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Oh dear, my diet is out the window. I was stuck in my house with a broken foot so my neighbor brought me over a whole delicious basbousa. It was enormous and I told myself I will only eat a few pieces and give the rest away, but it was too delicious. As the day went by, and then the night, I kept returning for another piece and by the end of the next day I had eaten it all.

Basbousa is made from semolina and baked until golden and soaked in a sugar syrup, usually made in a round pan and cut into the traditional diamond-shaped pieces plain or topped with a blanched almond, a walnut half, or crushed almonds and pistachios on each piece, like the one I ate entirely in the last two days.
The same dessert can be found all throughout the Middle East and North Africa, from Morrocco to Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan ,Palestine, the Gulf, and of course, Egypt.

Many Arabic desserts are truly delicious, and Egyptians, who have a great love of sweets have a great number of irresistable Egyptian versions. Sweets shops and bakeries can be found all over Egyptian cities where you find mouthwatering temptations to break your diet.. These must be tasted.. Of course you have the choice to view this as a reward to yourself.
Some of my favorites are:

Kahk, a traditional sweet most common during Eid ul-Fitr (عيد الفطر) in Egypt, is a shortbread biscuit covered with icing sugar, stuffed with dates, walnuts, or agameya (عجمية,) (like Turkish-delight) or just plain.
Kunāfah is pastry “fingers” fried on a hot grill and stuffed with nuts (usually pistachios), heavy whipped cream or sweets. (It can also be stuffed with meat)
Luqmat al-Qadi literally translated as “The Judge’s Bite” are small, round crunchy donuts which are soft and syrupy on the inside can be dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Qatayef, a sweet crêpe filled with cheese or nuts is reserved as a fast-breaking treat in Ramadan.
Umm Ali (ام على),a raisin cake soaked in milk and served hot, is a national dish of Egypt.

There are many more but I will stop here as my sweet tooth is now awake and I must open this new bakery package my neighbor just brought me!

For me, the easiest Arabic or Egyptian dessert to make is Basbousa, truly simple, natural and delicious– I have even resorted to making myself, and it came out great. There are many variations and you can sample them all as you will find each version will be slightly different. Here is a great recipe if you’d like to try:

Ingredients
2 ½ cups coarse semolina

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup self-raising flour

200g thick yoghurt

200g unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

approx 25 blanched almonds

Milk if needed
Syrup
1 ½ cups caster sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp rosewater

Mix the semolina, coconut, sugar, flour, yoghurt,melted butter and vanilla in a bowl. If the mixture is too thick, add a little milk. Spread in a greased baking tray and cut into diamond shapes. Place one blanched almond in the centre of each diamond. Bake in an oven at 190C for 35-40 min until golden brown. 

–Meanwhile, stir sugar and water until sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and rosewater. Remove from the heat and be sure to let it cool. 

Pour the syrup over the cake while the cake is still hot and let it stand until it reaches room temperature. Serve

One of my favorite things to discover about different cultures is the popular sayings. These expressions reveal much about the way the people think about common aspects of life, and are often very colorful, including allegorical references to elements and perspectives specific to each culture. Egyptian popular sayings are often similar to those one will hear throughout the Arab world, but they have their own flavor.  These are a few of my favorite very common Egyptian expressions (with the regional colloquial transliteration):

1)”tammakhada al gamala wa walada fa’aran”

 Literal translation: “The camel went through labor only to give birth to a mouse”

 meaning: something big was expected but dissappointing results

2)”Zay kalb el-khashashni, a3war we kayyeef”

 Literal translation: “Like the dog of the tobacco salesman, one-eyed, and a smoking addict”

 meaning: a weak personality influenced by bad associations

3)”No’ollohom Tor, ye’oolo iHlibooh”

 Literal translation: “We tell them it is a bull, they say milk it”

 meaning: they are asking for the impossible

4)”khonfesa shafet weladha 3al Hait ‘alet da 3okD mesalsel”

 Literal translation: “A beetle saw her children on the wall, she said they look like a necklace of pearls”

 meaning: everyone’s own creation looks beautiful in their own eyes

5)”a wakhda el erd 3ala kotr maaloh, yerooH el maal we yefDal el erd 3ala Haloh”

 Literal translation: “If you “marry” a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains  “.. 

 meaning: if you marry a person you dislike  for their wealth, you might lose the money but you will still get the person

