May 2012 pre-election Egypt

More protesting and deaths downtown this week as some citizens are trying to convince the military authorities to turn over the country to a civilian council until elections are completed.  Guess what?  Probably will not happen. The Egyptians gleefully handed power to the Army last year in February 2011 after Mubarak stepped down.  Now they are disenchanted to the point of being really pissed off about the lack of change, security and faith in the elections coming up in a couple of weeks. In other words the country is tense and anxious.
There are 13 candidates that have only 30 days to campaign.  Some names are men from the Mubarak era and others are new names but mostly Islamists.  My choice would be the youngest guy at 40 years old; he is active as a lawyer for labor and has a strong understanding of economics.  But of course most people I talk to will vote for the name they saw the most in the papers rather than researching political platforms or listening to debates (which were cancelled due to the violence downtown).  Mmmmm, politics in Egypt.  Personally I think the parliament should be scrapped since most of them are Islamists with religious agendas (such as passing a law to have sex with your dead wife for up to 6 hours after death).  Why????? Come on, the country needs thinkers and doers to enhance the lives of the majority and not interpret hadiths or whatever and put it on the law books.  I am sure Mubarak is having the last laugh from his prison cell at the  mess Egypt is making with its newly elected parliament.
I am hoping the day will come when people have the right to contest contracts in a court of law that will listen, that women will have rights EQUAL to men in all instances (female judge votes count as a half vote) and more people are educated than uneducated.  I am looking forward to a country that enacts laws to protect children, women and animals (all treated badly in too many instances).   
Yes, politics in Egypt is definitely unique.  I will update later to let you know what happens.

Jean's Cuisine and other thoughts

Wow, it's been a year since I opened my blog site. Well, I am enthusiastic to start a blog about cooking as it is my passion. I saw the trailers to the new movie "Julie and Julia" and had to get the book. I am half way through this book and a quarter of the way through "My Life in France", written by Paul Child's grandnephew. Both books remind me to follow my passion and that there will be LOTS of obstacles in the way.
I am not going to set myself up for a challenge like Julie did in cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Rather I will just share my daily cooking experiences whether successful or failures along with random reflections on life in Egypt.
This will be my third year of living in Cairo. I will be honest and say that I am not enamored with life in Egypt but I am trying to find within myself the will to find joy in living here.
Food is my passion. I enjoy the wide variety of food preparation from many cultures worldwide. I especially like Indian food. I am not fond of Egyptian food although my sister inlaw is the best cook here in Egypt in my opinion.
Today I decided to make a brisket of beef using a recipe from Tyler Florence (Food Network 911). Rather than print the recipe with all instructions I just scribbled down the ingredients trusting my own sense of how to proceed with the recipe. BTW I have made this before today. I picked some rosemary branches from my plant on my balcony and put them into the food processor with 2 large cloves of garlic, salt and EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray). Rather than mush them according to the recipe I just whirled them together in the food processor. I browned the brisket in a hot pan with olive oil (not teflon please). After searing the beef on all sides I put it into the glass casserole pan. Add roughly chopped celery (miniature here, I miss a good crispy celery), carrots, onion, parsley, chopped tomatoes (canned) and 2 cups of red wine. Rub the garlic mixture over the brisket. Cover casserole with foil. Bake 325 for 3-4 hours or until beef is tender. Spoon juices over meat every 15-30 minutes.
Wow, does this every make a great beef dish. The meat is tender but more delicious with the juices of wine and veggies spooned over it. This dish is a short version of the Daube recipe my mom and I made from Peter Mayle's "Provence A-Z". The Daube recipe takes 4 days to complete and is worth every day. The flavors in the Daube are complex, the meat so tender it melts in your mouth. There is a God in heaven for this recipe to be conceived.
I also tend to collect recipes from friends and restaurants. So I also made salmon (Tom's recipe from St Paul, MN) marinated with lemon, S/P, fresh dill and chives. I wrapped it in EVOO lined foil and baked for 45 min in the same oven as the brisket. The result is a subtly flavored skin-on piece of salmon that will melt in your mouth. I did add more lemon after cooking as I like a lot of lemon.
I am a rice enthusiast. My favorite is Jasmine. Here in Egypt the locals use a short-grain local rice for most dishes (additions include vermicelli sauted in butter and tumeric). Refer to "Rice-a-Roni" and you will be surprised to find it is actually the Egyptian method of cooking rice (flavored with various bouillon, pasta and other items for flavor).
For fish the rice is sauted in oil or butter until it is brown, then add nuts or small shrimps before adding water. This is known as "fish rice" or "brown rice". Imagine my surprise the first year I visited and was offered brown rice with my fish. I thought, wow, Egyptians know about brown rice. Just depends on how you define "brown" or "browned" rice................
Tonight I decided to begin by cooking chopped onion in EVOO. I added the jasmine rice, stirred it in the oil/onion then added a splash of white wine. A pinch of saffron then water, a bag of mixed frozen veggies, bring to a boil then cover and simmer 15 min. I like to drizzle more EVOO on my rice on my plate for more flavor. My version of rice pilaf.
I like simplicity but am not put off by more challenging recipes. My idea of a great day is to start cooking around 6:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m.
Tomorrow I think I will make buttermilk waffles from the "New Basics Cookbook" by Russo. I use only 100% maple syrup and salted butter on my waffles. Just an old midwestern girl that is not shy about eating salted butter and full fat dairy. Belgian or regular waffle iron??? Either suits me fine. Yum.

