Egypt

Tonight was all about Egypt...what an experience! This is my World Journal, the place where I plan my menu, list the links, talley grocery costs and write a brief summary of what country I'm cooking from. It is week 9. A recap, so far, in order: Italy, Mongolia, India, Poland, Cuba, Morocco, Korea, Russia and Egypt. Nine countries down, only 43 more to go! Each week, I give myself a $20 budget for food and supplies and whatever change is left over, I put into a bag and that's my Beach Bag Fund...just to see how much I can save by the end of the year for a trip to the beach. My supplies and groceries cost me only $11.45 this week, so that left $8.55 for the Beach Bag which now has $58.74. Tonight's menu was Sheesh Tawook (Chicken Kababs) http://www.egyptdailynews.com/recipes/egyptian%20chicken%kabab.htm Orange & Radish Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette http://touregypt.net/recipes/recipeweek12102001.htm Couscous with Currants & Cumin http://interoz.com/egypt/recipes/recipeweek09192003.htm and Ruzz Bi-Laban (Rice Pudding) http://members.cox.net/ahmedheissa/recricep.htm
Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments including the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Sphinx. The southern city of Luxor contains numerous ancient artifacts, such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings.

I really wasn't sure about the cinnamon vinaigrette with this salad, but, suprisingly, it is really quite delicious. And it photographs rather well, I think.

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The majority of the estimated 77.4 million people live near the banks for the Nile River, in an area of only about 15,000 square miles. The reason for this is pretty much the rest of the country is the Sahara Desert. Those large areas are sparsely inhabited.

Neither one of us were really excited about the couscous. I thought it was just ok, Bob didn't like it at all. He was a good sport and took one huge bite of it...what a trooper...but he did not like it at all.

Like any crossroads culture (Egypt's land bridge connects with Asia), Egyptian cuisine has evolved around foods that grow the best. To experience real Egyptian cuisine, you would definately have to travel there and try the street food. Meatwise, lamb and chicken are predominant and meat is largely grilled.

Can I get a volunteer to help with galley clean-up duty? It's really not all that much, but in a 21-foot RV, it's ridiculous!!

Sheesh Tawook....I would recommend only marinading for 4-5 hours because the acid in the lemon will begin to cook your chicken...like ceviche! These were delicious!! And cooked up in no time at all. I used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and cut each half into 8 nice chunks. One thing I have discovered when cooking kababs...less is more! The less stuff you put on a skewer, the more it will actually cook and not just steam. Common sense stuff there!

When I think of Egypt and food in the same sentence, I, automatically, think spice. I can imagine an Egyptian bazaar displaying huge amounts of everything: from the deep yellow of saffron and the ochres of the curries to deep blue of the powdered indigo dyes. The food is spiced, but definately not spicy. It is common to find salt and cumin on a restaurant table.

Dessert...Ruzz Bi-Laban...I'm kinda upset at how this turned out. I must have used the wrong type of rice in this. The recipe says to simmer for 20 minutes, well, I simmered it for 45 minutes and the rice didn't get tender. The pudding got thick and tasted super good, crunchy but tasty! I want to try this again with maybe Basmati rice or something to see if that makes a difference in the texture. I fried the raisins up in some ghee (remember the India blog...ghee/clarified butter?) and added them into the pudding and raisins done like this are really good. I'm not a raisin fan, but I do enjoy them this way.

God, that salad photographs well! This was dinner tonight!

Yesterday, on the recipe exchange, we had a record number of voters for next week's blog country. Fifty-seven people voted for either Argentina (Bob's choice) or Thailand (my choice). The results were 24-33 in favor of Thailand. So, Thai food it is.

Bob is having his throat surgery/biopsy done tomorrow and we would like to thank everyone for the warm thoughts and prayers...I really do believe in the power of that! So thank you all!

Until we meet up in Thailand next week...peace!