THE BANE OF BISMILLAH

Chef Karem A Elhady’s mom brought up not one but three fine burly sons on macroni/rice/pasta and torley (mixed veges in tomato gravy) like most Egyptians mothers. Only Karem shared her love for cooking and took it up seriously.

As the Sous Chef of Movenpick, a fairly established Swiss chain of hotels in Cairo, he has had a lot of experience today in dishing out the most exotic Egyptian cuisine. What he learnt from his mother in her kitchen is however the most invaluable part of his learning. It started with the unique Arab spice mixture biz’har .

Biz’har is not as bizzare as it sounds. It may be a little different from family to family but this gives the essential Arab aroma to the same old veges that you and I cook. Biz’har has all the ingredient of garam masala like cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika, peppercorn, clove, Kashmir chili. In addition it has a little nutmeg and most importantly loomy – powdered dried lime which gives the Arab food its tangy flavor.

Karem is no more than thirty and has spent most of his growing years in Florida studying. But like most Egyptians worth their salt he likes his traditional food the best. Cairo is sprinkled with western style fast food chains today like Mc D’s and KFC’s. However he tells me local snack bars in cubby holes serving KUSHARY (A bhelpuri kind of mix of pasta, rice, black lentil, chana, and fried onions) are still more popular. The richer crust was a little more adventurous and showing a great fascination for Sushi in recent times.

“So what is a typical Egyptian dish?” “Hard to say!” He mentions how traditional Egyptian cuisine is a mix of many Mediterranean flavors – A bit Turkish, Palestinian, Lebanese, Greek and Syrian. What is typically Egyptian is not easy to classify. A lot of students from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait came to Egypt every year to learn the multicuisine specialties of Egypt.

“But what are your popular food items?” I asked and was once again surprised to see how easily I could relate to Karem. The kebabs, kuftas, tikkas and tandoories were nothing new to me. I recalled how Fatima, another friend of mine from India who settled in Egypt, mentioned her effortless transition into an alien Arab kitchen.

They are also basically rice eaters and preferred a little gravy which came from tomato puree. They ate a lot of stewed and grilled items. They loved their Mezze fried snacks (like our samosas, spring rolls and wadas). They guzzled several cups of black tea throughout the day and had a sweet tooth exactly like us … (I may be referring to my Bong community here!!!)

Drawing me out of my reverie Karem presented a salver before me.

“Okay try this one. It is commonly known as Mahshi”. I smelt an exotic platter of what looked like stuffed vegetables. One was a zucchini, looking quite like something we cooked back home In Calcutta – Potoler dolma.

“It tastes like dolma too.”

“You know dulma? Mahshi is dulma. What stuffing do you put?” Now it was Karem’s turn to be surprised.

“We put mince meat and sometimes cottage cheese even flavored rice like you have here.”

“But do you stuff vine leaves like us?”

“We don’t have vineyards in India. We don’t do the cabbage, egg plants and zucchini either.”

“Try Fuul. This will 'taste' different.” Karem was hopeful.

Egyptian breakfast comprises Fuul (mashed beans), Falafel (bean cakes, like south Indian wada), Bileela (whole wheat grain like dalia cooked in milk) eggs, assorted cheese, Labna (yoghurt cheese), Sha’riya (sweet vermicelli) and bread.

Karem had cooked his fuul overnight over slow fire and then mashed it with oil (Usually olive or corn oil) lemon, salt, chopped onion, tomatoes, crushed garlic and cumin powder. That so tasted like Ghugni from Kolkata

I was still looking for something that would be absolutely exotic – that would linger in my mouth as the exquisite Egyptian flavor. “Aren’t you acting a bit spoilt?” Jo finally said. India is such a diverse nation. With such a varied range of people and culture influencing us, he was right, I was bound to find similarities everywhere. I had to get out of the contest and enjoy the fare instead - The soups, the salads, the mezze, the sweets, the beverages, the breakfasts and the main courses.

What pleased Jo most was their strictly non-veg orientation and the range of stuff they consumed - All sorts of fishes, clams, meats, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, gizzards, sheep brains, livers just name it, went into their diet – Wow! For Jo these were a bunch happy guys who knew what good eating was all about.

A bit of a vegetable lover, I was struck by their interesting mixes of vegetables and meat. Like the one with Zucchini and lamb or the lamb and okra stew and
the artichokes with minced beef.

Of all vegetables bitingan rumi or eggplants seemed to be an important part of the Egyptian diet. Sometimes a whole section in a recipe book has been dedicated to them. Baked roasted, fried they were part of every meal. I loved the taste of Babghannuug for instance, like our Bharta mixed with Tahina sauce (Sesame seed paste mixed with lemon juice, vinegar, cumin and grated onion and crushed garlic.

Our gastronomical adventure was further whetted with a series of Ifhtar parties during Ramadan. My Egyptian friends, who are famous for their generous spreads made sure each Ifhtar was a special treat for us and left no recipe books unturned.

Sharp at six every evening we would say ‘Bismillah’ and get started with the special Ramadan drinks like Tamr hindi (sweet tamarind drink), Karkadeeh (hibiscus drink), Sahlab (a sweet spiced milk drink) - so (unbelievably refreshing). A minimum seven course dinner would end with sweets like Kunafa and Baklava.

It is pity my friends that you use only cutlery to eat. You may not fully appreciate what I mean by a lip smacking finger licking experience – but that’s exactly what it has been!

The only bane of Bismillah - You have packed us home not only with loving memories but nice tyres around the midriff as visible mementos.