Luxury on the Nile

The Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam recently held together with Lufthansa Group a joint customer event targeting their loyal clients. The event was designed for the bookers and regular buyers of the Cairo Marriott and Lufthansa to update them on the latest offers and facilities presented by both entities to ease their work process and to help them achieve rewarding experiences for themselves and for their fellow associates and clients.

Marriott and Lufthansa teams on the Royal Staircase of Salon Royal 

The event started with a cocktail reception at the Salon Royal followed by a dinner and presentation at the historical Eugenie Salon. The highlight of the event was a lecture by Dr. Nada Rashed, member of the Association of Reflexologists (AOR) and of the Reflexology Association of Canada (RAC) titled, “Stress: understand- acknowledge and release,” where she discussed several techniques that would help relieving and dealing with stress.

A breathtaking view of the historical golden arches of Gezirah Palace

Photo: Cairo Marriott Hotel

Overlooking the Nile, in the exclusive area of Zamalek, in the heart of Cairo, Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino is a harmonious combination of a historical Royal Palace and a complex of twin towers with a connecting garden terrace. The five-star property provides full service amenities ideal for a weekend getaway, family vacation and business travel, including luxurious rooms and suites, fine restaurants, 24-hour business center, health club and  fitness room, an indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna and tennis courts.

Marriott’s historical palace, formerly Palace Al Gezirah, is part of Egypt’s heritage. It was built by Khedive Ismail as a guest palace for the Suez Canal inauguration celebrations in 1869. It housed European monarchs, including Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, and it was to be the venue of the first performance of Verdi’s Opera Aida.

Al Gezirah Palace by the Nile was built by Khedive Ismail of Egypt in 1869

Photo: Cairo Marriott Hotel

Over the years, famous ceremonies have taken place at the Palace, including the wedding of Khedive Ismail’s son, which lasted 40 days, the wedding of the daughter of Prime Minister Nahhas Pasha in the 1930s and a boat party in front of the Palace as part of H.M King Farouk and H.M Queen Nariman’s wedding celebrations.

The architecture and construction of the Palace reflected Khedive’s passion for neoclassical style popularized in Europe. For the design elements, he engaged the services of Austrian architect Julius Franz (later Franz Bey) and De Curel Del Rosso, who also designed the Abdin Palace.

The German Carl von Diebitsch was contracted as the Palace’s interior designer. He designed the décor, as well as prefabricating the furniture, draperies and other internal fittings.

The Garden Promenade Café which is now a wonderful open-air area

Photo: Cairo Marriott Hotel

Since it began operating as a hotel, the Palace has changed hands several times. In 1879, when operating as the exclusive Gezirah Palace Hotel, it was confiscated by the state due to outstanding debts and the hotel was taken over by the Egyptian Hotels Company.

In 1919, it was sold to Habib Lotfallah, a Syrian landlord who had settled in Cairo, for 140,000 EGP.  Then in 1961, during the time of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Palace was nationalized and became the Omar Khayyam Hotel.

After the revolution of 1952, the Gezirah Palace was transformed to Omar Khayyam Hotel Photo: Cairo Marriott Hotel

In the 1970s, the property was handed over to Marriott International for management. They restored the original Palace, equipping it with all amenities befitting a five-star hotel and flanking it with two modern towers housing 1,087 rooms.

Today, the Palace is all that remains of the estate. Many of its rooms and furniture have been preserved and restored to their original splendor, and now serve as reception rooms and lounges. This includes many of Von Diebitsch’s decorative elements that can be seen in several locations throughout the Marriott.

The historical Palace Royal marble staircase is considered the ultimate in architectural detail and lavish decoration Photo: Cairo Marriott Hotel

Thebes Revisited

Since the ancient Greeks made their first journey to Thebes, Luxor has always been an unforgettable experience.

