How Unique Are the Desserts in Egypt?
It will be a great tour when you walk through Egypt streets, after your day in one of the remarkable sightseeing while the delicious, unique flavor of sugar touches your tongue by tasting unique Egyptian desserts.
Each country has its own desserts, but when you experience eating Egyptian desserts, you will realize how unique the desserts which are cooked in the traditional Egyptian style.
8 Delicious Egyptian Desserts You Should Try
- Basbousa
- Om-Ali
- Zalabya
- Asabe’ Zainab
- Roz Be el-Laban
- Qatayef
- Knafeh
- Kahk
Read on to know more about Desserts in Egypt …
Basbousa
The famous sweet semolina cake known as Basbousa is one of the most famous rich desserts, which is like melting pure sugar on the tongue. Can you imagine this greatness?
Om-Ali
A Unique mix of puff pastry pieces like Melfi dough, with pistachios, coconut chips, and raisins, with lots of sweetened milk, poured on top. All these ingredients add a wonderful taste to the dessert, and you can put a piece of butter in the middle after getting it out from the oven.
These desserts in egypt are attributed to the wife of Izz al-Din Aybak, who was the first Mamluk sultans after the Ayyubids, and the husband of Shajarat al-Durr, whom she married because of the refusal of the Levantine Mamluks to take over their rule by a woman.
After Ezz al-Din Aybak married Shajarat al-Durr, he divorced his first wife Umm Ali and disowned his son. When Umm Ali heard of the death of Aybak, she plotted and killed Shajarat al-Durr, and installed her son Ali bin Izz al-Din Aybak as a sultan, and on this occasion, she ordered that flour be mixed with sugar, milk, and nuts to make the dish famous for her name. So when you eat Umm Ali, you will taste delicious food mixed with a unique historical story.
Zalabya
Balls of dough are formed in small size and then fried in heavy oil until golden in color, catches the eye, become crunchy, and then watered with syrup to give a delicious taste. It can be decorated with chocolate, hazelnuts, or powdered sugar.
Asabe’ Zainab
It is one of the most famous desserts in egypt made of butter, semolina, yeast, and ghee. It is related to the Muslims’ victory over the Mongols in the battle of Ain Jalut, where a woman named Zainab made it, and Prince Baybars was impressed and married her.
Roz Be el-Laban
It is a remarkable mix of rice, sugar, and milk that appeared in the era of the Umayyad state when Yazid Ibn Al-Muhallab bin Abi Safra asked the servants to make a special dessert for him.
Desserts In Ramadan & Eid al-Fitr
Your experience will be more remarkable if you visit Egypt in Ramadan; Also, Eid al-Fitr when you find unique, delicious desserts are found in abundance.
Kunafa and Qatif sweets are famous in Egypt and famous desserts in Egypt during the month of Ramadan, as the lines extend to get them from shops that are specialists in making Kunafa and Qatif. Its origin is indivisible from ancient Egyptian history, where there are many stories about its origins.
Qatayef
It is one of the most famous sweets in the month of Ramadan; Especially since its shape resembles a crescent, which is a dough stuffed with nuts or cream and then dipped in syrup.
Qatayef is one of the most famous desserts in Egypt and seems like mini pancakes. However, unlike pancakes, Qatayef is eaten crispy. They are fried in hot oil and soaked in syrup afterward, which gives them a shiny golden color. Similarly, Egyptian households and pastry shops start making Qatayef stuffed with chocolate and caster cream.
Knafeh
Knafeh is one of the most famous desserts in Egypt and is known as “The Kings’ Sweet”; As it dates back more than a thousand years when it was used on the tables of kings and princes in the Umayyad period; On the other hand, it was the most important sweets that people enjoy at this time.
It is thin strands of dough that are cut and can be filled with various fillings such as cream, cream, cheese, nuts, banana, pineapple, mango, or chocolate, then placed in the oven and soaked with syrup.
Kahk
It is Eid cookies that are a tradition with no religious origin; but in fact, several wall drawings on Pharaonic temples proven that kahk is an ancient dessert; And also one of the most famous desserts in Egypt. The butter cookies are stuffed with malban, dates, and nuts and often sprinkled with white sugar powder.
Next to the kahk dish on the feast; you can find other sweets from the same dough, which are Biskute, Ghariba, and Petifor.
See also “Egyptian Foodies“
