The Mystery of Egyptian Spices

[DJKeefy]

Food and travel are inseparable. It’s a delight to try different tastes within oriental dishes and meals you get traveling abroad. But what makes the Egyptian cuisine tastes or smells really good is adding spices cooking anything. Unlike Indian or chinese cuisines, Egyptian food won't be very hot or spicy but it is quite essential to Egyptian cooking. While it is known that Egyptians live to eat rather than eat to live, the Egyptian cuisine is one of the rarest and most delicious around the world. Spices are enriched with a slight chili taste and vibrant smells that revives in anyone a monstrous appetite.

Top Herbs & Spices in Egypt

Cumin
Cumin is one of the most important additions to the components of food, having a very distinctive flavor that has been used in the mummification process in ancient Egypt, 5000 years ago. Throughout history, cumin was a sign of love and faithfulness, it was common to be found in soldiers’ pockets proving their fidelity. Cumin has an amazing powers over stomach problems, it is really good for digestion.

Coriander
Coriander, also called as Cilantro, is considered as the traditional treatment for diabetes. Egyptian had planted their seeds in Egyptian tombs and believed it somehow had an aphrodisiac properties . Coriander seeds seem to be quite treasured by Egyptians as they have been found in the tombs of the 21st dynasty.

Cloves
Cloves have a very different story to be told, having been found in vessels dated 1721 BC, its name was derived from the French word "clou" meaning nails, named after its remarkable nail appearance as a dried flower bud of an evergreen tree. They are used as the natural pain killers and dental pain reliefs. If you chew on them, they will probably make your mouth a bit sweet, spicy and numb.

Caradamom
Cardamom has a long and well travelled history, it can mostly be found in Indian servings. Cardamom has a very bitter taste, so be prepared for small bites to try it at first but its much better when added on something else. However, green cardamoms are more favored in the Middle Eastern societies, as it is used in drinking Turkish coffee and sometimes boiled with tea where it really tastes good when cardamom is added. That’s maybe because it is more available, smaller and affordable than the other kinds, in some areas, they are mixed with green coffee.

Cinnamon
The warmest of all smells is in Cinnamon, which can be used in sweet baking or salted cooking. It’s authenticity refers back to Pharaohs, when they used it in their embalming process like they did with Cumin. It was even so valuable that it was exchanged as currency long time ago. When added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative. One study was found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory. The botanical name comes from the Hebraic and Arabic term amomon, meaning fragrant spice plant. From the ancient Egyptian word for cannon, Italians called it canella, meaning "little tube," which aptly describes cinnamon sticks. cinnamon makes hot chocolate never taste more delicious, also you can boil it with apple juice to make a Cinapple drink that is so good to drink in winter. It’s a good treatment for coughing, hoarseness and sore throats.


Secrets Revealed about the Egyptian Cuisine

The magical influence of Egyptian cuisine to getting into a state of fullness and joy, is due to the Egyptians’ artisitc ability of cooking, keeping the old mixtures of spices and herbs that goes back to Pharaonic traditions in baking and cooking practices in ancient Egypt. Those oriental recipes have held their components to this today with some additions and medical discoveries they’ve just kept Egyptian's eating habits more delightful.

Spices & the Local Delight of National Dishes

Dukkah Mixture in Kushari Dish
Well, you have got to know that most Egyptians serve their food with paprika, black pepper, cumin and coriander. But one of the most common Egyptian spice mixture, is the Dukkah, that can be served with Hummus or poured over authentic plates, as the famous Kushari or Koshary recipe of Egypt. It is usually made of cumin, vinegar and garlic.

Mulukhiyah (or Molokhia) Dish
You cannot come to Egypt and not try out Mulukhiya soup dish. It is the most favored within every home and restaurant in Egypt, whether poor or rich, oriental or modern, you’ll just find anywhere. It looks like a green soup with a distinctive cooking smell. You can eat it alone with a spoon, dip some bread in it, or eat it as a vegetable component with rice. Coriander and garlic is the mixture used to make this plate perfect to enjoy.


Source: http://egyptolution.com/post/the-myster ... uisine/105

[carrie]

Dont agree with you there Keefy, most Egyptians eat to live, they dont seem to enjoy a dining experience, then dawdling over cofee etc after, it's eat and run.

[Maakari]

I Have found that too Carrie!
If I go round to the family for meal, they scoff it down in double quick time, then start clearing it up around me! I know I am very slow diner, as my friends here always laugh when I am the last one eating when we go out for meal, but we are talking speed eating olympics here!
If hubby and I go out to eat, it is in the resturant, order, chow down and he sits and looks at me, and says are you finished yet?!!!!!!!!! No romantic chit chat to be had there!
Same if we go to friends, meal is dished up, and in minutes all that can be heard is the sound of munching from the men, and then they are gone!!!!we Ladies carry on for at least another hour, eating, talking enjoying the tastes and our own company!!!!!!!!!

