196 CultureShock! Egypt
it is expected that you would offer some of the excess
to them.
If you plan to serve food items that essentially are served
in one-serving (for example, baked potatoes or hamburgers),
be sure to have plenty of extras. For example, the concept of
the backyard barbecue, where one steak per person is fi xed,
is totally incomprehensible. “Why,” the Egyptians wonder,
“would anyone be so stingy as to fi x each person only one
piece of meat?” Of course, one of the most important things
for a host is to be generous, so having a meal such as this
defi nitely makes you look selfi sh! Does it mean you cannot
have a barbecue? Of course not. It just means you need to
cook extra.Restaurants and Takeaway
My favourite restaurant is La Bodega’s in Zamalek. My
favourite coffee house is Cilantro’s, also in Zamalek. My
favourite thing to do when I don’t want to cook is go to the
Otlob.com website (http://www.otlob.com) and order dinner
to be delivered. Truly, this is a blessing for me. All I have to