Culture Shock! Egypt - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

202 CultureShock! Egypt

Shopping for Food

Butchers, Street Vendors and Food Hygiene

Egyptians are by tradition quite concerned with cleanliness.

Part of this is due to the teachings

in the Qur’an (the Islamic Holy

Book). This is evident not only

in attempts to control nature’s

sandy penetrations, but in the

concern with hygiene associated

with religious practices. All

exposed parts of the body (for

example, face, hands and feet)

must be washed before entering the mosque for prayer.

Concerns for prayer hygiene do not seem to transcend

to food preparation habits among many lower- and middle-

class Egyptians. Open-air markets predominate. Food is

sold, butchered and prepared amid the street clutter. Street

vendors, small walk-up shops for prepared food and drinks

and open-air markets abound throughout Egypt. Animal

carcasses hang in the open air without refrigeration. Dinner

‘on the hoof’ stands around waiting to be slaughtered or

sold for home preparation. Look on any street and you

are likely to see a woman walking with a basket full of live

geese or chickens on her head returning from the market to

prepare dinner.

If you plan to buy your own meat, it is important to identify

a good, reputable butcher whose meats are slaughtered at

government butchering facilities to ensure the least likelihood

of getting tainted meat. Meat slaughtered at government

butcheries will be marked by big red stripes painted on the

sides of the carcass. Probably, the best way to fi nd a good

butcher is to ask around among your friends or acquaintances

that have been in Egypt for some time. They will be in the

best position to tell you the safest places to purchase meat

and fowl. I admit that I am partial to the Western-styled

grocery markets where the meat is usually shrink-wrapped,

such as Metro Markets or Seoudi.

As mentioned previously, food prepared by street

vendors or in small local cafés is everywhere in Egypt. In

A lot of outsiders don’t know that
desert sand is considered to be
a cleansing agent under some
circumstances. For example, if
a Muslim is in the desert and
unable to ‘wash’ with water
before prayer, he may ritually
‘wash’ with sand.