The Colossi of Memnon

I met a traveler from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,

And on the pedestal these words appear:

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

My last trip to Luxor was in October 1997, when I attended the final performance of Verdi’s opera Aida at Hatshepsut’s Temple in Deir Al-Bahari — the year before it was moved to the Giza Plateau. Much has changed since then. Streets have become wider, the Corniche has acquired a new, reformed façade, and an assortment of five-star hotels have sprouted throughout the city.

The visit, for me, begins in the sky — my heart literally pounding as the plane approaches Luxor International Airport. I spot Homer’s hundred-gated Thebes, its gigantic temples appearing like matchboxes from the air, surrounded by a blanket of yellow and green stripes — the collage of the desert and its neighbouring agricultural land. Nearby, a sliver of blue marks the Nile, dividing the city into its two characteristic entities. The east bank houses the city and its main state temples, and the west holds the mortuary temples and tombs.

I have been to the ancient city over 20 times. This time, I opted for something special, treating myself to one of Luxor’s most exclusive resorts, the Maritim Jolie Ville Luxor Island Resort on Crocodile Island. The island earned its name many years ago, when it became the favoured domicile for the river’s reptilian giants before the building of the Aswan High Dam hemmed them in to the new Lake Nasser.

The trip from the airport takes 45 minutes. We check in and are guided to our rooms — an excursion in itself, allowing us to take in an array of Southern Egypt’s rich flora and fauna. We pass through the resort’s tropical garden and dozens of surrounding bungalows. The low-lying buildings and unobtrusive landscaping allowed me to do some amateur bird- watching, first on the walk and later from my room. I spot a panoply of colourful species flying from one tree to another. The resort is in fact known as one of Egypt’s best bird- watching locations. The only obstruction to the skies are palm trees which shed dates with abandon. The surrounding tropical garden hosts over 100 species of plants — ornamental, tropical and aquatic, both Egyptian and from around the world.

Maritim Jolie Ville Luxor

Spur-winged Plover, one of the bird species on Crocodile Island in Luxor

You can also spot a hoopoe

A Whiskered- Tern

After settling into our rooms and eating a lavish breakfast, we waited for Ibrahim, driver for the Supreme Council of Luxor, who arrived at noon to take us to the temples of Luxor and Karnak.

THE TEMPLE OF AMUN: Our first stop was the Karnak Temples — a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks, all dedicated to the Theban gods. Everything at Karnak is on a gigantic scale. The site measures 1.5 kilometres by 800 metres and the first pylon is advertised as double the size of the one at Luxor Temple.

Built, renovated, dismantled, restored, enlarged and decorated over a period of nearly 1,500 years, Karnak was the most important place of worship in all Egypt during the height of Theban power. It was known as Ipet-Isut, meaning “the most perfect of places”.

At the centre of this remarkable space is the vast Amun Temple enclosure (sometimes referred to as the Precinct of Amun), complete with a large sacred lake. This was the main place of worship of the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khons, and is the site of the famous Hypostyle Hall, a spectacular forest of giant papyrus-shaped columns.

The Hypostyle Hall

“It is a place that has been much written about and often painted; but of which no writing and no art can convey more than a dwarfed and pallid impression … the scale is too vast; the effect too tremendous; the sense of one’s own dumbness, and littleness, and incapability, too complete and crushing,” wrote Amelia Edwards, a 19th-century writer and artist who journeyed the Nile and visited the temples.

As I conjure Edward’s words in my head, and envisioned her writing amidst the ancient structures, I heard an echo from one of the shaded corners of the temple.

“This is the Holy of the Holies, the place where Amun was worshipped and where offerings were made,” the voice said. “And this is Tuthmosis III’s Hall of Festivities; a few parts of it were turned into a church in the Roman period.”

The voice is that of Amm Sayed, one of the temple’s seasoned guards, narrating the history of the site and deciphering its walls in return for a touch of baqsheesh (tips).

