Food and Entertaining 199Lunch and Dinner
Lunch is the main meal of the day for most Egyptians and
is served sometime between two and fi ve in the afternoon.
Dinner is usually more non-specific. Typically, dinner
constitutes eating leftovers from lunch or is similar to the
nawashef of breakfast. Starches, mainly rice and bread, form
the mainstay of the Egyptian lunch and dinner. These are
usually moistened with vegetables cooked with meat, chicken
or fi sh. Lunch and dinner may be accompanied by sweets,
which are puddings, desserts or ices. Beverages served with
all meals may be hot or cold. All are non-alcoholic. By the
way, most of the time, if you ask about a meat dish, the
response will be that it is ‘meat’. On several occasions, I have
observed people seeking a more defi nitive explanation at a
restaurant or buffet line regarding what animal or what part
of the animal was being served. Frequently, the answer was
simply ‘we are having meat’. Usually lamb will be identifi ed
separately from beef.
Meats are largely grilled or roasted, whole or minced
(ground), with lamb and chicken predominating. You see a
lot of cows but they seem to serve more as farm equipment
than beef. The shish kebab style is extremely popular and is
served either with or without the skewers but always with
traditional accompaniments: greens and tomato salad, tahini
sauce and pitta bread. Bread is always whole wheat pitta,
coated with coarse ground wheat.
Egyptians love tomatoes that always seem to burst
with colour and fl avour. The traditional salad is chopped
tomato, coriander, mint, little hot green peppers (not the
distinct fl avour of jalapenos but closer to serranos) and
onions, coated with garlic oil. Great for fl avour, but you
defi nitely will need mouthwash at the end of the meal.
Aubergines, mashed as the main ingredient in baba ghanou
(a dip), is also used in Egyptian moussaka with a mild white
cheese. Okra, cabbage, cauliflower and potatoes show
up frequently, stewed with tomatoes, garlic and seven
spices (allspice).
Rice is universal! The grains mix short basmati-like rice
with longer brown, nutty-tasting rice. I think the fruits in