Eating in Egypt: what to order, when to eat it and how

Egyptian food is rooted in the Nile Valley and Delta. Ancient Egyptian cooking stayed relatively consistent for over three thousand years and was centred on bread and beer, eaten daily by all social classes, with onions, legumes and vegetables. That heritage is still on the table today: the local flatbread, aish baladi, is a staple, and a large part of Egyptian cooking is vegetarian, built on vegetables and legumes, with poultry, lamb and beef, and fresh fish and seafood in coastal cities such as Alexandria.

The dishes people know best include koshary, ful medames and molokhia, rice-stuffed vegetables and grape leaves, and kebab and kofta, and popular desserts include basbousa, konafa and qatayef. Tea is the national drink. This guide follows the day at the Egyptian table, from breakfast to the festival dishes, and under each part you will find a few dishes from our catalogue that you can cook yourself.

Breakfast

Breakfast in Egypt is built around fava beans. Ful medames, the classic breakfast dish, is served with hard-boiled eggs, and ta'ameya, fava bean fritters, is another breakfast dish that is also a street-food favourite.

Dishes from our catalogue

Lunch and dinner

Meals tend to be long and generous, with large portions and plenty to share, so come hungry and do not rush. The thick local flatbread, aish baladi, is used as a utensil: tear a piece and scoop with it. Eating with the left hand is considered improper.

Two dishes are both called the national dish. Koshary is rice, macaroni and lentils under spiced tomato sauce and garlic vinegar, topped with chickpeas and fried onions. Molokhia is a green soup of finely chopped jute leaves, flavoured with garlic and coriander.

Dishes from our catalogue

Street food

Koshary, ta'ameya, hawawshi, Alexandrian liver and zalabia are among the dishes sold as street food.

Dishes from our catalogue

Drinks

Tea is the national drink, often made with mint, and karkadeh, a hibiscus drink, is popular and is served hot or cold.

Alcohol is available, and beer is the most common alcoholic drink. Pork is not widely available, because most Egyptians are Muslim.

Sweets

Konafa is a dessert served almost exclusively during Ramadan, together with qatayef, while kahk, sugar-dusted biscuits, is served most often at Eid al-Fitr.

Dishes from our catalogue

Festivals and holidays

During Ramadan, iftar, the meal that breaks the fast, is a family affair, and konafa and qatayef appear almost only during the month. At Eid al-Fitr, kahk and ghorayeba are the Eid biscuits.

Sham El Nessim is held on Easter Monday, the day after Eastern Christian Easter, and fesikh, lettuce, green onions and coloured eggs are traditional. Festive sweets such as halawet el-moulid belong to moulid festivals.

Dishes from our catalogue

Typical temperatures by month · Cairo

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daytime high °C18.9°20.5°23.8°28.1°32.2°34.6°35°34.9°33.4°30°24.9°20.5°
Night low °C10.1°11°13.2°15.9°19.3°22.2°23.8°24.3°22.7°20°15.6°11.7°

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The facts on this page come from the sources below and from the tags of the dishes in the ChefSnap catalogue. A person reviews each guide before it goes live.