“In the past, travellers coming to Luxor were different,” he explains. “They were more wealthy, more cultured and more elegant. Luxor itself was different. There were no cars, only hantours (horse-drawn carriages), there were also only two hotels, the Winter Palace on the Corniche and Luxor Wena Hotel, in front of Luxor Temple. The only boats cruising up the Nile to Aswan were Sudan, Isis, Osiris, and King Farouk’s Qased Kheir.”

Even the nationality of visitors has changed.”And you know, we used to have lots of British. Now they are few. We have Italians, Spanish, Czechs and Russians instead. Russians used to come to Egypt in the days of President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. Today the Russians are different. They are wealthier,” he reminisces. “Those were the good old days. However, I must admit, my status as a guard now is better than it was in those days. Now I have a fixed salary and the city itself has improved. Now we have clean drinking water, a sound sewage system and better roads. You can’t have it all.”

Karnak is crawling with travellers. They gaze up at the structures, snapping away with their cameras, or stroll mindlessly through the columns. Amidst the individual gatherings of Italians, Spaniards, Germans and Japanese, the voice of a guide would filter out — each one trying to project his voice louder than the next. It appears, to the outsider, to be an especially good season for tourism.

But suddenly, with seemingly no forewarning, the crowds vanish and the temple sits nearly empty. I later learn that many divers take the day off from their Hurghada schedule to visit Luxor for a day, arriving at 11am and leaving by 6pm.

“This is a ‘false’ crowdedness,” one of the hoteliers who spoke on condition of anonymity explains. “It gives the impression that we have plenty of tourists whereas we don’t. We don’t benefit from them. Luxor gains only LE12 from each as a lunch charge in addition to the entry fees of ancient sites.”

We departed the site at 2pm and decided to return to the serenity of our island where we dine in the cool interior and walk through the gardens listening to the hotel’s soothing background music as the sun seemingly sinks into the Nile.

THE TEMPLE OF ALL ERAS: There is nothing more spectacular than Luxor Temple at night. The architecture lit with pastel lights bounces off the carved relief to form a show of shadows on the temple walls, pillars and floor.Entrance to the temple is from the Corniche gate. No buses are allowed beyond this point.

The temple life span is of a mind-boggling length. First built by Amenhotep III in 1500 BC, it was enlarged by Ramsis II in 1300 BC, and partly restored by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. One part of it was reused as a church by fifth-century AD Christians. The northeast side is composed of the still-used 13th century Mosque of Abul-Haggag.

The temple sits on the site of an older sanctuary built by Hatshepsut and dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khons. Amenhotep greatly enlarged Hatshepsut’s shrine and rededicated the massive temple as Amun’s southern Ipet or sanctuary — the private quarters of the god.

That night there are a handful of tourists in the temple; the serenity of the surroundings broken only by their light chatter and the hypnotic preaching of a sheikh at the Mosque of Abul-Haggag.

Within the mosque, inviting entrance with external green lamps and tea-light decorations, crowds of people gather, some of the children peering from the mashrabiya windows and waving to passers-by.

“These decorations are for the moulid (religious festival) of Abul-Haggag and tomorrow is al-leila al-kebira,” explains Seifeddin Gado, a 50-year-old guard of the Luxor Temple. “It is always held in mid-Sha’ban (the Islamic calendar month preceding the holy month of Ramadan), and thousands of people from Luxor and neighbouring villages celebrate the event. People usually open their houses to guests to eat rice, vegetables and kebab.” The kebab Gado spoke of, I later discover, is not the usual kebab found in Cairene eateries, but rather, a golf ball-sized concoction of minced meat and wheat (similar to Cairo’s kofta).

The moulid is held in honour of Youssef Abul-Haggag, Luxor’s patron saint, a 13th-century Iraqi who settled in Luxor. Many of his descendants still live in the area. This is not the only moulid in Luxor, but it is by far the largest. There are the moulids of Sheikh Ali Moussa and Abul-Goud on the east bank, and Sheikh Ahmed El-Adasi, and Abul-Gomsan in Gurna on the west bank. Most of these moulids take place during Ragab and Sha’ban, the two months preceding Ramadan.