6)”Labbes ‘el bousa tebka 3arousa”

 Literal translation: “Dress-up a stick and you get a doll.”

 meaning: artifice and packaging can make anything look good

7)”Kalil el-bakht yelaki el-3adm fi el-fatta”

 Literal translation: “The unlucky finds bones in his/her “fatta” (local dish)

 meaning: An unlucky person will have something bad happen all the time

 8)”temoot el raqqasa we westaha beyel3ab”

 Literal translation: “The {belly} dancer dies, and her waist is still moving”

 meaning: Old habits don’t die

9)”ya me’amen el regaal ya me’amen el mayya fel ghorbal”

 Literal translation: “Trusting men is like trusting the water in a sieve”

 meaning: men can’t be trusted

10)”ya dakhel bein el-baSala we ‘eshret-ha may noubak ‘ella Sannet-ha”

 Literal translation: “Hey you getting in between the onion and its peel, you will only get its bad smell.”

 meaning: Mind your own business

11)”seketna luh daKHal be Humaru”

 Literal translation: “We let him in, he brought his donkey along”

 meaning: he took more than we gave; abused generosity, hospitality

12)”‘a3ma we beygur mekasaH”

 Literal translation:” A blind pulling a cripple.”

 meaning: the blind leading the blind

13)”‘ussi reish Teirek la yeloof be GHeirek”

Literal translation:” Cut your bird’s feather, so that it doesn’t leave you for

 someone else.” 

 meaning: Keep a tight leash on your spouse!

14)”KHudoohum bel-soT la yeGHlebookum”

 Literal translation: “Raise your voice otherwise their arguments will beat you!”

 meaning: When ideas fail, words (and loud voice) will convince.

15)”haza al-shebl men zaka al-asad” 

 Literal translation: “This is the baby from that lion”

 meaning: the child inherits his parents’ strength, talents, qualities (same as english “a chip off

  the old block”)

16) “bab el-naggar mekhala3″

 Literal translation: “The carpenter’s door is loose”

 meaning: people neglect what they are good at doing for others in their own life

17) “El bab elli yigi menno el reeH, seddo westareeH”

 Literal translation: “Block the door where the wind comes from, and relax

 meaning: Don’t freak out about your problems; face them rationally– fix what you can and wait it out

18) “Elli yetlesse3 men el shorba yenfokh felzabadi”

 Literal translation: “The one who burns his/her tounge when eating soup, will blow

  in the yogurt. “

 meaning: once burned, twice shy

19) “El Ghazzala el shatra teghzel be regl humar”

 Translation: “The skilful spinster spins with the leg of a donkey”

 meaning: A skilful worker can  do good work even with inadequate tools

20) “zayy umm il3aruusa, fadya wmashbuuka”

 Literal translation: “Like the bride’s mother, has nothing to do yet acts busy”

 Meaning: someone does nothing yet acts busy, just like a

  bride’s mother on her daughter’s wedding day -

21)”el Darb fil-mayyit Haraam”

 Literal translation:  “Beating a dead person is a sin”

 Meaning: Don’t attack someone when they are down, or, Don’t beat a dead horse

22) “illei faat maat”

 Literal translation:  “What is past is dead”

 Meaning: bury the past

23)”el 3abd fil-tafkir wel rab fil-tadbir”

 Literal translation: “Man thinks, God takes care of things”

 Meaning: “Man proposes, God disposes”

24) “el-’arayeb 3a’areb”

 Literal translation: “relatives are spiders.”

 meaning: you are in your relatives’ web and their bite is venemous 

25)”elli yetgawwez ummi, ‘a’ool luh ya 3ammi”

 Literal translation: “whoever marries my mother, I’ll call him uncle”

 meaning: you should make peace with people whom you’re forced to 

 deal with 

26) “etlamm el-mat3oos 3ala KHayeb el-raga”

 Literal translation: “the miserable got together with the hopeless.”

 meaning: losers joining efforts (a team unlikely to succeed)

27) “el-Gillah asbah karamellah?”

 Literal translation: “. Did the sheep manure turn to caramel?

 meaning : Don’t expect a bad person to suddenly turn good. 

28) “geh yekaHalha 3amaha”

 Literal translation: “In trying to put make-up on his eye, he blinded it.”

 meaning: Instead of fixing it, he destroyed it!

