Kibbeh, Baba ganoush, Ta’amiya and serious jet lag. About a week ago, I arrived back in Chicago after a truly humbling trip to Egypt.  The pyramids– they are just so old, and big and…awe-inspiring. And of course, as is my wont, I was basically adopted into a bread maker’s family, I ate strange foods and risked my stomach eating street foods in Cairo.

Although it is known more for its ——->

than its food, Egyptian cuisine is along the lines of what we think of as Middle Eastern or Mediterranean food: a lot of tahini, eggplant, falafel and lamb.  But never having spent time in a Middle Eastern country, I was pretty excited to get to the source

For me, the best part of fertile crescent dining is a tradition called Mezze (meze), or small plates that are eaten before the main meal.  Many times a half dozen mezze (hot and cold) are enough to constitute the main course.  Stuffed grape leaves with rice and lamb, pickled aubergine (delicious marinated eggplant with herbs) falafel, ful medamme and kobeba were among the favorites.

Depending which country you visit, kobeba is also known as kibbeh or kobeiba.  It is essentially a fried meatball made with ground lamb kneaded with soft bulgur and onion, and seasoned with pinches of cinnamon, cumin, and allspice. At the center of each torpedo shaped croquette hides two or three pine nuts like little treats for the eater. These were dynamite with a light baba ganoush or tahini.  For my readers in Evanston, go try the Kibbeh at Olive Mountain, $2.25 for two large pieces.

Wandering around the Islamic section of Cairo, near the tent maker’s souk, among small mosques and a few herds of sheep, the smell of ful medamme was ubiquitous.  No matter the environment– next to the sheep, or beside the fez maker’s shop, small stands with pots of the brown fava beans bubbled away wherever we walked.   Often considered commoner food, and eaten for breakfast with Egyptian bread (Aish Baladi), ful is a staple of Egyptian diets. It is made with slow cooked favas, onion, garlic and seasoned with olive oil and parsley.  Like kobeba, ful is also often served as a mezze.

Another favorite small plate was ta’amiya or the Egyptian riff on falafel. This version includes some dill as well as the more traditional parsley. It varies quite a bit from place to place, everyone has their own special version.  Sometimes it was more starchy and breadlike, heavy on the dried favas or more juicy with the delicious, deep fried crust containing a light green center. I ate ate this off the street warped in warm bread with onions and tahini as well as in restaurants with “fancy” dipping sauces.  It was definately my favorite sidewalk snack.   Though I did like the guy cooking that asked me “you know liver?” Yeah I know liver! “You know brains” Yeah I know brains!  That was a strange bit of meat that I tasted after this encounter…..still not entirely sure what I ate.

Throughout my wanderings in Egypt and Cairo in particular, I was reading Naguib Mahfouz’s novel Cairo Modern.  His vivid picture of the capital city in the 1930s gave me pause to think of the massive change that Cairo has seen: it’s population now reaches 20 million and the pyramids are surrounded by the expanding suburb of Giza, but on the other hand, bakers still fly past on their bikes during lunch time with huge pans of Aish Baladi (pita) balanced on their heads and donkeys still wander the streets but now among men in business suits. Not to mention it all started about 5000 years ago with the Nile, the Narmer Palatte and some mummies.