AN INDIAN NIGHT: We leave Luxor Temple at 8pm, considering, momentarily, dining at a local Luxor restaurant, which had treated me to tasty fare in the past. Instead, however, we pampered ourselves once again, opting for the cuisine of one of the city’s five-star hotels.

The plan was to go to the Italian La Mama at the Sheraton Luxor Resort — a personal all-time favourite. But we decided to try something new. We ended up at the hotel’s Indian restaurant, Agra.

Agra is welcoming, a cozy atmosphere complimented by Indian architecture and motifs. Sitting at a table facing a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal, we survey the portraits of elephants, Indian dancers and temples covering the walls. Indian music plays in the background, and the aroma of Indian spices fills the air.

Agra Restaurant at Sheraton Luxor

Given my ignorance of Indian specialties, I asked the waiter to choose for me. Tandoori, I learn that night, is not a kind of food, but rather a method of cooking. All tandoori items are baked in a clay oven and then served in a cast iron plate with mint sauce. It is decided that the photographer and I will have the tandoori bahaar, a dish of mixed grills cooked “à la Tandoori”.

Our “mild” appetisers came first, accompanied by two kinds of bread; mint paratha, a baladi- like bread made of whole wheat flour with fresh mint, and tandoori roti, a crispy dry whole wheat bread.

We dip the mint paratha in dal makhani (a dish of black lentils simmered with tomato and cream sauce). It overflows with flavour. The palak mushroom, a spinach and mushroom dish, is a bit too spicy for my tongue, but nonetheless tasty.

The roti crispy bread smells tantalising. It tastes equally good — except for one small problem for those with taste buds like mine. When you first bite in it comes across as tasty and mild, but once you down the first mouthful the intense spice begins to burn!

The pickled mango evokes a similar response, tasting somewhat like apricot with more than a dash of salt blended in.

Our main course is also up to expectations, with mouth-watering grilled meat, shrimp, chicken and kofta. The photographer delighted in the cuisine as did I, except for my inability to deal with the Indian definition of “mild”!

Having long bid our driver goodnight, we depart to the hotel on foot. We had been assured by him that the walk from the Sheraton to our hotel was just one kilometre. The first portion of our walk took us to Khaled Ibn Al-Walid Street, after which a right turn takes us to the road leading home, a two-way green-lined street. We walk and walk and walk. A good 15 minutes later lights appear ahead.”This must be the hotel,” the photographer says, relieved.

We should be so lucky. The walk went on, at least an hour passing since our departure from the Sheraton. When we finally arrive home, we are pleasantly informed that our wanderings had been in the four kilometre range.”I think Ibrahim had to tell us that because he was tired and wanted to go home,” the photographer laughs.

The Valley of Kings at the west bank of the Nile

THE WEST BANK: The following morning is our designated west bank day — starting with the Valley of the Kings and then moving on to Hatshepsut’s Temple in Deir Al-Bahari. On our way back we stop at an alabaster factory called Hatshepsut, where we observed local workers mould replicas of Pharaonic statues out of rock quarried from the mountains of the valley. The people of Gurna are known to be the only ones in Egypt to have mastered this kind of art — a talent passed down from their ancestors. There are many alabaster shops, displays and workshops in the area. Watch out for machine-made items that are less expensive but of lesser quality.

SUNSET FELUCCA: A late (5pm) lunch by the Nile is followed by a felucca to nearby Birds Island. The weather is unfortunately and unseasonably hot. Without much of a breeze, rayyes (captain) Mukhtar has to row most of the journey. Half an hour later, though, the wind died completely, and every sailor on the Nile got to work connecting each boat to the next by rope. A motor boat then came and pulled us all, in one long line.

The obscurity of the scene, coupled with the lush surroundings, a sunset-coloured sky, and the tales of our rayyes made it a most memorable ride.

