Soup for the soul...sort of

Christmas also comes at the time of year when many of us are getting sick. The same is true in Cairo, people drop like flies as soon as the temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius. And truly, how many of us don't crave Chicken soup?

I always mix and match with my soup, but there's still a general pattern that I follow. It's really easy to make, very filling, and full of good stuff :D

What you'll need:

1 package Knorrs instant chicken soup (Or anything similar - instant chicken or veggie soup package)
1 Chicken stock
3/4 cup rice
3 large carrots, chopped.
2 potatoes, chopped.
1/2 cup sweetcorn.
2 Chicken breasts, sliced.
1/2 tablespoon olive oil.
1 tablespoon oregano.
Salt and Pepper.

The package soup with generally call for 1 litre of water or so. Add an additional .5 litre or so (if you don't want a chunky soup, add a little more water). Stir well, and set to boil. While this is boiling, add your olive oil and chicken to a saucepan. It's important to add the meat and the oil at the same time, although many of us have let the oil warm up in the pan. Truth is, it won't cook through the meat if they are not added together. This help keeps the meat lovely and tender ;).

Add the oregano to your chicken, and let cook until whitened around the outside. By this point, your soup mixture should be boiling. Stir in your chicken stock to the mixture to make sure it's completely dissolved. Add your chicken and remaining ingredients to the soup, let simmer over a low heat until the potatoes are cooked through. Usually takes about 40 minutes or so. And salt and pepper to taste.

I also love adding some peas to this soup, but of course, that depends on if you're into your greens or not :p

Rice Pudding!!!

This has always been one of my favourite desserts. I remember when I first started trying to make it in California at the ripe age of 18 lol. The threat from Dale to "not try that," and "do NOT leave the rice alone," ended up in me using the wrong rice and burning it all to the bottom of the pan. Fortunately since then, I have wizened up a little bit (just a little ;) ) and can now make a deliciously tasty rice pudding.

It's important to not use instant rice in this recipe, it doesn't cook long enough to absorb the milk. Most rice pudding recipes will call to boil the rice in milk from the get go, but I don't see the point burning off so much milk.

I take about 2 cups of rice, and 3.5 cups water or so. Cook the rice until fluffy (but not fully cooked), then drain. Add about 2 cups of milk to the rice and finish cooking until tender. You may or may not want to add more milk depending on how creamy you like your pudding. I prefer using full cream milk for this, it's a creamier taste.

Once the rice is cooked, add about 1/4 a cup brown sugar, and 1/4 a cup white sugar. Mix into the rice, with about 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Voila, perfect rice pudding! :D

Sweeten to taste, but one of my favourite ways to eat this is with Jam, or with melted chocolate! Can't go wrong, and a little bit of warm rice pudding can be the perfect comfort food for a cold night outside.

Ginger goodness :D

Ok, as promised, I've been baking all week. (Ok perhaps slight exaggeration, but you know...lots of cooking in one night should count too :p). Friday this week rolls around, and as per usual, most of us had stayed out too late on Thursday, and didn't want to go anywhere on Friday. I fell back on my trusty plan B, head to someone's house for a night of cooking and movies, and maybe throw in a glass of wine there.

Friday night the venue was Charlotte's house. Optimal, because not only does she have a lovely large kitchen, and sound system for Moby to play around on ;), her two dogs Vicky and Bennie provided the perfect training tool for my new wonderdog "Sookie" (I'll have to blog about her too! lol). Sookie is a gorgeous Belgian/German Shepard cross, and now that she's gaining some weight, looks quite healthy. Looking at her, you'd think tough dog. That's the farthest from the truth though, Sookie is a huge "Fraidy cat." lol. I figured the over-excited antiques of Charlotte's "Dober-hund" Vicky would help quiet Sookie down around people. (Plan executed...plan 50 % success rate >.<) Anyhow, enough about the dogs. On to the recipe. On tonight's menu, we had Sparkling ginger cookies. Deliciously spicy, they are definitely a Christmas tasting cookie. Definitely a huge success on Friday. I found this recipe online, but made a few changes to it. Having already made these cookies, I think that coating them entirely in sugar takes too much away from the ginger flavour. Next time, I would only coat one side. :D The ingredients are as follows.