Relaxing in Egypt

Between the pollution, noise and congestion (both traffic and people) one encounters daily in Cairo getting away on the weekend is essential to maintain sanity. My husband and I have accumulated several getaway chalets (small apartments) located on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Today we are at our place in Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea. We are on the fourth floor of a small apartment complex; the top floor of this complex. Our balconey faces the Red Sea. There are several ships anchored awaiting permission to transit the Suez Canal. Our favorite pastime is to use our spotting scope and binoculars to see the names of the ships, watch them move towards or away from the canal entrance and just check out the goings on of the community around us. In front of our building are the two-story villas so our view to the water is unimpeded by buildings. To our right is the mountain Ita'a. Straight ahead is the peninsula of Sinai. On clear days we can see Moses Wells palm trees and the town of Ras Sudr. To our left are more waterfront communities similar to ours.
We like to pack some food into a soft thermal container and just a few clothes to come here. Our apartment is a little over 600 square feet. We have a small kitchen with a two-burner butagas stove, one sink, a small refrigerator, television with satellite hookup, a window a/c unit, a small bathroom with a shower and a view that is priceless from the balconey. The furniture came with the place when we purchased it in 2006. Nothing fancy but very comfortable. We have a ceiling fan in the living room and floor fans to help keep the air moving around. Early summer is a great time to be here because the humidity is low now. In July going until October the humidity will be very high. One drawback to this area are the mosquitoes. But then I haven't been anywhere in Egypt that does not have mosquitoes, flies and various other insects that are annoying. We have several pesticide sprays handy for days when the mosquitoes are more friendly. My husband always sprays the apartment before we leave so any cockroaches that visit don't leave to tell their friends.
The color of the water is a mix of light blue, sea green to dark blue. The beach is white, soft sand that stretches well out into the water. The water is shallow several yards out. When the tide is out you can walk almost a half mile out in knee deep water. The community here is relaxed so wearing a bikini is not shocking. You will see women in full gallibaya sitting under an umbrella. Some will get into the water. Some women are dressed in black gallibayas with their faces completely covered. The men on the other hand wear boxer style swim trunks or speedos. Children do not fall under any dresscodes so they are in what we would consider normal swimwear. I like to sit in my canvas chair with a bottle of ice water and just watch the ships. There is a private beach to the left of us owned by one of the industrial plants near by. They frequently bus in their employees to frolick at the beach with LOUD music. We don't need to play music as we could not hear it anyway.
Across the highway are several businesses that cater to the beach community. There is a small grocery store owned by a Coptic (Christian) family. We get bottled water, milk, eggs, cheese and other essentials there. They have Mau cats that live around their store. True desert Mau cats are grey with black spots and large ears. We love to watch the kittens frolicking about in and around the store. The family greets us warmly as we are regulars there. Another business is the fish restaurant that is busy every day. They have coolers with ice and freshly caught whole fish on display for us to choose our meal. They will grill or fry the fish and provide freshly baked pita bread with salads of babaghanough, tahini or pickled eggplants stuffed with garlic.