“Tonight is al-leila al-kebira of Abul-Haggag,” he tells us. “This is something that you should not miss. I am going there right now. This is our feast.”

MOULID ABUL-HAGGAG: The moulid was unlike any I have attended in Cairo. During al-leila al-kebira, the area surrounding the Mosque of Abul-Haggag and all the roads leading to it are eccentrically decorated with lights that reflect the spirit of the festivities. Vendors from Luxor and neighbouring villages peddle their local halaweyyat al-moulid (the sweets of the celebration), tarateer (party hats), zamameer (whistles), balloons, fake golden bracelets, earrings and rings, food and soft drinks. Thousands of Upper Egyptians flock to the mosque to visit the sanctuary of Sheikh Abul-Haggag. A large area attached to the mosque is enclosed with a tent where munshids (cantors) perform religious songs, and Sufis partake in the zikr (remembrance).

Moulid Abuel Haggag

The night may be raucous, but the actual peak of the moulid comes the following morning, on the final day of celebration (al-dora). A camel with a tag bearing Abul-Haggag’s name kneels at the door of the mosque with a cord hobbling its feet. After Friday prayers, according to tradition, the imam, the highest religious authority of the mosque, cuts the cord binding the camel’s feet, allowing the majestic desert beast to rise, to the cheers of locals. It then starts to run through the densely-packed streets followed by a parade of thousands of celebrants singing and dancing, accompanied by camels adorned with colourful silk scarves. People cheer, laugh and chant with unwavering enthusiasm. All of this symbolising the beginning of Abul-Haggag’s journey to Luxor.

The parade also had a nautical motif. A large boat — and sometimes three boats — are carried by donkey-driven carts resembling the solar barque processions of Pharaonic times where one of the gods was taken from his/her own temple to that of another in a boat. In Islamic symbolism the boat is often considered a vehicle for spiritual knowledge and thus the procession may well focus the attention of the populace upon the search for this. As the boats paraded by, crowds revelled in traditional entertainment. There are tahteeb (stick fights) to rhythmic music and horse races in which the horses are adorned with saddles knit of gold and silver threads.

STUCK AT THE AIRPORT: Our final day is slow and peaceful — lunch, shopping, a stroll and dinner.We arrive at the airport at 10.30pm, in plenty of time for our 11.45pm flight.But the check-in counter holds a surprise.”You should have travelled on the 11.45am flight and not the 11.45pm flight,” the EgyptAir official informs us. “You will be on a waiting list.”

Luckily, we got the last two seats. But not without a fuss.”You can’t board until you pay the fine,” we are told. “You didn’t show up in the morning, so you must pay LE77 each.”

The clerk is insistent and we are too tired to argue. We pay, board and arrive home exhausted at 1am. Not quite the perfect ending to an otherwise spectacular trip, but certainly not enough to take away the joy of three days of bliss.

In the mood for food

Wherever I go, I always think about the connection between the alimentary canal and travel. Is there any? I believe yes.

I was really upset when I had no paella on my last visit to Spain. Paella used to be what was a combination of the leftovers of the Spanish kitchen in a week but now it has become a traditional Spanish dish comprising saffron rice, meat, chicken and seafood and is a must eat when you visit this part of the world. Although I toured many gorgeous historical sites in south Spain including Cordoba and Granada with its vast gardens and palaces, I always had the feeling I had missed something. Of course, I compensated by indulging in tapas (something like the Oriental mezza or the Italian antipasti: an assortment of small dishes with little portions of chicken, sausages, fried vegetables, sea food, cheese, olive oil mixed with herbs and green olives that come with hot freshly baked bread). I bought a bottle of olive oil, green olives, cans of Spanish salmon and caviar on my way back home to remember an unforgettable trip.

