Egyptian food?

[gardenmommy]

My daughter is participating in an international food festival next week. Each child is supposed to bring in one or two dishes from their assigned country. My DD was assigned Egypt. So, now I'm looking for a couple of simple, easy to prepare dishes that we can do together, that are kid-friendly. DD is 8, btw, and fairly proficient in the kitchen. I was thinking maybe we could make one meal-type dish, and a dessert (something with dates, since we have a bunch, lol!).

[Sarah W]

She could do hibiscus tea. That was served everywhere when we were in Egypt.

You could also do bread. It's a staple of their diets. I'm not sure how it's made, but it was unleavened and really good. It's was similar to na'an.

Here's a recipe for date fruit cups. http://www.touregypt.net/recipes/recipeweek11192001.htm

[gigismom]

my dh is egyptian and i have learned to cook some dishes. when i think of traditional egyptian i think... falafel, hummus with bread, olives, pickles, grilled meats, stewed meats (tonights dinner: beef cubes sauteed with onions and garlic and then stewed in bone broth until tender. add tomato sauce and spinach... could also be peas, beans, okra... cook until done and serve with rice). foul... fava beans heated then dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, fresh parsley, salt, fresh tomatoes... kind of smoosh around a bit and serve with bread. desserts... baklava, rice pudding. dates are usually eaten whole, ime. if i think of more ideas i'll come back.

[gardenmommy]

I did a little bit of searching for recipes last night. I was sort of thinking maybe a rice and lentil dish (because I have lots of both), and not sure about a dessert. Thanks, gigismom, that is a lot of ideas!

Sarah W, do you know if hibiscus tea is readily available in supermarkets, or is it something I'll have to find at a specialty store?

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

Sarah W, do you know if hibiscus tea is readily available in supermarkets, or is it something I'll have to find at a specialty store?

Hibisicus is available everywhere. I can get it in the bulk section of my HFS, but also if you look at Celestial Seasonings teas, almost every one of their teas has hibiscus in it. I believe they have one that is mostly hibiscus, if your choices are limited.

[Owen'nZoe]

If you want to do a desert, Basbousa is easy, and the ingredients are easy to find in the US: http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dess...r/basbousa.htm

[terrordactyl]

hummus is super easy to make and could be served with a flat bread

[gardenmommy]

The babousa calls for semolina, which I'm assuming is wheat flour? Can I sub all-purpose flour, or do you think it specifically needs to be semolina?

I wanted to make hummus, but DD specifically did NOT want to make that, since she doesn't really like hummus. (can she even be my DD if she doesn't like it?, lol, it's one of my favorite foods.)

[Otto]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

The babousa calls for semolina, which I'm assuming is wheat flour? Can I sub all-purpose flour, or do you think it specifically needs to be semolina?

Fine semolina (#20 sieve?) is 4-5 times coarser than flour (#70 sieve, 0.21 mm), and entirely of hard wheat. If you have regular Cream of Wheat, you could try substituting that.

[gardenmommy]

oh, i had no idea. i guess reg. flour really would *not* work then!!

we are going to make a cinnamon date cake and koshari.

[Sarah W]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

I did a little bit of searching for recipes last night. I was sort of thinking maybe a rice and lentil dish (because I have lots of both), and not sure about a dessert. Thanks, gigismom, that is a lot of ideas!

Sarah W, do you know if hibiscus tea is readily available in supermarkets, or is it something I'll have to find at a specialty store?

I don't know! I read somewhere that you can get tea bags online, but I don't know where.