Among the inexplicable amalgam of
sights, smells, and sounds that are modern Cairo is the extraordinarily simple
taste of a workingman’s lunch called Kushary.
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| Hearty plate of Kushary |
Kushary is sold in countless hole-in-the-wall
cook shops scattered throughout the medieval warrens crowded with Cairo’s
fourteen million people. Itinerant Kushary cooks also sell this rice, lentil,
and macaroni dish from colourful hand-painted donkey-pulled carts throughout the
working-class neighborhood of the city. Bicycles fitted with wooden boxes also
crisscross the streets selling Kushary in plastic containers. However Koshari
has it own fancy restaurants full of marble, brass utensils and shiny mirrors.
Kushari, also koshari (Egyptian
Arabic: كشرى), is an
Egyptian dish believed to be originally made in the 19th century, made of rice, macaroni and
lentils mixed together, topped with a spiced tomato sauce, and garlic vinegar;
garnished with chickpeas and crispy fried onions. A sprinkling of garlic juice,
or garlic vinegar, and hot sauce are optional.
The first written mention of Kushary
is found in the diaries of the famed Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century,
Ibn Battuta. In the mid-nineteenth century the famous British traveler and
translator of Thousand and One Nights, Richard Burton, identifies Kushary in “the
Suez”. Given Kushary’s relationship to mujaddara, a dish with roots in the
tenth century, its history may be older and more Arab than admitted.
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| Serving Koshary |
The other more plausible
interpretation is that Kushary originated in the mid 19th century, during a
time when Egypt was a multi-cultural country in the middle of an economic boom.
The lower classes' usually limited
pantry became full with a myriad of ingredients: lentils, rice, macaroni,
chickpeas, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, oil, vinegar, etc. At the end of the
month, families would usually have the entire collection of ingredients as
leftovers, so families would quickly finish their supply in one dish.
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| Serving Kushary |
More sources state that the dish
originated from India and Italy, in 1914 when Indians attempted to make lentil
and rice Khichdi, Italians added macaroni to the dish, over time the dish has
progressed and evolved into the current dish through Egyptian soldiers, then
Egyptian citizens. Kushary used to be sold on food carts in it's early years,
and was introduced to restaurants in later years.
Koshari is widely popular among
workers and laborers. It may be prepared at home, and is also served at
roadside stalls and restaurants all over Egypt; some restaurants specialize in Kushary
to the exclusion of other dishes, while others feature it as one item among
many. As traditionally prepared Kushary does not contain any animal products,
it can be considered vegan so long as all frying uses vegetable oil.
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| Kushary Cart Vendor |
Clifford Wright (a famous Food critic) own history with Kushary was a bit
convoluted. He was determined to have some Kushary in Cairo, but was often
warned away from street food by those in the know, and not unwisely. Still, he
had a strong craving for a bowl of this hearty-looking dish that he saw Cairenes eating with such gusto and which was described by the distinguished professor
of botany Charles B. Heiser, Jr. as a nearly perfect food for protein
enrichment. Finally throwing caution to the wind, he sauntered into a cook shop
that would not have met Western hygienic standards, but seemed clean enough to
him relative to the countless other less clean places in Cairo. In any case,
the food preparation area was clean.
The cook and his helper, standing behind a
counter, were quite delighted to see him, a Westerner, walking into their shop
on the Suq al-Tafikiya half way down from the Shari’ Ramses, near the national
telecommunications building, far off the beaten tourist path. The name of their
place was in Arabic, Kushary Magdi and Sons.
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| A plate of Kushary and sauce |
The Kushary plate was assembled in
front of him by spooning into a bowl broken pieces of cooked spaghetti and
tubetti that are kept warm in a large pan, a cross between a wok and a tub. In
another large pan a mixture of cooked rice and lentils is warmed separately and
then tossed on top of the pasta, about three parts rice to one part lentils, flavoured by being sautéed first in samna (clarified butter). In a third, smaller bowl
are very brown, slightly crispy, and thinly sliced onions, also cooked in
samna.
First the cook’s helper tosses the
macaroni into the bowl with a large serving ladle, on top goes the rice and
lentils with a little hot liquidly tomato sauce, dim’a musabika (thick tomato sauce
cooked to perfection), and then the caramelized onions on top of that.
Clifford sat down at a rickety
table to eat with a spoon and considered the two condiments on the table. One
was a pitcher of chili pepper-based tomato sauce and the other was a bowl of
powdered wheat bran.
He finally admitted that the Kushary
was absolutely delicious ---
a very basic staple street food that really hits the
spot and he would recommend it heartily.
