EGYPT VS EUROPE 2 – Eating Habits

Do you want to know the differences of eating habits between Europe and Egypt? Do you think there are no surprises ? So go on, read it and you will be shocked !

TIME

I would like to start with the time of eating. I think it is the most important and the biggest difference at all.

In Europe mostly we wake up soon morning and have a breakfast at cca 7 am, lunch around 12 pm and dinner at 6 pm. Also we have a snacks around 9 am and 3 pm. So at the end we eat 5 meals in one day. 

In Egypt we wake up very late ! And even if you are working and wake up soon you still have a Breakfast in the same time and Imagine it is around 12 pm ! Can you imagine? Egyptian have a breakfast in European lunch time. A lunch is around 5 pm and a dinner it can be since 10 pm – 2 am ! It really looks like Egyptian exchanged the night and day, Don`t you think? But whats surprising is they usually do not have a snacks. So at the end they eat 3 meals in one day.

The Way of Eating

This is really interesting topic, so read carefully…

In Europe all people are eating on the table. Each of person has own chair, own place, own plat and fork and spoon, own amount of food, and glass etc...

When you eat together with a people you try to make the table beautiful way, you put new table clothe and you manage the crockery and serviette. You can put some flowers also to decorate it. And you try to eat in the biggest cleanest ever. Also we have some etiquette for eating and a lot of people go on these rules.

 

In Egypt – FORGET ABOUT ETIQUETTE AT ALL 😀 There is nothing like this. Maybe in very luxury restaurant but in normal home or normal life you will never even meet it. Mostly the people put very small circle table (sometimes without even table, they just put table clothe)  on the land and sit around it. They do not even know how to use fork and knife together. Mostly they eat by hands or by spoon. Just do not misunderstand this point the people do not learn it because it is from Islam actually to eat by your hands. But actually this is something what I like, it feel more personal if you eat by your hands and Egypt really learnt me its no need to have our European etiquette. But of course you must to know how to eat by your hands 😀 Trust me it is not so easy as you imagine. It is really an ,,art,,. 

Some families nowadays eating even on a table but there is one point what I also like – They do not care if they make mess around by the food or not. They just enjoy the eating. It is something beautiful because the European care more about the mess than the enjoyment in the moment.But of course when Egyptian people finish the eating so they clean the mess, no worry about it.

Also they eat from one plate or it can be more plates but all the people share it together. No one has his own plate. And the same can be with a spoon or a glass. And again this is from Islam. We can say, eating from one plate is sharing a love. 

 

Kind of Food

In Europe in common we like to change the kind of food. Every day new and different breakfast, lunch and dinner. I mean we have really a lot of recipes. Also we like to change salty meat with a sweet meat. Simply every day to be original in our cuisine.

In Egypt they do not like a changes in food at all. They have a traditional foods and they do not like to change it at all. Look breakfast and dinner is every day the same. It is about eggs, cheese, bread, beans, black honey and very traditional is also ,,halawa,,. Well only in summer sometimes they can change on a jam with a cream.

 

“This point was really hard for me at the start.To eat every day the same breakfast and the same dinner it was really boring for me and my stomach was even ill from it and I never get used to it. But by time I try to manage it back to little bit european style. Sometimes I eat this traditional breakfast and sometimes I buy a jogurt, cereals, or sweets from bakery, or I make home made spread on breat etc. Simply change it :D” 

Lunch in Egypt – as I told I do not see theirs cuisine so rich. They have few traditional foods which they repeat over and over. The basic is to have a meat with rice or potatoes or both and salsa sauce. Less often they make a macaroni and they are not perfect in it. But they have a liking for salad. Unfortunately the salad is every day the same – tomatoes with cucumber and can put some greens or lemon.

Also a soup. In Europe we love soup and we have it almost every day before the main food at lunch. In Egypt they use a soup so rare and mostly when you are ill. In European soups you have a lot of vegetables, potatoes, macaroni, lentils etc.. we have really a perfect soup and so many kinds. And again unfortunately in Egypt they know I think 3 kind of soups but often they just put the water of the meat to a dish and this they call a soup. It is really a big difference.

It looks I criticized the Egyptian cuisine very much 😀 I do not mean anything bad but I have to tell you the truth – for me Egyptian main food is very boring.

Dessert and sweets

Okay this is a positive point 😀

 

In Europe we love to have a sweets all the time. I grew up in family where at least once per week we made a sweets and desserts in our home. My mum, grandmothers, aunts simply everyone. So for me this is a big passion. I love to eat sweet anytime and anywhere. Not all European are so hardly in love with a sweets as me but all eat it. I think mostly on a snack – something small and sweet to get energy. Sometimes we have sweet lunch, or sometimes we go to cafe to sit with a friends and then we order pancakes or Hot raspberries in chocolate, or tumbler full of ice cream and fruits etc..at birthday we have a lot of cakes or any other occasion we make a sweets. or if you have a visitors you make a tiramisu, yogurt cake, or you bake something for them. Simply all the time it is about sweets.

In Egypt. it is not so often that family would make a sweets at home. Only on big occasion which is twice till year and not all family make it, some buy it. And of course they have their own traditional sweets.  On nowadays they use to have a cake on birthday but again not all families. But actually I am not surprised because the ingredients as a butter or milk is kind of expensive in Egypt. So if you buy the sweets so it is much more cheaper than if you make it at home.

 I really adore Egyptian bakery. I always find a hundreds kind of sweets and every day fresh and so delicious and cheap. You can buy sweets from 1 LE. (1 dollar – 12 LE.) even you know 3 years ago you the price started at 0,25 LE. so as you can see we have n Egypt big inflation nowadays. But it is worldwide problem. 

Tea or Coffee

My last point will be about a tea and coffee.

In Europe we love to drink both and at least once in day. Sometimes more often specially in winter time but again we have a lot of kinds of tea and coffee.

In Egypt they actually prefer to drink a BLACK TEA. I tried before to give a lot of people another kind of tea but they did not like it or did not understand it. Simply Egyptian does not like a changes. And about coffee it is rare or mostly man drinks it. We have a famous coffee for girls and it is coffee mix this they like but this is really very bad coffee or it is not even coffee. If you are a coffee lover for sure you will know what I am talking about.

But we have here a coffee shop where they sell a true coffee and it is so delicious but so  expensive. But even if you go around this shop so only the smell will fascinate you.

And we also have a  tearoom here but it is only for a men and also they sell only the traditional black tea.

Beside these two famous drinks, Egypt has a lot of another – Helba, Talbina, Aanab, and much more. I will not describe it in this article but if you are actually interested about it so write me in a comment and I will make another article where I will tell you what it is and also how to do it and the positive effects of it. BUT YOU MUST REALLY TELL ME THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED ABOUT IT ! 😀

 

“I am sure it is all for now. I hope you like it and for sure make your comment. I look forward on you.”

Sajda

Books I wrote, you can read here:

1. Don´t fall in love with Egyptian man
2. Dining Like a Pharaoh