Pizza in Italy attracts dozens of travellers

A cook preparing sausages in Germany

Koshari (rice, macaroni, lentils topped with red sauce and fried onions) is one of the traditional meals in Egypt 

This eagerness to explore a country’s cuisine is not just me. Food has always been part and parcel of the travel experience. Travellers would visit Italy with pasta, pizza and risotto in mind, and would travel to Germany with images of the traditional German sausages and pretzels and they would never forgive themselves if they went to India and missed a tandoori chicken meal served with punjabi bread together with spicy pickled mango. Thailand is a nice tourist destination but the adventure would be incomplete without tasting healthy Thai dishes, and a trip to Japan would be less without eating sushi. The same applies to the Middle East. European and American tourists travel to Middle Eastern countries for their history, culture, civilisation, beaches and their Oriental cuisine rich in aromatic spices.

 

Paella, Spain’s traditional dish

Germany’s sausages

Egypt is known for its rich cuisine, a mixture of Egyptian, Turkish, Greek, Syrian and Lebanese specialties. Travellers to Cairo and Giza, for instance, can spend hours touring the historical sites but at the end are rewarded with a sumptuous meal at one of the many restaurants dotting the city or at a five- or four-star hotel. At night they can end their day with an exclusive dinner buffet on board a floating restaurant accompanied by an Oriental singer and belly dancer.

One of the Nile floating restaurants in Cairo

According to tourist experts, travel and food are very much linked. It is not only what travellers are attracted to, but they could also be attracted to a particular property, a hotel or resort, because of its delicious food and quality service. If you go to a property that is a masterpiece in architecture and has the most fantastic location, overlooking a sea or a river, and the most spectacular landscape, but the food is not up to par, most probably you will not repeat the experience. However, if you go to a property that might not be the biggest or the most exclusive but the food and service are great, you will never forget it and might be your preferable destination in a following vacation.

“Definitely food and travel are interrelated,” says Dina Sarhan, a food consultant. “Places like the south of France, Mediterranean countries and Australia are famous for their fresh products that travellers like to try. Travellers are now more health conscious. They know, for instance, that the Mediterranean countries have a healthy diet that depends on olive oil, extremely fresh vegetables and omega-free products. They go to these countries to try and to explore. The reason behind the worldwide boom of sushi is that the Japanese live longer due to their diet and their use of gluten-free products. They never, for instance, suffer from any allergy,” added Sarhan, founder of the Dina Sarhan Culinary School.

According to experts, food in Egypt has witnessed major changes in the past few years. In the early 1990s there was nothing except a couple of restaurants targeted by most travellers and locals. They focused mainly on Oriental specialties such as bamia (okra), molokhia, stuffed vine leaves, stuffed pigeons, rice with nuts and chicken kidney, Om Ali (a kind of bread and butter pudding), muhalabiya and konafa. By time and by the advent of the new millennium, the number of restaurants increased and efforts were made to provide different cuisines catering to different tastes and nationalities. As a result, many Italian, French, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian restaurants cropped up. Japanese and Thai dishes have become in vogue. Many cafés and bakeries have also appeared. Some people say a new restaurant opens every month.

Hotels in Egypt are not far from such culinary developments. Hotels and resorts in Cairo and tourist resorts are either developing their old outlets or launching new ones in line with the new trends. Moreover, most hotels are bringing professional chefs for every specialised cuisine: an Italian chef for an Italian restaurant and so on, to make sure that the dishes will come out authentic.

Felfela Restaurant in Egypt serving traditional Egyptian food

Bird Cage restaurant at Semiramis InterContinental Hotel in Downtown Cairo

The chefs’ job in Egypt’s hotels is extremely challenging — trying to be as creative as possible, changing menus, creating new items and working with the ingredients available in the market. “You adapt your menu to what the country offers,” Giancarlo Gottardo of Four Season’s Cairo At The First Residence said. “I believe that fish has to be the main focus in a country that has two seas and a river. It is the strongest ingredient. As for fruits and vegetables you have to manage with the season. It is not as in Europe when you have all kinds of fruits and vegetables all year round.”

