4.302 Stuffed Pigeon with Rice

4.302

3 (Sun) November 2013

Stuffed Pigeon with Rice

1.5

at Abou Shakra (Stars Centre)

-Nasr, Cairo, Egypt-

solo

Conference in Egypt: Day 2 of 7

Day 1 (4.301 Arabic Spiced Chicken Kofta)

In Cairo. Here to attend the 1st Expert Consultation on Public Health Law in the Eastern Mediterranean, hosted by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO). First time in Egypt, first time in Africa.

With alcohol being quasi-illegal in Egypt, I wonder what housekeeping will think of this.

In light of the political turmoil in the country and across the region these days, I was a bit worried about the destination. Fortunately, they put us up at a hotel located in Nasr City, an outer district of Cairo, away from all the hubbub, near EMRO. Even better, the hotel is attached to one of the biggest shopping malls in Africa, so we wouldn’t have to venture outside in search of eats. Alas, I won’t be seeing much of the city.

Within the bubble, no sense of the poverty and unrest on the outside.

On my own for the first dinner in town, without any experience in Egyptian cuisine, I wandered around Stars Centre to find a mainstream restaurant offering foreigner-friendly crowd pleasers at above average prices, which wouldn’t guarantee but hopefully would increase the likelihood of high quality food. Fortunately, the mall was full of such places.

The menu was written in English, accompanied by pictures. The prices around EGP 30-40 per dish (about USD 4-5), somewhat pricy by local standards.

The food was meh. The main problem was that I’d ordered dishes comprising primary ingredients that I don’t even like: pigeon and okra. The pigeon simply because it seemed kinda exotic. The okra simply because Iron Chef: America had been playing on the TV in my hotel room earlier in the afternoon, featuring the episode “Battle Okra.” I just kinda picked at everything. Nevertheless, GMTD is very proud to feature the first ever post in Egypt!