29)”Ma shatamak ela man balaghak”

Literal translation: “The one who insulted you is the one who told you about the

insult.” 

 meaning: Do not listen to people telling you about someone else insulting you.

 30)”el-3a’l zeena”

 Literal translation: Being smart makes a person look good.

 meaning: intelligence is attractive

In Egypt the family is the center of a person’s entire life, including their social organization.  This is unlike the case of most modern western cultures, where young people are encouraged to direct their energies outward, toward the society and toward their independance. In Egypt most young people, male and female, live in the same house with their parents at the least until they marry.  Due to the heavy requirements of marriage, and though some marry quite young, marriage can sometimes be delayed until a person’s 30′s or even 40s.

A new apartment must be provided for the bride in order for the marriage to take place. This is officially the groom’s duty, while the furnishing and decorating are the bride’s.  Sometimes the preparing of this “nest” can be a wonderful exciting time, though sometimes it can put a lot of strain on a young couple. Sometimes due to financial limits the couple will wind up returning to live with the grooms parents.

The fact is that in the Egyptian tradition the family is the strongest force in people’s lives until the day they die. Children learn to respect their parents and other adults from the youngest age. Girls learn help their mothers with housework and take responsibility for the younger siblings. Boys are generally a bit spoiled, and served by the women of the family, but nevertheless they are expected to obey their elders.

While boys and even girls of wealthier families have the luxury of decisions about their future, socializing, and concentrating on school, children from poorer families must contribute to the means of their family early in life, sometimes interrupting their schooling.

The western trends of rebelling against the parents’ values, moving away from one’s family to strike out on one’s own- each one thinking only of themself- have never found their way into Egyptian society.  Here the close family ties are too strong. Often a person’s every act is filtered through consciousness of the family’s traditions and approval.

Every Egyptian is expected to enlarge the family and continue the lineage by marrying and having children, and Egyptians dote on their children.

Most of Egypt’s population is concentrated in Cairo and other cities. Except for the very wealthy who can afford sometimes fabulous individual homes, most Cairenes and other city-dwellers live in apartment buildings in the crowded cities. Traditionally, if possible, a nuclear family will occupy the different floors of the same building, and the extended families will live close by.

Egyptian extended families, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all feel united by clan ties and responsibilies to care for each other closely. The eldest in each generation of the clan is usually called upon to advise and arbitrate, even between husbands and wives, and on religious questions.

Families often eat together and most spend Fridays with their family. Most family events revolve around food, which is a big part of Egyptian life(and a whole subject in itself)  The whole extended family usually gets together for big Eid feasts and other occasions. Often the extended family of urban Egyptians has some family land or members living in rural villages outside of the city, and events like weddings, funerals, and other important situations are attended by all, in traditional style.

Of course for young people, the heavy family influence in Egypt, like family anywhere, can sometimes feel heavy and restricting. Perhaps some young people who live in traditional conservative families wish they had some of the freedom and independance they see on western TV, but they know that the value of the love, security and sense of belonging of the Egyptian family could never be equalled.

They know that they will never be alone because their family will always be close to them and care for them.

Regardless of the level of material wealth of the people, the Egyptian culture is based upon the Egyptian family, a treasure few other cultures possess.

As Valentine’s day approaches for the west, and most of the world, Egypt will celebrate it too, with flowers and chocolates and red heart-shaped balloons. The kiosks are already filling with all manner  of red and heart-shaped things.  In cosmopolitain Cairo, wives and girlfriends will expect some romantic gesture, a gift, or to be taken out, perhaps for a walk on the banks of the Nile.  And the girls will also buy gifts for their men.

In spite of it’s “unofficial” holiday status, and some cultural taboos that might perhaps misunderstand this holiday as promoting improper romance, it is really just a fun and innocent holiday, a day to make loving gestures, that has become globally unavoidable.

Souvenir shops are certainly aware of its commercial significance and stock roses, stuffed bears (dabadeeb), red heart-decorated covers for mobile phones, earrings, scarves, perfume, rings, necklaces, chocolates, and various imaginative gifts.

With world wide web social networking sites widely promoting Valentine’s Day in all its excitement, Egyptians, being very sentimental, love to send virtual Valentines and Valentine phone messages to their friends and families. In spite of the difficult post-revolution transition, people will still be bombarding each other with hearts full of warm Egyptian sentiment.

