Koshary is delicious. It will forever be one of my favorite things about Egypt. It's not just the actual dish, but the whole experience of a koshary shop.
First things first, seating. There is no host or hostess, you seat yourself. Unfortunately, since koshary is both cheap and Egyptian, shops are often crowded and it can be hard to find seating. If people leave and the table still needs to be bussed, sit down anyway, someone will come and clean the table.
After you sit, there's no menu. The only options are koshary (small, medium, large), roz belaban (aka rice with milk aka rice pudding aka rice, sugar, vanilla, and milk), and bread. The best way to describe it is oiled pita, baked until crunchy, then salted and peppered. It's good.
Koshary is really simple. It's rice, spaghetti, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce, and fried onions. You can then add a garlic sauce and/or hot sauce. Warning: the hot sauce is VERY spicy. Koshary is good. It's also began which means it's healthy.
The kitchen area has big containers of each container. The cooks then scoop it all into one bowl, really quickly.
At the table, there are the garlic sauce and hot sauce. There is also normally a pitcher of water and cups. Note that the cups are communal and the pitcher is filled with tap water so I don't suggest you drink from it. That said, you can order soft drinks and water with your meal.
After you eat, you pay and leave. It's that simple.
Koshary is the national dish of Egypt and I suggest everyone try it. Not eating koshary in Egypt is like not having pizza in Italy, sushi in Japan, escargot in France, etc etc.
Koshary is part of the Egyptian experience like the call to prayer, the traffic, and the people selling travel packs of tissues on the side of the road.
So freaking delicious.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend. I'll post again soon.
Learn something today.
Byeeeee
Corie.
SO MUCH YAAAAAAAS. I feel this post on a spiritual level. I miss koshary so much, every single day.
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