Victory Soup

For a few days last week, in a food poisoning haze, I spent much of my time walking dizzily back and forth between the bathroom and my bed.

After I stabilized and remounted the reading/taxi/smile horses, I found myself ready to eat a delicious soup, the invention of a good friend of mine here, Adolf. He and my roommate Joseph and I enjoyed a nice meal together this past weekend. The soup represents a dramatic moral victory for me: food without poisoning.

Victory Soup
Serves 3 Dudes

Chop up 1/4 kilo (each) of:

Okra (Bamieh)
Potato (Botatis)
Freshly-Shelled Peas (Fasoulia)
Carrot (Gazaht)

Boil lightly in enough water to cover it up for 30-40 minutes until it all seems tender. Don't worry about the broth, it will be thin, no problem. The key, though: a few dashes of cumin, pepper and salt to taste with a very Egyptian squirt of lemon.

Complement Victory Soup with kofta/tomato/onion/tahini sandwiches in pita-type bread.

An Iftar in Imbaba

This posting comes about three weeks late. But travel with me through these somewhat blurry photos to that time known as the final week of Ramadan, that place known as Imbaba, Cairo, where you would have found me with a couple of foreign friends enjoying a wonderful evening of food, fireworks and banter with Egyptian pals in their neighborhood, not so far from where I live.

The iftar served on the sidewalk outside of this restaurant was in such hot demand that everyone stood shoulder to shoulder using forks to eat out of big dishes. Semolina pastas, koushary, nutty pastries, and casseroles of beef, lamb and chicken were de rigeur. To drink: tamarind juice, kharkady and various root-derived beverages. Mumtaz!

Adjacent to the restaurant was this assemblage of birdcages, containing canaries, parakeets, pigeons and doves. The proprietor is a local legend and also an antiques collector. I did not feel comfortable taking his picture but I had no problem taking pictures of his birds.

Ramadan streamers can be so lovely as to be worthy of their own holiday.