If you want something more American to eat about an hour drive down the Africa side of the Red Sea is a place called Porto Sokhna. There is a Johnny Carino's, a Chili's along with other restaurants you can enjoy a nice meal. It's spendy though. Plan to spend about $20-40 for a meal for two. Closer to us is a Pizza Hut and a KFC. We generally make our own food but enjoy the option of eating out once in awhile.
Our place in Sinai at Ras Sudr is a little more remote. It is a large development of individual buildings. We are located about a mile back from the beach. The development has a hotel with a restaurant that is open once in awhile. The town of Ras Sudr is a 20 minute drive down the highway. In Ras Sudr are several small grocery stores, one liquor store and several restaurants. We have eaten at a few of the restaurants. There are two really good fish restaurants, one pizza place and a couple of kabob places. One kabob place we will not eat at as the day we were perusing the choices we saw the cook picking his nose at the front door. Yuck! Egypt does not have a real strong health department - there is one but enforcement is not their strong suit. So eating out is risky. Again, we mostly prepare our own food. The beach at Ras Sudr is soft, white sand that stretches way out into the water. And it is windy all the time. Further down to the south of us is the MoonBeach resort; world famous for wind surfing. The resort caters to British and other expats from Cairo. It is beautiful, clean and full of fun people. Much farther to the south is Sharm El Sheik (about 3-4 hours drive). This is the diving location for most divers in Egypt and Europe. It is very commericialized and expensive. We prefer to visit our own places.
We have a wireless modem for our laptop. I can check email from anywhere in Egypt as it uses cell towers to connect. We pay about $20 per month for this service. The speed is only 57 (like dialup) but at least it is a connection. While I check email I am watching Rachael Ray on the Fatafeat channel. This channel is similar to the Food channel in the states. It has Rachael Ray, Emeril, Ina Garten, Iron Chefs now and then, Martha Stewart, Giada Laurent..., some kitchen and house makeover programs and of course Arabic chefs. The other channels include MBC 2 (movies), MBC 4 (CBS Early Morning News, GMA, Primetime, Meet the Press, all broadcast the next day) Friends, Charmed, Grey's Anatomy and other series. MBC Action has NCIS, Bones, CSI Miami, CSI, action movies. Dubai One has a variety of movies and series such as Boston Legal, House. For other news I have CNN, BBC, France 24, Euronews and AlJazeera International to keep up with world events. The only thing I am missing is a channel with local news in English. I read the EgyptDaily newspaper for local news.
Back to our place in Ain Sokhna. Most of the day there is a breeze that will lull you to sleep. We find ourselves napping a lot here. And as with all old buildings we frequently (almost every weekend) have to get a plumber or electrician to fix something. This weekend we have a flooded bathroom. The main is leaking. One of our smaller problems we've experienced here. Time to pack up to return to Cairo now. An hour and 15 minutes drive and we will be back in the big city trying to hold onto the sense of relaxation from Ain Sokhna for as long as possible.

