The Egyptian cooking workshop hosted by Barb and Omar Khalifa on Saturday 22 September certainly rated as a feast with more than 20 recipes prepared and enjoyed in a smorgasbord style dinner.
In designing the menu Barb had scoured her collection of Egyptian cookbooks and drawn on her mother-in-law’s expertise. There was also a recipe from Colette Rossant’s memoir Apricots on the Nile.
Omar shared and prepared some traditional recipes, including a very tasty tabbouli while Egyptian friends Amira and Emad workshopped some family favourites such as Amira’s beef goulash which is a popular lunch for their two young daughters.
Barb’s pitta bread making from scratch was a bit tricky but the bread popped to perfection. Meanwhile Julie, armed with two thermomixes, lead another workstation while ‘the boys’ did some wondrous things out near the BBQ.
Although a few ingredients were not available locally, much of the produce was sourced from the home garden and the home-bred trout dish was a real treat.
Amira’s group whipped up a special-occasion dessert and a just-in-season tray of mangoes paid tribute to Omar’s grandparents who had a mango plantation in Egypt. Mint tea and Egyptian (very similar to Turkish) coffee completed the meal.
A very enjoyable day where people were able to move from one preparation group to another and learn to appreciate Egyptian food. Barb will be sharing all the recipes on the Recipes section of this website.