In this show, Bobby Chinn tastes his way through one of the oldest cuisines on the planet. Egyptian cuisine dates back 7,000 years to the time of the Pharaohs. While most of the world  was still running around in animal skins, the ancient Egyptians had already developed a sophisticated palate - dining on stuffed pigeon, drinking wine and creating delicacies such as foie gras.
Today, a lot of dishes in Egypt have changed little since ancient times. It is a hearty, traditional cuisine based on pulses, grains and vegetables. Bread has always been the most important staple here – so much so that the government actually subsidizes it so that the country's poor can buy a loaf costing only 1 cent.
Bobby Chinn takes us on a gastronomic tour of the country's 2 major cities – Cairo and Alexandria, with a visit to the famous town of Rosetta and a quick pit stop at a pigeon farm in the village of Qotour on the Nile Delta.
In the country's capital he tastes some traditional Egyptian fare including Falafel, Chickpea Soup and a spicy  beans, pasta and rice mix known as Kushari. In Alexandria, which sits right on the Mediterranean Sea, Bobby focuses on seafood, which is plentiful here. He learns how to cook Sea Bream Singary , a local favourite, and further along the coast at Rosetta he even braves Feseekh - a 21 day-old rotting fish which sounds as bad as it tastes.
His final trip to Qotour finds Bobby at the biggest pigeon breeding centre in the country where he ends the day feasting on a local delicacy - rice stuffed, roast pigeon. |