Navigating the traffic of Cairo

Shortly after moving to Cairo I was hired by an international school to teach kindergarten. Not the traditional kindergarten I am used to in the states but rather three to four year olds. I thought, "well, this is a new challenge and I am up for this." I will blog more on teaching in another blog. This blog is dedicated to the drive to work and home as well as a few errands. Now, I live in Mokattam which is located on a "mountain" in the middle of Cairo. It is actually really central to getting anywhere in Cairo with three different routes available down the mountain. Now I live close to the route on the south end of the mountain. My view as I descend includes the pyramids of Sakara (older than the famous pyramids of Giza) to the south and to the west the pyramids of Giza through the tall buildings of downtown Cairo. Mind you this view is only when we experience a moment of air not clouded by pollution, sand or fog.
As I make my way down the street with a hairpin curve I must avoid the potholes and debris on the road. Once I am at the bottom of the mountain I make my way down asphalt roads with speed bumps, large holes surrounding sewer covers, feral dogs racing to bite my tires, going around buses stopped to let people get on or off the bus, taxis cruising for customers and other people making their way to the ring road. Now in the states a ring road is referred to as the loop or the beltway. Here it is the ring road. It is officially four lanes wide if you look at the lines painted on the asphalt. In reality it can be more than six lanes wide with the traffic since no one here realizes why the lines are painted on the road.
The speed limit?? Well the signs indicate that cars should not exceed 90 km but as with the direction traffic should follow it is only a suggestion. A suggestion?? Yes, a suggestion. I will merge into the traffic (no onramp, just a right turn into fast moving traffic) and move left as quickly as possible. Vehicles travel at all different speeds depending on how fast they are capable of traveling. BMWs, Mercedes, Jeep Cherokees (pronounced shur rook' ee), large SUVs and other big engine sedans will travel at 120-150 km. Even trucks and buses will pass me in the morning hours (I stay about 100 km or 60 mph). The vehicles traveling at these higher speeds rarely brake - they just swerve to go around slower traffic and quite closely. I like to stay left because it's one less mirror to worry about. I call these faster vehicles "runners". Then there are the 800 cc vehicles, the OLD vehicles belching out black exhaust, buses more than 40 years old, trucks more than 40 years old, donkey carts, horse carts, vespas, motorcycles with four guys on them or entire families including infants, camels, bicycles and pedestrians. I am getting a dashcam for Christmas so I can include some footage with my blog.
None of the streets in Cairo have signs. There might be a sign at an interchange stating you should take this exit to Maadi or the corniche. The best way to navigate is to have someone local drive you where you need to go so you can just memorize the route which is what I did. My husband drove me to work and home for 2 months before he cried "Uncle"! We got my drivers license and bought a Suzuki Alto 1100 cc for me to drive.
An hour to work and one to two hours home again. I work in an area west of the pyramids called 6th of October city. It is about 45 km one way. I take the ring road west past Maadi, across the Nile, past Giza until it literally ends and exit at the Mansouria Canal road. Now on the ring road making my way to the canal road I will see cars backing up on the ring road because they missed their exit. I have also seen SUVs drive over the curbed median to turn around. I have seen donkey carts cross the ring road and go over the median also. I have seen cars driving the wrong way on the ring road.
Once I am on the canal road it is about a two lane road that follows a canal. Along the right side are the vendors selling foul (foul are cooked fava beans) in pita sandwiches, coffee/tea shops and the tourist shops. School buses, trucks, microbuses and cars are furiously trying to get around one another to go faster down the road. There are no stop signs or stop lights, only speed bumps to control the speed. My not-favorite moments include being stuck behind a truck with red bricks stacked in the bed and somewhat above the edge of the bed. I am always waiting for those brick to rain down on the hood of my car. Also, pedestrians will ride on the bumper of trucks or microbuses. When we come to the Pyramids road (yes, I drive past the pyramids twice a day) I am praying the traffic policeman has arrived. If he is not there it is a congested effort of cars 5-6 across trying to push into the traffic coming from the left to cross the road. I try to stay behind a big truck and just follow his route. A bit of a zig and then a zag and we are past the pyramids and on our way to Remiya Square. Remiya means "shooting". There is a large shooting club near the traffic circle so it was named for the club. There are six roads either leading into or out of Remiya Square and rarely any traffic police. I tend to stay right or to the outside to make the way around the circle (why do they call them squares????). I must navigate through buses, trucks and pedestrians to make my way to the Alex road (the road that leads to Alexandria).
I actually want to go to the west but there is not a turn to the west so I must travel down the Alex road for 4 km to make a u-turn and head back towards Remiya Square to make the turn I need to make to get to 6 of October. No proper intersections in this city. The majority of left turns involve driving forward anywhere from 1-5 km then making a u-turn. Then you must find the turn you missed because there is not an intersection.
The turn to 6 of October is right under the overpass of the other ring road (north of the pyramids) and is located in an upper end neighborhood. There are six speed bumps along a road less than a mile long. To my right are walls and tall bushes creating privacy for large villas and palaces. To my left is a military camp with walls surrounding the camp. In front of me is the onramp going up to the ring road. The view ahead is desert. As far as you can see, desert. As I round the first curve going to the south I see lots of apartment buildings on my left (behind the pyramids). As I get closer to my school there are more apartment buildings dotting the desert landscape. At last I arrive at the school and call my husband to let him know I have successfully managed the traffic again. Whew! Thank you God for another day.

