A Brief History - Traditional Egyptian Food

Barley and emmer, a type of wheat, grew extensively and barley provided the source to make beer. Egyptian farmers kept poultry, (ducks and geese) and raised cattle and goats for milk. Meat came from sheep, pigs and cows, and fish came from the Nile. Vegetables supplemented the diet.

Egyptians liked strong-tasting vegetables such as garlic and onions. They thought these were good for the health. They also ate peas and beans, lettuce, cucumbers, and leeks. Vegetables were often served with an oil and vinegar dressing. Figs, dates, pomegranates and grapes were the only fruits that could be grown in the hot climate. The rich could afford to make wine from their grapes. Baskets of figs have been found in Egyptian tombs.

Having a wide range of food, the poor Egyptian ate a fairly healthy diet including vegetables, fruit and fish. Poultry was mostly roasted for the table, but meat was mainly the privilege of the rich. Seasonings included: salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, sesame, dill, fennel, fenugreek and assorted seeds. The priests who performed the sacrifice of animals to the gods, were probably the only ones to eat beef.

Tomb paintings show hundreds of scenes that depict meat being boiled, while fowl are depicted as roasted. How pork fit into the diet is a mystery. At archeological sites, bones have been unearthed, by the Egyptians generally abstained, believing the vast amount of fat to cause leprosy.

Agriculture

In the heat of summer, the Nile flooded, spreading over the valleys on its sides. When the water receded, it left behind rich earth deposits swept down from the Ethiopian plateau, a fertile planting ground for the food in the Egyptian diet. The technique of the ancient methods of Nile farming included "sowing after the subsidence of the Nile and then drive swine over the ground, pressing down the damp soil with their footprints." In November they sowed the land, then reaped the harvest in April. The land was so fertile that it was even possible to grow two crops a year. Today the flow of the Nile, the world's longest river, is regulated by the Aswan High Dam.

Bread and Baking

Bread was the staple food of most Egyptians. By the 12th century in Egypt, there were bread stalls in the larger villages. Though the poor ate mostly flatbread, the rich had a choice of almost forty types of breads and pastries.

The mainstay of Egyptian diets, aysh (bread) comes in several forms. The most common is a pita type made either with refined white flour called aysh shami, or with coarse, whole wheat, aysh baladi. Stuffed with any of several fillings, it becomes the Egyptian sandwich. Aysh shams is bread made from leavened dough allowed to rise in the sun, while plain aysh comes in long, skinny, French-style loaves.

Egypt's remarkable records tell us that bread was made in more than thirty different shapes. They included the flat, round loaf now commonly called pita, still a staple food in Egypt. Sweetened doughs or cakes, treasured as food for the gods, were devised by combining honey, dates and other fruits, spices, and nuts with the dough, which was baked in the shapes of animals and birds. Since there was no sugar, honey was used as a sweetener by the rich, and poor people used dates and fruit juices.

Beer in Egypt

Beer was the national drink, made from the crops of barley. To improve the taste the Egyptians would add spices and it was usually stored in labeled clay jars. Wine for the upper classes was made from local vineyards. After the harvest was gathered, the workers would tread the grapes, and the juice collected . Other wines were made from pomegranates or plums. The Egyptian's basic food and drink, bread and beer, were made from the main crops they grew, wheat and barley. It is speculated that the Egyptians were the first to discover leavened bread. Though undetermined, we can imagine a piece of what we call 'starte'r falling into fresh dough.

Lentil soup

1 onion, chopped
a little oil (about 2 teaspoons)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon curry paste
1½ cup red lentils
4½ cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons low fat Greek yogurt (optional - for serving)
chopped fresh coriander (optional - for serving)

Soften the onion in a little oil. Add the curry paste and stir well.

Add the stock and lentils and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are well softened.

To serve, mix the coriander into the yogurt, and add a portion to each bowl.

Serves 6

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