1/2 cup / 3.5 oz / 90 g Brown sugar
6 ounces / 170 g bittersweet chocolate (We forgot to get this at the store - haha - so substituted with regular chocolate chips - 3/4 a bag)
2 cups / 8.5 oz / 245 g whole wheat pastry flour ('m in Egypt...totally only used regular flour ;) )
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup / 4 oz / 113 g unsalted butter
1/4 cup / 2 oz / 60 ml unsulphured molasses (black honey)

2/3 cup / 3.75 oz / 100 g fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted

1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger, peeled (We didn't grab this either, so just used ground ginger again)
1 large egg, well beaten

We also added around 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, Moby is a cinnamon addict. :p


Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.



Whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda and salt (and in my case, cinnamon). Set aside.
Heat the butter until it's just barely melted (ie. slightly more melted than "soft") and mix with brown sugar, molasses and fresh ginger. Whisk in the egg.

Pour this mixture over the flour. Stir until mixed.

Fold in the chocolate (I learned here that folding it in is important, if you "mix" it with your hands, the butter gets too warm and the mixture too sticky).


Now take your white sugar, and put it in a bowl. Scoop out small portions of the mixture (about a teaspoon full) and roll in your hands. Roll this mixture in the white sugar, and place on the cookie tray. - This is the part that makes the cookies really sweet, next time I won't coat the whole cookie, i.e. roll the whole thing. Instead, I would dip one side. Depends on how sweet you like your biscuits ;) )


Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes, is what the original recipe called for. But, working on an Egyptian oven, is slightly different lol. We baked them for about 15 minutes. Once cool, grab a glass of milk, and enjoy!!!

Christmas in Cairo

Christmas in Cairo is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Whereas the Holy Month of Ramadan is accompanied by music, decorations, traditional foods, and gift swapping, Christmas is a silent affair in Egypt.

When I first moved to Egypt, my experience during Christmas living in a Muslim country was unique. I had grown up in many different countries, but all with a Christian background. Christmas was always everywhere, it exploded in front of your eyes in supermarkets, street lights, people's houses and gardens, Christmas music was on every radio. I was lucky enough to have been living with my family in Cairo at the time, so I still had the traditional big tree, and our Christmas day celebrations were always the same. It was just lacking the image of Christmas outside.

Now that I'm on my own in Cairo though, Christmas is of a different sort. I still fly "home" to the family for two weeks over Christmas itself, but until then, it's as though the season has almost disappeared. I actually walked into Metro supermarket the other day, and was surprised to see a small display of overpriced Christmas decorations. It was a sudden, "Oh yes! Christmas is coming!" My friend Charlotte and I were discussing her experiences in the Christmas Bazaars in Cairo yesterday, at which point she noted her surprise when realising that Christmas Day is only 20 days away! Presents! I have to get presents!

In the spirit of this time of year, I try my best to recreate at least some of the traditions I was used to in my house growing up. I have a Christmas tree, albeit a whopping 0.5 meter tall little thing. I have a set of Christmas lights up (woohoo), and hopefully this week I'll be venturing out to find some tinsel that's both decent and affordable. I'm also making it my goal this year to fill both mine, and my friends time, with copious amounts of baking. This time of year goes hand in hand with good food, so in keeping that in mind, I'll be baking, and subsequently posting, some of my favourite recipes on here! Yummmyyy.

Anyhow. With this in mind, Happy Christmas to everybody, for those of us surrounded by it everywhere, and for those trying to remember that here in Cairo!

Lets play nicely now.

I have intentionally waited a while in writing this blog. The tensions that were simmering just below the surface in the minds of many here in Egypt needed no fuel added to the fire.

The match between Egypt and Algeria on the 18 of November was the final determining match in the World Cup qualifying rounds. After an Egyptian victory on the 14, pushing Algeria into a final showdown so to speak, the Algerian team beat the Egyptian 1-0, giving Algeria the spot in the 2010 World Cup.