Out of his belief that fish is the most important part of the menu, Ginacarlo used all of his talents to create one of the most exclusive seafood soups I have ever tasted. It includes calamari, shrimps, mussels and clams mixed with cannellini beans and garlic country bread bruschetta. Although I never imagined fish with beans, the ingredients were harmonious and original. Ginacarlo’s seafood menu includes dishes of barbecue seafood, roasted sea bass, pan- seared Spanish Mackerel, and baked light smoked salmon.

No doubt then that the hotel’s Wednesday’s sea food open buffet is a big winner where guests are offered a big variety of sea food and sushi. They can also choose their raw fish to be cooked the way they want.

Due to this big development in the business, Cairo attracted few years ago international culinary competitions such as the global Black Box culinary challenge organised by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA). It is a very prestigious event in the culinary world globally endorsed by the World Association of Chefs (WACS). That year’s round saw 27 countries hosting the event with the global final held in Dubai. It was the first time the event had been held in Cairo. Eight hotels in Cairo participated and each team consisted of three young chefs competing against each other on a platform. Judging was done on the basis of taste, skill, creativity and artistic merit. The winning team represented Egypt at the world final. The day before the event each team was provided with a “black box” containing a selection of mystery ingredients. These ranged from quality Australian meat or lamb, seafood, fruits, vegetables, spices and dairy products. Once these ingredients were presented, each team was given exactly one hour to plan a four-course menu using the ingredients in their black box. After the allotted time, teams handed over their menus to the judges and returned to their respective kitchens to start preparing their menu for the gala dinner that was held the following evening at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. All completed meals were displayed and judged at the gala by a panel of international judges.

Winners of the Black Box competition 

“The aim of the competition is to give young chefs the opportunity to show off their talents and this gives them a lot of confidence by participating in such a big event. And it helps in exchanging experience,” said Rodney Sims, technical manager at MLA and coordinator of the regional Black Box culinary challenge.

Sims said this kind of competition increases the schooling level and knowledge in ways to please the customer. “I believe that Egypt is a great tourist destination and has a great hospitality business. Such competitions encourage young chefs to improve and provide better quality,” Sims said.

According to Mirjam Van Ijssel, executive director of the Egyptian Chefs Association, all Egyptian professional chefs are invited and entitled to register for culinary competitions in general. “The Black Box tries to promote young talent. All competitions serve as a learning and training experience for chefs. Getting ideas and sharing knowledge. Also the winning team will represent Egypt in Dubai in 2008, so they will have the opportunity to travel and see teams from many other countries and their culinary creations. Competition also puts the chef’s profession in the limelight, and so makes the chefs feel proud of their profession, which makes them do a better job,” Van Ijssel said.

Culinary experts believe that despite the new boom in the number of restaurants, cafés and food lounges in Egypt, Egyptian chefs are still lacking the appropriate training. According to them, food is the essence of tourism. After safety, tourists are interested in food. They won’t come back to a country where they have had bad food experiences. “Egyptian chefs have never been given the opportunity to learn how to do the job properly. There are still no specialised culinary schools in Egypt,” said Markus Iten, president of the Egyptian Chefs Association.

The association’s experts estimate the number of chefs at about 70,000, including those working in hotels, restaurants, airline catering, hospitals and the army.

“Chefs can only learn from other chefs on the job. Some are lucky to be in a five-star hotel where they might receive a good internal training programme, but most of them are not so lucky. The number of five-star hotels against total hotels is approximately 200 five-stars from the more than 1,200 hotels in Egypt. In addition when the hotel is busy with functions, the training often gets neglected, as serving the customer comes, of course, first,” said Van Ijssel.