In fact, aside from celebrating this unofficially recognized “heart day” on its internationally observed February 14, they also have their own “unofficial” “Valentines day”  the 4th of November.
The story behind the Egyptian Valentine’s date is that it was the initiative of two brothers, Mustafa and Ali Amin, both writers and founders of the publishing house Akhbar al-Youm.

According to the story, journalist and writer Mustafa Amin, got the idea of the day in 1970s after seeing a funeral with practically no one attending it, no one following behind the casket as the custom in Egypt. It was as if no one loved or cared for this man. Egyptians are very warm and gregarious and Amin was made sad by this lack of the simple gestures of love, respect, and care.  It bothered him that people could forget about loving one another and from there came the idea of the day to celebrate love.

He asked his readers  for their choice of a specific date for Valentine’s Day and they chose November 4th of each year.

In fact in Egypt November 4 is more popularly celebrated and with even more red heart-shaped gifts to buy, but the now universal holiday of February 14 is a  day that celebrates love and affection and kindness and sentiment and so it is a welcome day for an Egyptian “unofficial” holiday.

Deserts are mysterious and fascinating places where time seems to stop and the daily headaches appear at once remote and insignificant. The oasis of Siwa, located in the Western region of Egypt, offers the perfect spot to enjoy the desert experience. Emplaced in a bucolic landscape of date palms and olive trees that reaches until the horizon, this historic town is one of the most isolated villages in Egypt. Unlike the rest of the country –but similar to its North African neighbors– most of its 25.000 inhabitants belong to the indigenous group that populated this region before the Arab conquests, the amazigh (popularly known as Berbers).

The oasis of Siwa has an extension of 80 km in length and 20 km in width. Among other attractions, the town is famous for the ruins of the Shali Fortress, visible from Siwa’s main square. Erected in the 12th century, this stronghold made of karsheef (a mix of sun-baked clay, salt and fine sand) was used as a protection against foreign invaders and other enemies (such as mosquitoes!). Worth a visit are also the Temple of the Oracle, built to honor Zeus in the 6th century BC, and Pharaoh’s Nectanebo’s Temple of Amun. About 1 km away from town, in the Gebel el-Mawta (Mountain of the Dead), visitors can walk around the colorful rock cut tombs of Ptolemaic and Roman times and admire its 1500-year-old mummies. After a long touring day, travelers can take a bath in the Cleopatra’s Bath, a natural hot spring between the rocks.

The charm of the town however resides not so much on its historical sites but on its unbeatable natural beauty. Therefore, it is advisable to leave the guide book aside and just enjoy the long promenades and the daily spectacle offered by the kaleidoscopic sunsets and sunrises. About 550 km far away from the polluted Cairene nights, however, the star sighting may be too overwhelming to bear. To conclude the visit, make sure to acquire a generous quantity of Siwa dates stuffed with almond and chocolate, and drink a farewell red Siwan tea before leaving the town.

Strolling along the rows of the supermarket, the overwhelming display of products from all over the
world may make us forget that once –not so long ago– the diversity of ingredients at our reach was
much more limited. Over history, a number of foods and spices have entered our kitchens coming
from the Arab world. Can you imagine what would we miss without this influence?

 
Two essentials in the basic list of provisions with Arabic origin are coffee (qahwa,
originated in Yemen in the 15th century) and sugar (sukkar, from Sanskritic sharkara, produced by
the medieval Arabs). What would be of our breakfasts without them? Related to sugar, the word
candy (qandi, from the Persian qand, cane sugar) as well as syrup (sharab) arrived to Europe from
the Arab world. Moreover, without the Arabic connection the wide range of fruits and vegetables
that fill the shelves of our grocery stores would be severely reduced. Even more seriously, a deficit
in Vitamin C would surely result from our lack of familiarity with oranges (naranj, from Sanskritic
naranga, introduced by the Arabs in the region during the 10th century), tangerines (from tanja, the
Moroccan port city from which the first mandarins were exported), lemons (limun, from Farsi) and
limes (lim). Likewise, our diet would be less healthy without spinach (isbinakh in Andalusian
Arabic, from Persian aspanakh), artichokes (al-kharshuf) and aubergines (al-badhinjan).

Today enjoying a meal can be a pleasure of the senses, but how it would be without the
fragrances of the spices that reached us from the Arab world? For sure, our dishes would be much
duller without a touch of the peppery taste of curcuma (kurkum, a ground turmeric root), the bitter,
honey-like flavor of saffron (za’faran, common in medieval recipes) or the tart, sour lemon savor of
sumac (summaq). Bil hana wish shifa’! (Bon appétit!)