I watched both matches; Nov. 14th provided an exciting experience, rushing into the streets to get caught up in the pure euphoria that erupted following Egypt's nail biting match. The final goal, scored in what were the last few minutes of the game, caused an explosion of sounds in the streets. Drummers, firecrackers, singing, shouting, flags waving, all of Egypt coming together to celebrate their teams victory. The tension and excitement that was coursing through the air on Wednesday in anticipation of the match in Khartoum made your hair stand on end. Everybody was going to be watching the game, it was all people could talk about.

When the ball was kicked off, fans settled in for what they hoped to be an exciting and fast paced match. It certainly was fast-paced, with the Egyptian side desperately trying to score a goal, keeping the ball in their offensive possession for the majority of the game, but the shots on goal were just not there. The Algerian team's goal came out of nowhere, nobody could have anticipated it, the stillness that blanketed Cairo was a thick muffled sigh. When the game ended with a 1-0 victory for Algeria, dashing the Egyptian hopes of any place in the World Cup, Cairo mourned.

The reactions to Egypt's loss however, were quickly covered by the anger that was stirred as a result of the violence in the Sudan against Egyptians. The first match, on the 14th, was marred by reports of Egyptian fans hurling stones at the Algerian buses transporting the team. This the precursor to what followed the match on the 18th. Egyptians were beaten down, attacked, murdered in the Sudan by the ravaging Algerian fans. A story that has been partnered by rumours, some claim that the violence was carefully orchestrated by the Algerian aggressors to subdue their Egyptian rivals. Others claim that the 9000 fans flown into Khartoum for the match were in fact ex-convicts, many of whom were armed with knifes when entering the stadium. Other accounts from within Cairo have expressed the belief that the Egyptian government was also privy to the planned violence, as a means of keeping the Egyptian population distracted by ongoings outside of our borders, rather than the problems from within.

For me, what is most interesting about this entire situation, is the media coverage of the incident. To find a report that is seeing the Egyptians as victims is difficult, unless you are searching through the local Egyptian papers. Most Western media outlets are reporting on the Egyptians as the aggressors, somehow downplaying the brutal violence practiced by the Algerians against the Egyptians in the Sudan. This alongside the reports of Egyptian offices being ransacked in Algiers, yet the predominant focus of any reporting centers on the Egyptians being the aggressors, citing the stones thrown at the Algierian teams bus as evidence of this. Further reports point to the protests in Zamalek outside of the Algerian Embassy as further evidence of the Egyptian aggression.

This really irks me. Not only is FIFA taking disciplinary action against the Egyptian team due to the stone's thrown at the Algerian bus, they have not yet announced any disciplinary action to be taken against the Algerian team. Where is this double standard coming from?! If the Egyptian team is bearing the responsibility of the actions of their fans, why are the Algerians not being held to the same standard?! The Egyptian decision to withcall their Algerian envoy is wholly understandable, the Egyptians have the right to stand up for themselves, and show the world that they are not solely responsible for the attrocious actions that followed a football game in the Sudan.

It begs just one question...can football really be the uniting force that FIFA wants it to be, or is it now being used as a tool to fuel resentment between different peoples, just one more means of distraction.

And don't even get me started on the handball that lost Ireland the qualifying spot...

Get Your Game Face On!!!

Tonight is the night. The anticipation for this game has been building over the past few weeks - tonight will determine Egypt's fate in the African World Cup. The game...Egypt vs. Algeria... The setting, Cairo's Nasr City. The rivalry...Through the roof.

So people have been talking about this game for the past few weeks, but today, it's pretty much all anybody has to talk about. My ride to work this morning was, lets say, a unique experience! I was asking around yesterday as to where the heated rivalry between Egypt and Algeria comes from, but it seemed as though nobody was able to provide me with a satisfactory answer. Instead it was more along the lines of "well, we're told we're supposed to hate them, so we do!" Of course, I can't handle such a vague answer, and after one simple Google search found out that the history of this rivalry dates back twenty years, when Egypt beat Algeria 1-0 and a riot ensued. Since then, neither team has qualified for the Cup.

To proceed directly forward in the Cup, Egypt must beat Algeria by three goals. Should they only beat the Algerian team by two goals, a re-match will be held in a neutral country. But enough about the logistics behind the game, I'm here to talk about Cairo!!!

