We don’t know about you, but we here at Alf Hana love to obsess over the origins of dishes — where they came from, why they were called that, and everything in between. If you happen to also vibe with that, put on your Mofatesh Krombo hat with us and let us explore the secrets to some of our favorite Egyptian dishes.
Koshary
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battutah, commonly known as Ibn Battutah, was a berber Maghrebi shcolar and an explorer who stumbled upon the dish in one of his travels to India. Indians used to mix only rice with lentils, but when the dish made its way to Cairo, Egyptians obviously transformed it to become the iconic dish we know and love today; with pasta, fried onions, chickpeas, tomato sauce, and garlic sauce.
Vine Leaves
Everyone’s favorite type of mahshi was not born in Om El Donya. It actually originated in Turkey back when the Ottomans reigned supreme. The dish was so popular that it made its way not only to Egypt, but to other Arab countries (Levant, to be exact) with every single culture adding its own twist to it.
Sawabe3 Zeinab
Back in the times of the Fatimids in Egypt, a cook named ‘Zeinab’ used to work at Zaher Babirus Palace where she was instructed to come up with a new dessert to celebrate a victory. She succeeded, and the rest was history.
Romosh El Set
Legend has it that a man once wanted to compliment a woman over this dessert, so he referred to it as ‘Lady Lashes’ because it reminded him of her pretty lashes, so the name stuck until the present day.