[DJKeefy]

Dont agree with you there Keefy, most Egyptians eat to live, they dont seem to enjoy a dining experience, then dawdling over cofee etc after, it's eat and run.

You dont have to disagree with me, cause im not the author of the post.

Having said that I have to agree with you when in Luxor, but Ive found while ive been in Hurghada and out eating on many occasions ive found me telling the Egyptians to hurry up sometimes they eat then take a break, then start eating again, and over coffee or tea its talk talk talk like there is no tommorow

[Who2]

An interesting post but really difficult to find I found it by luck this is not computer user friendly and I'm a computer user..be lucky spit spit..

[BENNU]

Dont agree with you there Keefy, most Egyptians eat to live, they dont seem to enjoy a dining experience, then dawdling over cofee etc after, it's eat and run.

You dont have to disagree with me, cause im not the author of the post.

If I start reading a post in a debate forum, I assume that it is the poster's own words. I find it incredibly provoking, when at the end of the text it turns out that I have been made to read an article without knowing it. It is nice and generous to share articles, but I think that it should be mentioned at the beginning. I am sorry to say that if two sentences into posts by certain posters, non mentioned, I see no spelling mistakes, I go to the bottom of the post, which oftentimes on a laptop the size of mine means scrolling down, to check whose words I read. It really annoys me.

[DJKeefy]

its in the Kitchen Corner section, I dont think much debating goes on in here and one should not assume anything on any social network site.

Looks like I wont be able to join any club you have BENNU cause my English and punctuation is well out of the window these days

Seems a lot is annoying you these days BENNU, Go have a nice glass of wine and chill out

BTW, did you make a mistake in your post...

which oftentimes on a laptop

It happens to all of us, no matter how perfect we think we might be

[BENNU]

It has been a problem for me for a while that I have to check if I am reading an article. I am sorry to mention it. It happens every day. OK, I shall leave now, I believe that I have made some positive posts here today.

I do not know what is wrong with my English and I never learned English punctuation.

[Morgita]

Bennu, your Engish is better than many who claim it as a first language. You and MK put many of us to shame. I share your frustration with this business of launching into an article without an introduction. I can choose for myself if I want to read the article. Wouldn't it be better to provide a brief intro and a link?

[DJKeefy]

You can also choose not to read a post too, some people dont like going from page to page after opening links and then going through the tabs to get to where they originally was, you cant please everyone, thank god we are not all the same, we would have nothing to moan about

[BENNU]

I have never liked the expression "oftentimes" and do not think that I have ever used it before, or will again, but I had spent some time chatting with non British, English speaking friends, who use it all the time, so it slipped out. However, after being corrected by the administrator, I looked it up in several dictionaries, and it is correct. I do make many mistakes, but would like to be taken seriously, when I point out something that I think is a problem. I am not the first one to mention it and obviously not the last. I do not think of that as moaning, and do not understand, what you mean by this:

"Seems a lot is annoying you these days BENNU, Go have a nice glass of wine and chill out"

Not asking for an answer, but I am shocked, and please spare me the rolling eyes, this very thread is an example of how this habit can lead to misunderstandings - but you are the boss, no discussion.

Morgita's point is valid and does not deserve laughing smilies, even if you do not agree.

Thank you, Morgita!

[DJKeefy]

BENNU your English is excellent.

We all intrepret posts in are own way, To me your post was saying: people who cant spell or cant use punctuation to be of lower class than you and if you knew from the beginning it was a post from them, you would probably ignore it. Sorry that's social networking for you, that's how I see it, others will intrepret it in a different way.

Its a forum and we have a wide range of members from America to Australia some will have good English other will not, but we should respect them for who they are and not on how they string together a sentence.

A couple of people left the forum in the past (one of them I know personaly) because they thought they were being judged on their English.

[BENNU]

I have often been judged in here on my English, corrected and discouraged as a minority.

If I am convinced that a post is written by the poster, I shall read it, but if I know that it is an article, I shall be more critical and perhaps save it for later. Normally if I read an article, I have opened a newspaper and know about the source and angle.

On a forum I forget to scroll down and see, whether there is a source, so I get confused and read it as a post, others have said something similar of the posts of a member, who frequently cuts and pastes, and "sounds" completely different in their own words, which is what gives away the fact that it is not the usual quotation. I accept your rules, of course, and indeed appreciate the sharing of articles. I said it in a stupid way, I am sorry, and "oftentimes" is stupid, but not wrong.

I am embarrassed not to have learned English punctuation, but I was excused from English classes in school, before we got to it, and Danish punctuation is completely different, so I know better than to mention English punctuation.

[Glyphdoctor]

Generally, Scandinavians have better English skills than most native English speakers, and you are no exception Bennu.