The last time that I was in Egypt for a huge football match was the infamous match against Italy, and for this I was in Hurghada. This of course, means that I didn't really experience the fervour of the game as I can see it today. Driving around the streets of Cairo at the moment, the air is electrified. It is one of the few times where class and distinction in the city dissipate, and everyone joins together as Egyptians. Cars are adorned with flags, ranging from the white microbusses and 1970 Lada's, to the new and expensive Mercedes CLK, BMW's, vegetable trucks and vans, and regular family vehicles. Everywhere you look, you're met with Red, White and Black. On my commute along the commute, I saw a microbus that was covered from front to back with a flag that must have been about 8 meters long, as it drapped the entire thing, leaving the only point of visibility the windscreen. People were gathered in the streets, groups of boys were waving their flags at oncoming traffic and banging tabla's, adding to the extreme electricity that is coursing through the city. Beeping has intensified three fold; Cairo is now a racously loud place - brimming with nationalism and pride in the Egyptian team (I swear - even the horses pulling carriages looked PROUD today!!!).

Of course as is typical in any anticipated game, scalpers are abound. The original ticketed price to the match was 15 LE (a meager 3 dollars or so). Naturally, tickets were selling like hot cakes, leaving a window of opportunity wide open to profit on them. By Wednesday of last week, tickets had increased in price to 100 LE, by yesterday they were selling at upwards of 300 LE. Talk about a massive spike! I won't be braving the 80,000 capacity stadium today, but will be showing my support for Egypt from my friend's living room, cheering on the TV and succumbing to the overall excitement that accompanies any Egyptian match.

So for today I say, YALLA MASR!

Crazy Crowded

So as I mentioned in my last blog, I have been working in downtown Cairo for oh, about two weeks now. Minus a few days of being really ill, I've been making the trek down here everyday. And all I have to say, is Good God.

I thought I knew what traffic in Cairo could be like. I did, but never really had to experience it constantly. I guess it's like a tattoo, once you're getting it you wonder why you would ever subject yourself to such torture, but when it's finished you look at the final product and think "hey, not so bad, what shall I get next?!" Unfortunately for me, my working hours correlate to what seems to be everyone else's in downtown [I know, I know - round of applause for Suz finally getting a "real" office job. :D] leaving me with no window to avoid the congestion. You know it's a grimy day when you're looking out across the Nile, and cannot see the buildings on the other side. Now THAT'S smog for you .

So, now I have a good, oh, an hour and a half in a car on a daily basis. Thankfully I am not the one driving, I'm sure driving this stretch everyday takes years off your life - and leaves you with no fingernails having bitten all of them off. I have to admit, despite my years of living here, I have had some hair raising taxi rides that cannot compare to any others in the past few weeks. Cars in Egypt should be renamed, into "my so-called indestructible vroom vroom machine, that will fit into that space smaller than the size of a matchbox." (On second thought, that name is perhaps a little too long. Lets stick with cars :p).

While anywhere else in the world you would look at the two inches between two trucks and think "hey, I'll stay behind these trucks and patiently drive along," people in Egypt in their "cars" will literally shove their vehicle forward, essentially mounting the car/truck in front, the whole time blowing their horn like there is no tomorrow. Then, should you dare to question them or their driving (as insane as it is), look at you as though ready to rip your tongue out and feed it to the stray cats on the street. (I wish I was joking lol :p) Other times you may be "lucky" enough to find an antique taxi circa 1804, held together by pieces of metal and ropes and God knows what else, with a man behind the wheel who could have been best friends with Caesar, squinting over his steering wheel as he putt-putts along. Times like these you hope your taxi even lasts the journey, let alone any "kisses" from other cars. Only the other day my antique taxi broke down in the middle of crossing Nile street (for those who don't know - four lanes of non-stop traffic), leaving me the pawn in the back praying for enough "putt-putt" to get us to the other side of the street.

So yes, ultimate tale of this story. Traffic downtown. is. nuts. Maybe after a few months of navigating quietly from the back of my taxis (or on days when I'm lucky from the front seat of moby's car lol), I shall try my hand at driving down here. Road Rage...move over....Suz is behind the wheel now!