered rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, fried onions and tomato-vinegar sauce. Koshari Sayed Hanafy behind the souq does a bowl for $2. Ful medames (slow-cooked fava beans) is breakfast, scooped with eish baladi (whole-wheat pita) at any corner stall for $0.50. Ta’ameya, the Egyptian falafel made with fava rather than chickpea, is greener, herbier and better than the Levantine version — try it fresh from the pan.

The mezze: mahshi, moulokhia and salads

Mahshi is stuffed vegetables — zucchini, cabbage, vine leaves — with spiced rice and herbs. Moulokhia is a slippery green soup made from jute leaves, garlic and coriander, usually served with rabbit or chicken. Sofra on Sharia Mohammed Farid does both properly, mezze spreads for $6-10. Egyptian salads are simple: tomato-cucumber-onion with lemon, or baba ganoush with a smoky depth Egyptian cooks are proud of.

The mains: pigeon, hamam mahshi and kofta

Hamam mahshi (stuffed pigeon with freekeh or rice) is the celebration dish — one whole bird $10-15 at Sofra or 1886 at the Winter Palace. Grilled kofta and shish taouk are the everyday standards at any lahma grill for $5-8. Fesikh (fermented mullet) appears at Sham el-Nessim in April — try it once, cautiously, and only from a busy trusted stall.

Sweets and drinks

Om Ali (bread pudding with milk, nuts and raisins), basbousa (semolina cake with syrup) and kunafa (shredded pastry with sweet cheese) close every meal. Drink karkade (hibiscus, hot or cold), sahlab in winter, and sugarcane juice from the roadside pressers on Sharia al-Mahatta ($0.30 a glass, unbeatable).

Frequently asked questions

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