Egypt: cruising the nile

I recently went on an eye-opening trip to Egypt: the land of ancient history and pharaohs, elaborate tombs, architecture, art and sculptures. Traveling abroad now comes with a risk; certainly, a little fear and anxiety comes with the decision to go or not. The reward can be exploration and discovery, a learning and better understanding of all things you see and experience. Historically, Egypt was the land of bread and beer (boza). This drink is supposedly where the word “booze” comes from.

Hawaii’s history is not as long as Egypt’s; however, one thing is similar, in my opinion: Egypt had consecutive influences from the Greeks and Romans, foreign immigration, and the Islamic and Ottoman invasions. All of these have impacted the food and cooking habits, and the modern Egyptian cuisine is the outcome of these influences. Sound familiar? Many regions exist, the same ingredient or recipe is often made differently. Nubia and upper Egypt regions’ cuisines have remained stable; this makes sense since a lot of what happened around the globe revolves around a port, where commerce and traders converge, conquer or inhabit.

It was on my bucket list to see the pyramids and the Sphinx, and to experience firsthand more of Middle Eastern cuisine — mezze in particular. These are like appetizers before the main course. A lot of times, we pigged out on the mezze and got full. But, we still had to try the main courses since it was a new destination for most of us. (Thanks to Randy King of Seawind Tours. He does an excellent job of pre-preparing and the attention to detail makes all of us more comfortable in going to these exotic locations.)

We ate hummus, baba ganoush and local bread almost daily. I had to have a falafel in the region where it came from, only to find that Egyptian falafel is made with fava beans instead of chickpeas. You have to ask for harissa, a spicy red condiment originally from Tunisia; they use it like we use our local chili pepper water. Every place had its own version of this. One day, I had a different one — almost like my version of chimichurri, only spicier.

These are the moments I enjoy the most, when rules and previously learned ideas are shattered. It reminds me of the common theme in The Blue Tomato cookbook: “Nothing has to be what you thought it was supposed to be.” If ketchup doesn’t have to be red or a lumpia can be round like a golf ball, then harissa doesn’t have to be the red paste with a lot of spices I thought it was supposed to taste like. Instead, it can be a looser interpretation, containing the same ingredients.

I was craving a long-simmered dish like a stew or a spiced braise. When the chef offered to make me something, I asked for fatteh, a boiled lamb dish served on rice, topped with a tomato sauce and served with two broths — one green and lemony, the other a cumin tomato flavor. The broths were intended to pour over and moisten the rice. This dish was comforting, hit the spot and made me think of home cooking.

Another interesting dish was called mulukhiyah — soupy, green and slippery like okra — also meant to pour over your rice. This was served alongside a stuffed whole pigeon, which is a popular protein in Egypt. It’s made from a vegetable called jute mallow (also known as Jew’s Mallow), which we have here in Hawaii, where it’s known as saluyot, a Filipino dish that’s very healthy.

During the trip, I challenged myself and went down a shaft in a pyramid (this is usually where there is or was someone’s tomb). You might ask why — well, we were in Egypt, that’s why! I looked down and saw a very small round of light at the bottom. I could tell it was long and deep. If I thought too much about it, I probably would have given myself a reason why I shouldn’t or couldn’t. But I committed! My watch recorded more than 20 floors that I descended down at a steep angle, sometimes having to crawl on my hands and knees with my 20-pound camera bag on my neck. It wasn’t easy going down, and it was much harder going back up. Was it worth it? Yes, it was. This symbolized my trip. Did I learn more about mezze? Yes, but I learned so much more than just about the food.

Chef and restaurateur Alan Wong has wowed diners around the world for decades, and is known as one of the founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. Find his column in Crave every first Wednesday. Currently, Wong is dba Alan Wong’s Consulting Co.