Egyptian dinner...

Marion, Kieran, and I just returned from dinner out at the home of one of Marion's work colleauges. Nader and Nevine Habib live in Chelmsford, MA, about 15 minutes from us. Nader works with Marion, and was aware of our interest in sampling cuisines from various cultures. It was, simply put, one of the most amazing and unique experiences of our life!

Nader and Nevine are both from Egypt. He is from Alexandria, and she is from Cairo. They put on a spectactular display of hospitality and gave us a scrumptuous sampling of their country's cuisine. To begin with, they insisted that we bring along our little cherub and dynamo, the 15 month old, one baby wrecking crew. We were slightly apprehensive that they didn't know what they were asking for, but they were extremely patient with his explorations of their beautiful home. And to his credit, Kieran put on one of his better displays of self-control. Nevine spent a lot of time watching him, and taking him out to see the neighbors, while Nader showed us around the house and showed us their wedding pictures.

On to the feast. We learned, from our hosts, that Egyptian food shares similarities with Lebanese food, a cuisine with which we have had some experience. The meal started with a soup - we had to try it, and rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, before we would be told what was in it. I gave it an immediate 10, and Marion quickly concurred. The soup contained beef wrapped in pasta balls, with a broth of garlic, mint, chicken stock and yogurt. I can't remember what the Egyptian Arabic word for this was, but the soup was other wordly...simply outstanding.

After the soup we moved on to the grape leaves. The grape leaves were stuffed with beef, rice, salt, and pepper; then cooked in chicken stock. Again, outstanding...I have had grape leaves before, in restaurants, usually the wraps are much larger than these were, harder to eat and at least relative to these, quite bland. These were bite sized, and Nevine suggested that we dip the grape leaves in a mixture of yogurt, mint, and cucumber. This touch was simply the cherry on top of the sundae, I could have devoured the grape leave wraps without it, easily, but this simply added to the delightful experience.

From the grape leaves we moved on to the kibby...Marion guessed this one on sight, from experience with Lebanese food. Nader seemed quite pleased that she knew this dish! Again, this was excellent. To go with the kibby, it was suggested to use either the yogurt/mint/cucumber dip, or tabasco hot sauce. Marion went with the latter, and I with the former. Finally, with the kibby was a side dish of fresh green beans with roasted almonds.

Just writing about this makes me hungry, despite having stuffed myself on this feast just a few short hours ago. The good thing for me is that our generous hosts sent us packing with doggie bags!!!

This was one of those nights that come along from time to time, and is memorable, to say the least. From the moment of arrival, to taking a stroll in their backyard and neighborhood, to the coffee and various middle eastern assortment of desserts, including baklava, pistachio puffs, etc...this was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. We will be putting together a serious thank you note, and looking forward to an opportunity when we can return this incredible hospitality.