Monday, June 15, 2009

Lunch Time in Cairo

Some of you fabulous Devoted Readers have asked about the local foods here in Cairo. I have previously blogged about the yummy, carb-filled goodness that is Koshari - or as we like to call it in the Typ0-Hubby household “Sunday dinner before South Beach made us miserable.” But neither expat nor local can live by carbohydrates alone, so today I thought I would take you to visit some local snack shops.

First up, we have The Juice Guy. These juice shops are a common sight in Cairo. For a nominal sum, you can have everything from a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice, to a bottle of mango juice for take-away. The fruit juices are incredibly tasty and since they’re made right in front of you contain zero preservatives.

Further along the street is The Nut Guy or as Hubby calls him the purveyor of Crack Nuts. They’re the ones with the silver spoon in the following photo.

If you visit this shop at the right times, you can actually see the nuts being freshly roasted and turned in the giant cookers. During the winter months, we would often buy a ¼ kg of chocolate covered nuts, a ½ kg of pistachios, and another ½ kg of the aforementioned Crack Nuts, which are candy coated, sweet peanuts. This week’s worth of fresh nuts would cost no more than 47LE or about $8.50 USD.

Our brief tour today will conclude with the Ta'miyya Guy. Ta'miyya is what the locals call falafel. He also makes sandwiches with the döner meat that turns on a spit in front of his shop.

Like the Nut Guy and the Juice Guy, every neighborhood has its own Ta’miyya Guy or two. Hubby’s favourite is located in Zamalek where he can get a falafel sandwich (4 falafels in a pita) for LE1.5 or about thirty cents US.

25 comments:

Joanna Jenkins said...

Chocolate Covered Nuts?!?!?! SIgn me up for the tour!
Thanks for sharing.

Laura said...

That nut place would have me hooked! I LOVE nuts :)

Very cool tour!

N said...

Wow! Cairo has far more delicious food than Copenhagen...There's a lot of kebab houses in the city, but I never tried one.

But I'm certainly down for some fresh juice. Thanks for sharing:) If you can move anywhere you want now, where would it be?

Corinne said...

Omigod, fresh juice. The 100% orange juice here costs an arm and a leg in the stores, but Sverre can usually manage to score a bottle (or twelve, one time) at work. Your post has made me super hungry...time for breakfast!

LadyFi said...

That's nuts! Delicious - and the juice too!

United Studies said...

A falafel sandwich for 30-cents?? It costs me more than than that to make one myself!!

Unknown said...

Sweet goodness. Now I def. want to come :D!!!

Unknown said...

Shawarma is what I truly miss! I love that stuff and no one in the States who has tried to do it, does it right.

Unknown said...

OMG love your blog!! so interesting :) thanks for visiting my blog! I'll be back!

Kathy B! said...

The nut place sounds fabulous, but the falafel sandwich?? I'm in!!

Grand Pooba said...

The only nut guy we have in our town is my old neighbor who tends to wander around at night with a bright yellow hat and matching socks. Wait, we just call him Nuts.

I would love a nut guy!

Crazee Juls said...

Thanks for the tour. It's so neat to see how things are around the world. thirty cents for a pita sandwich.... subways $5 footlongs are a rip off!

Sandy said...

Food sounds good, especially the Nut Guy for sure. But I got a question.....what's doner meat?? Hope it's not whatever happened to be running by earlier in the day.

theUngourmet said...

How fun! I bet it's fun to watch everything being prepared and bet it all smells great too.

Jennifer said...

Peanuts?

I am so lucky I don't live in Cairo.

Tess said...

What a cool thing to blog about! Stumbled across your blog today:)

Roxane said...

Ohhh Falafels! I want one right now!

Rita Loca said...

I am hungry now. Must make a trip to Cairo, I guess.

The Blonde Duck said...

That's so cool! You can eat your entire lunch just walking down the street!

Lydia said...

Oh yeah. Abu Zenib was my Tameyya Man. Tabi el Domiati (across from the 2nd Maadi metro stop) makes great Tameyya & shish tawook sandwiches. Mmmm, I'm craving it. But I still don't wanna come back right now! ;)

Laural Out Loud said...

Good Lord, how awesome it would be to live on your street. I LOVE falafel and spiced nuts, and freshly squeezed juice is so rare here (I just don't have the patience to do it myself!). Is it fair to put Cairo on my trip list just for the food?

Betty said...

I think I´d pass on that falafel sandwich, but the juice place looks good! :)

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

That all looks so delish. I just can't imagine all that right outside my door. I mean. We live in the 'burbs. I have to drive 20 minutes just to get to the grocery store. And if it isn't a chain...it doesn't exist...

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