Another drawback in the Egyptian culinary scene, according to food experts, is that there are no serious attempts at developing traditional Egyptian cuisine which could be a tourist attraction in itself. Besides fuul (beans) and taamia (minced beans with greens), the Egyptian cuisine is rich in a variety of dishes such as kwarei (animal legs), mummbar (stuffed animal intestines), fisha and kirsha (animal internal parts), colcasia and khobeeza. “There are very limited attempts at food development, and cannot be compared to those of some of our neighbouring countries like Lebanon or Turkey. There, they draw a lot of attention to their local cuisine. They feel proud of their food and they are very skilful in their job and very clean,” Sarhan said.

She added that there should be a revival to our traditional cuisine. “We lack creativity in our local kitchen. We have to know our own recipes and even if they are not that accurate or need some amendments, we should be able to do that easily.”

Van Ijssel believes Egyptian chefs are not as good as preserving their traditional cuisine and promoting it like Lebanon or Turkey. “The Egyptians in hotel kitchens mainly serve European or Western cuisines and Lebanese. Nowadays Asian cuisine is gaining popularity,” she said.

      

 

Famous Egyptian dishes: Clockwise from top left mahshi (dolma), stuffed pigeons, koshari and mumbar (stuffed intestines) 

She added that Egyptian cooking should be studied by chefs to see how they can preserve recipes and serve such foods in line with modern contemporary styles of plated dishes suitable for a la carte service. “Egyptians living abroad are not very keen on opening Egyptian restaurants or promoting the cuisine. They often operate pizza and Lebanese outlets since those have proven to be popular,” she said.

WHEN FOOD IS THE LINK:  When Lufthansa, the German Airlines, thought of celebrating its 50 years of service in Middle Eastern countries, it didn’t find anything better than food to serve its objective. The New Arabian Cuisine was its exclusive innovation in celebrating the occasion. The cuisine is an attempt to link East with West, or Occident with Orient, to form one homogenous entity. Two chefs from the Occident (Germany and France) and two from the Orient (Egypt and Syria) developed New Arabian Cuisine together. Jointly, they fused the finest ingredients and flavours of the Near and Middle East together with the refined arts of European cooking with an entirely new form of presentation, while never losing sight of Arabian cooking traditions in which these dishes have their roots.

The outcome of that innovative idea is a fascinating culinary book, New Arabian Cuisine, printed in English and German, and in the First and Business menus at Lufthansa. It is designed by German chef Ingo Maass and presented exclusively to Lufthansa passengers flying to the Arab world.

Cover of the New Arabian Cuisine book

On a trip from Cairo to Frankfurt  some years ago on Lufthansa, I was impressed by the innovative combination of both Arab traditional food and European delicacies in the food menu. For the hors d’oeuvre I chose from cold fish terrine and Arabian Ratatouille and grilled halloumi cheese and labneh cheese balls. In salads, I had Oriental couscous, European bread, rolls and butter. In the main dish I had several choices — either a lamb noisette in feta cheese crust complemented by tomato sauce, green asparagus and red lentils, or a fillet of Pangasius fish with spinach and kushari lentil rice medley or Tlitli pasta with porcini mushroom cream and roasted vegetables.

The choice in the dessert was harder and I had to decide on either a camembert and manchego cheese garnished with roasted pine nuts, a delicious nut cake Arabian style or a light fruit salad with pomegranate seeds.

“When you get on board what do you remember? It’s food. If you want something different, this should be the thing,” said Thomas Preinl, Lufthansa corporate communications South East Europe, Africa and the Middle East referring to the new menu.

Preinl explained that the New Arabian Cuisine has a two-pronged approach. The first involved leaving traditional Arabian dishes virtually unchanged, yet presenting them in a novel way. They are served with great refinement in combination with other traditional dishes and traditional ingredients not usually combined with one another in the Arabian cuisine like the “Arabian dhows” which combine taboula (parsley salad), labneh (similar to fromage frais ) and toasted Arab flat-bread. The second approach is to present European dishes with the kind of Arabian refinements which result in an entirely new nuance of flavour such as fillet of salmon in cinnamon coating, served with a fish cardamom sauce.