Interesting factoid: In ancient times the staples of the Egyptian diet were beer, bread, and onions. Bread (specifically, pita bread) and onions remain central to the cuisine but beer fell out of favor when the country became Muslim. For more fun facts here's the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_cuisine
I decided to host a casual Egyptian dinner party, completing all planning, shopping and cooking over the course of two days. I discovered a wealth of Egyptian recipes on-line, so the menu was easy to put together. For appetizers I quickly decided on hummus and baba ghanoush, two known crowd-pleasers. The next obvious choice was koshari, a rice/lentil/macaroni mixture topped with tomato sauce, widely considered to be the Egyptian national dish. For the protein, I was tempted to try rice-stuffed pigeon (a.k.a., squab) but worried that I wouldn't have time to hunt for it in the stores around town. So I decided on two more readily available items: chicken kebabs and spicy shrimp. To end the meal I chose a traditional dessert called basbousa, a semolina cake soaked with lemon syrup.
Once I eighty-sixed the squab, ingredients were easy to come by. The only slightly unusual items were tahini, a sesame paste for the hummus and baba ghanoush, and semolina flour for the basbousa. I was able to find both items at my neighborhood grocery store. As an aside: semolina flour is also the main ingredient in pasta.
Here are the links to the recipes I used and a few notes on the cooking process:
The Appetizers:
- Hummus http://www.whats4eats.com/appetizers/hummus-recipe
- Baba Ghanoush: http://www.whats4eats.com/appetizers/baba-ghanoush-recipe
The hummus was so easy it practically made itself - just put all of the ingredients in a food processor and puree. I added a little ground cumin since the recipe mentioned it was traditional in Egypt. I also sprinkled paprika around the sides for color. The baba ghanoush was a bit more involved because you had to bake the eggplant first. I roasted my garlic along with the eggplant instead of using it raw, just because I like roasted garlic. I served both dips with pita bread and pita toasts. A word to the wise: beware of any recipe for baba ghanoush that calls for mashing up the eggplant with a fork. No matter how long you cook it the eggplant will be somewhat fibrous - the food processor is sooo much easier.
Here's a picture of me with the appetizers and some close-ups of the dishes:
- Koshari, the Egyptian national dish: http://www.food.com/recipe/koshari-39446
The koshari was the most time-consuming recipe of the evening but also worth it. The key to the whole dish is the tomato sauce that you spoon on top. After simmering the onion and garlic mixture with tomatoes, crushed red pepper flakes and a little cumin, you won't believe the flavor! The recipe didn't call for cumin, that was my addition. I also added a little extra oil to the finished dish to keep it moist and sprinkled it with cilantro for color.
The proteins:
- Chicken kebabs: http://www.food.com/recipe/egyptian-kebabs-138110
- Shrimp: http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-king-prawns-140689
The chicken kebabs and the spicy shrimp were super easy and also delicious. I picked the kebab recipe because of the yogurt-based marinade. The cooking time was fast - less than 10 minutes under the broiler - however I would recommend assembling the kebabs the night before just to get it out of the way. The spice mix in the shrimp dish was to die for - paprika, cumin, ginger and cayenne. Yum!
- Basbousa: http://www.food.com/recipe/basbousa-1576-1587-1576-1608-1587-1577-12957
The dessert turned out nicely also. The basbousa was nice and moist after soaking in the lemon syrup although it did taste a little like sweet cornbread. Here's a nice picture of my friend Linda holding the cake right before we served it:
The Egyptian dinner was a huge success and a lot of fun. Stay tuned for the next adventure!