Trying to stay healthy in Egypt

I have spent most of my morning searching the web for health food stores in Egypt. Now there's a conundrum. Health in Egypt. I will get to that later in this post. Anyway, since moving here a year ago I have suffered endless sinus infections and would like to build my immune system with some supplements. There are the Sekem stores and I do use their products but I am searching for items I can readily purchase back in the US but can not seem to locate here. On my last trip back to the US I stocked up on my joint stuff to keep me moving and my mother has stocked me up on natural vitamins. But I miss perusing the aisles of stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods for the latest and greatest supplements. I will do my best with what I have in the mean time.
I found Sekem products shortly after my move here in most of the "hyper" markets (supermarkets). Organic oils, cereals, teas, fruits and veggies, supplements, etc. And I love their website and philosophy to doing business here in Egypt. I would recommend reading it: http://www.sekem.com/
After reading their website I became alarmed at purchasing any food other than their organic food. I do not have confidence in the enforcement of regulations (if there are any) of the use of pesticides on agricultural products. And the transportation of said products is dismal. Flatbed trucks with fruits and veggies are seen flying down the highways with the products in woven crates. No refrigeration necessary I guess. I know now why the produce looks a bit wilted at the store (especially in summer). And has it been washed?? I doubt it. I was told by my friends to soak my produce with bleach or soap before consuming it. Having not taken this advice I have suffered the consequences on several occasions. Perhaps it was not the produce but the water I washed it in that caused my intestinal distress?
Perhaps my pessimism at regulation enforcement is a result of experiencing the "black cloud" over Cairo each fall as the farmers burn the residual of their crops, instead of turning it over into the dirt, creating a more intense pollution cloud over Cairo than usual. According to articles I have read (published by respected magazines and newspapers here in Cairo) there is a law against burning the crops........... My dismay about this situation stems directly from the health problem I now suffer which is a sinus infection that won't go away and a bronchial cough that scares people around me. I have also read that a large number of the local population are suffering from respiratory disease. When will the locals say enough is enough and take some action??
Enough bitching about regulations. Now let's get to general nutrition here in Egypt. I would not ever claim to be the end all of good nutrition but at least I try to consume organic products cooked or prepared in a more healthy process than what I have observed here in Egypt. When walking through Carrefour, the largest supermarket, one wonders at the oil consumption of the locals when one entire aisle (a very long and tall one at that) is devoted to just oil. Mostly corn oil but some sunflower oil and one small area that is just olive oil. And then the next aisle is just pasta and then the next aisle with just rice. mmmm, lots of carbs consumed here.
Canned tomatoes are rare so I stock up when I find them. The local population prefers to cook with tomato paste. Seriously, isn't tomato paste just used to thicken a sauce?? They will use it with pasta, meat sauce or veggies simmered with garlic and tomato paste. I feel like such a rebel when I cook with my whole Italian pomo tomatoes.
Then there are the meat products. I could almost become vegetarian because I am not enamored of the meat products here. Granted I am a spoiled American carnivore that loves to feast on fatty ribeyes, bbq pork, turkey bacon and breakfast sausages. I search the meat aisle for a marbled ribeye or beef entrecoute (I think this is sirloin). Something that can be grilled or sauted and not boiled to death for hours to make it edible. The cuts of meat here a limited and it is difficult to decipher which cut is which. I may have to spend more and purchase the Australian imported beef if I can find it. Many restaurants purchase Brazilian meat. I would have a difficult time trusting it was safe to eat as I am not sure about South American regulation of food products.
Hamburger (minced meat here) includes pieces of bone and gristle, boneless chicken breasts and thighs also include bone and gristle. Even I can trim a chicken better than what I buy from the stores. The only meat I truly enjoy is the lamb. I get the lamb cubes and simmer them in curry or make lamb stew with peas and potatoes. I have yet to make a tender roast (I use the pressure cooker for roast cuts). I miss a good roasted chuck roast with potatoes, carrots and celery.
Produce is very seasonal here. Lettuce (romaine and iceberg) is good only during the coldest months of winter - it is awful in the summer (leafy and wilted with brown spots inside). We have strawberries in the spring with peaches and apricots in late spring to mid summer (no blueberries or other berries ever). The only produce available year round are tomatoes, cucumbers, all colors of bell peppers, potatoes and zuccini. The local Egyptian meal will usually include either a salad made of cucumbers and tomato or a plate of either or both sprinkled with cumin and salt.
I can find most of the fresh herbs at Carrefour year round. I make a good salsa for chips. The tomatoes are not as juicy here as the states so cutting them up is nice. I made guacamole earlier this summer at a cost of $2.50 per avocado. Needless to say we savored every expensive bite of it.
I buy imported items such as liquid Vanilla ($10), Mac 'n Cheese ($3.00), Graham crackers or peanut oil at the stores in Maadi. Maadi is where most of the ex pats and diplomats live so the stores cater to their tastes. These imported items cost a leg and an arm but it is worth it to have once in awhile. A Banquet frozen pot pie will set you back $5.00 - I can skip this one. The newest item I am getting is El Paso flour tortillas. At almost $4.00 for a package of 8 flour tortillas it is expensive but tasty. The local tortillas are ok at $0.40 for a package of 5 but they just don't taste the same as the ones from back home.
Now I am hungry so I will post again later. Veggie lasagna for dinner :)