In the history of math, an important chapter is reserved to Islamic mathematics, developed between the 8th and 13th centuries CE under the Abbasid caliphate. Considered the Islamic Golden Age, this period was characterized by the official promotion of knowledge, which turned the Muslim world into an academic hub in fields like science, philosophy, medicine and education. While Europe suffered from the intellectual backwardness and the economic regression of the Dark Ages, the Muslim world excelled in the preservation and development of the learnings inherited from the ancient Greeks, from arithmetic to geometry, trigonometry and astronomy. It was in fact in the House of Wisdom of Baghdad –the capital of the new caliphate, after its transfer from Damascus in 750 CE– that algebra, the most relevant contribution of Islamic mathematics, was invented.

Literally meaning “the reunion of broken parts,” algebra (al-jebr in Arabic) resulted from the combination of Indian and Babylonian elements with Greek geometry. The origin of its name is to be found in the title of a book written in the 9th century by Musa al-Khwarizmi. And it is precisely from the latinization of this mathematician’s short name –Khwarizmi– that the word “algorithm” derived in the early 13th century. It was also this Persian scientist who introduced the Hindu-Arabic decimal number system and its more relevant component, the number zero (sifr in Arabic), from which the words “cipher” (meaning first zero, then any decimal digit and finally any number) and its later variant “decipher” (as to decode or to crack a numerically encoded message) stem.

When the hilal marks the end of Ramadan and the start of the new month, Shawwal, Egyptians will celebrate one of their favorite festivities, the Eid Al-Fitr, also known as eid al-sughair. After a month of fasting and contention, the three-day feast is a time of unity and fraternity, characterized by the succession of family gatherings and visits. According to the tradition, the morning after Ramadan starts with a small breakfast that precedes the salat al-eid, a special prayer that should be performed in community. Before the prayer, the spirit of solidarity and empathy with the less privileged that animates these days culminates in the payment of the zakat al-fitr, a sum of money that all Muslims are required to give to the poor so that every Egyptian can celebrate the eid.

After the prayer, the first day of the feast is devoted to family visits. In these gatherings, family members share big meals and enjoy the kahk, delightful cookies filled with nuts and covered with powdered sugar. Once the visits have been paid, Egyptians can use the remaining days to enjoy other activities, like walking through the shadowy alleys of Azhar Park, strolling down the corniche or taking a felucca Nile ride, going to the cinema, the theatre or an amusement park. It is customary that men and women wear new clothes, as well as children, who also receive gifts and a small amount of money to spend during these days. For those who prefer to stay at home, moreover,
the Egyptian TV offers a special program consisting of movies and live interviews with Egyptians enjoying their holidays. Eid Mubarak!

The days prior to Ramadan, many signs hint at the soon arrival of the holy month. However, none of these symptoms can be compared in magic and charm to the fanous, the Ramadan lantern that fills the Egyptian nights with thousands of shiny, colorful lights. According to scholars, the origin of this bright tradition is to be found in the Pharaonic festivals that honored Osiris, Horus, Isis, Seth and Nephtys for five days with their five nights in which torches lightened the streets. It was through the Copts –who coined the term fanous, from the Greek phanos, “candle”– that this custom remained until our days. Yet, it is not until the Fatimid caliphate that we find a connection between the fanous and Ramadan: The chronicles of the time mention how Fatimid leader Al-Muizz li-Din Allah was greeted with lamps and torches when he entered Egypt on Ramadan 15 of 358 AH.

The origin of the now widespread tradition is however still not clear: Some voices affirm that it derives from the time when the caliph used to go out to check the hilal –and thus discern whether the month of Ramadan had begun– accompanied by singing children carrying lanterns. Other note that lanterns became ubiquitous when the caliph decreed the installation of fawanees (plural of fanous) in all mosques in order to guide the believers to prayer in the dark nights of Ramadan. A visit to Islamic Cairo, specially Ahmed Maher Street in Bab Zuwayla, is like a trip back to the past: there, craftsmen can still be observed while they create their new lanterns.

While the old fanous of the past was filled with oil, today most of them are electric, and the noble copper and brass has been replaced by recycled tin. Yet, its colored-glass still sparkles with a promise: to enlighten with a smile the face of an Egyptian child during Ramadan.