The cuisine of Egypt

The foods of Egypt
Egyptian food has been influenced by conquerors and geography: Ottoman spices, French pastries, Mediterranean olives and tomatoes.
Egypt most known dish is kushari. Macaroni, rice, and lentils make up the main ingredients for kushari. Chickpeas, garlic, vinegar, spiced tomato sauce, and crispy fried onions are added on top of the dish. Kushari is perfect for vegans and vegetarians.
Ful Medames
Ful medames, also known simply as ful, competes with kushari as Egyptian most famous dish. Some writers deem that ful is among the earliest meals created in the country. They believe that it was first prepared as early as the ancient times.
Cooked fava beans are the primary ingredient for ful. It may be served with egg or vegetable slices. Cumin, chili pepper, onion, garlic, parsley and vegetable oil are added to make it more flavorful.
Ful isn’t only enjoyed in Egypt. You may also find it in restaurants in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia, and Yemen. It even has local versions in Armenia and Ethiopia.
Mesaqa‘ah
This Egyptian dish is the local version of moussaka. Moussaka is deemed to be a dish from Middle East and Greece. It’s usually based on either potato or eggplant. Mesaqa‘ah, however, is mainly based on eggplant.
To make mesaqa‘ah, eggplant slices are first grilled along with slices of onion, chili pepper, and green pepper. Afterwards, the fried slices are soaked in tomato sauce. Then, the slices are stacked together. Cooked ground beef may be added as well. Once done, the dish is baked.
Mahshi
Also called dolma, mahshi belongs to the family of stuffed dishes commonly found in Mediterranean countries. The stuffing is made from a mixture of rice, onion, crushed tomatoes, and various herbs and spices. Once the said ingredients are blended well, they are stuffed into vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, green bell pepper and even tomato. The stuffing may also be wrapped in cabbage or grape leaves. The stuffed vegetables are cooked in a pot. The pot is filled with either beef or chicken broth.
It’s not known as to which country mahshi came from. Aside from Egypt, it’s also prepared a lot in Azerbaijan, Greece, Italy, Iraq and Turkey. In Egypt, mahshi is served warm while in other countries, it may be chilled first.