What the Egyptian People Eat for Breakfast

Breakfast in Egypt might be slightly different to what you're used to eating at home, but there are definitely some good dishes you should try while you are there.

Most famously, you'll find a falafel slightly different to the falafel you might be familiar with at home, known as taameya, or you can give a fava bean stew foul medames a try! There's something for everyone, whether you eat meat or not, and many of the dishes listed below have an interesting background to them dating back to Ancient Egypt.

1. Aish Baladi

Egyptian Breakfast Dish: Aish Baladi

The most common element in almost all Egyptian breakfasts is baladi flatbread, an Ancient Egyptian flatbread that is made using whole wheat flower.

It looks somewhat similar to pita bread even though it is different and unique to Egypt, with the taste difference mostly coming from the whole wheat grain used to make it.

Aish baladi is served alongside most breakfast meals, because it has a handy pocket, you can stuff many different foods inside it (read on to find out some of the breakfasts that come with it!)

The name aish baladi literally translates as bread of life (aish meaning life, and baladi meaning bread), showing the importance of this bread in Egyptian life both historically and at present. Back in the day, this bread was baked in an ancient oven made out of red mud from the Nile. The oven had to be really hot, and this temperature is still a necessary pre-requisite in order to make the perfect aish baladi.

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2. Foul Medames

Egyptian Breakfast Dish: Foul Medamas

One of the most common Egyptian breakfast foods is foul medames, pronounced as "fool". This dish is a stew that is made using fava beans.

Fava beans are really common in Egypt, and have allegedly been eaten since ancient times. Pharaoh Rameses III, for example, is said to have offered 11,998 jars of fava beans to the god of the Nile (meaning that, according to the story, regular people were not allowed to eat fava beans because they were needed for this offering).

In this dish, the fava beans are cooked with oil and salt after having been soaked overnight and cooked on a low heat for hours. You'll often see them served with a fried egg and pita bread (the Egyptian pita bread as mentioned above), which you can use to scoop up the fava beans. Sometimes it's also served alongside cheese or with taameya, which is similar to falafel but made of fava beans and other greens.

You'll be able to find this dish at street carts in big cities because this is the go-to for most people on their way to the office in the mornings.

Foul medames is suitable for vegetarians too, and a great source of nutrition in the mornings.

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3. Tameeya (Falafel)

Egyptian Breakfast Dish: Falafel with Vegetables and Tzatziki sauce in Pita Bread

As mentioned above, taameya, or falafel, is a traditional Egyptian breakfast which sometimes comes served with eggs, cheese, and pita bread. While in many Middle Eastern countries, falafel is made of chickpeas, and that's likely the version you'll have tried before, Egyptians make taameya with fava beans instead.

After soaking the dried and split fava beans overnight, the beans are then blended in a food processor and mixed with fresh cilantro, parsley, white onion, garlic, and leek, which explains their green color. Spices that are added afterwards include cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Tameeya is usually served with Egyptian bread, which you can stuff the tameeya into with some tahini sauce, lettuce and sometimes even fresh tomatoes.

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4. Beid Bel Basturma

Egyptian Breakfast Dish: Beid Bel Basturma

If you like to eat eggs for breakfast at home, you might want to try bei bel basturma, a cooked breakfast of eggs with beef. This dish has Armenian roots, and is popular in the Armenian-Egyptian community.

In order to prepare this dish, the eggs are cooked in ghee and basturma (spiced cured beef, which is spiced with cumin, garlic, fenugreek, and paprika). It is then served with fresh Egyptian bread, ideally still hot from the oven.

A great breakfast if you have a long day of exploring ahead of you. Egyptians would usually eat this traditional dish without cutlery. So, you can use the bread to dip into the dish and scoop it up.

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5. Gibna Beda (and Gibna Beda Bel Tamatem)

Egyptian Breakfast Dish: White Fresh Cheese

Another food you might spot at the breakfast table while you are in Egypt is a white fresh cheese called gibna beda.

This cheese dates back to Ancient Egyptian times, as archaeological evidence of cheese-making was found dating back over 5,000 years! It's thus no surprise that this cheese is considered one of the oldest types of cheese.

Gibna beda comes in many different flavors and with a variety of spices added on top, and can remind a little bit of feta cheese or cottage cheese. It is sometimes served with tomatoes in a dish called gibna beda bel tamatem, which is just Egyptian cheese, tomatoes, dried mint, za'atar (a mint-like herb), and olive oil. This too will usually be served with Egyptian bread.

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6. Tea and Coffee

Having black tea with mint leaves at an cafe while contemplating the impressive three pyramids of Giza

As for drinks, Egyptians usually have black tea, sometimes with milk and usually with sugar, or coffee.

The tea that is most popular in Egypt is koshary, a black tea made with cane sugar and fresh mint leaves.

The type of coffee usually had in Egypt is Turkish coffee (sometimes known as Arabic coffee) — this is made using a small amount of roasted coffee-bean powder with sugar, but without milk, and cooked on the stove. Coffee does play a relatively large role in Egyptian society, as people like to get together to drink coffee together at coffeehouses.

This wasn't always the case, however, as coffee was sometimes equated with alcohol in traditional Islamic culture and there were attempts to ban the drink back in the 1500s.

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What to Expect at Your Hotel Breakfast in Egypt

When you book your hotel, you usually will get the option of having breakfast included or not, especially if you're booking a larger 4* or 5* chain hotel. If you'd like to ensure that you have breakfast included, we can help arrange this when you book your Egypt tours.

The bigger chain hotels' breakfasts are often buffets that have a range of both Western-style breakfast items to cater to tourists and some local foods to try too. You might find tameeya or foul medames at the breakfast buffet to sample. You will definitely also be able to try Egyptian breads, as these will be a part of any breakfast spread.

Alternatively, you can venture out into the city you're staying in to try a local breakfast. We at Global Highlights can arrange for this, or your hotel should also be able to give some suggestions as to where to go.