Breakfast Times!

I have decided to split my food post up into sections. Because, sometimes, each meal deserves more than one picture. Like breakfast! So today I have for you a series of snapshots of Egyptian breakfast, which is served at the ungodly hours of 6:00am (for people who are about to head out to "the field") and 8:00am, which is for the rest of us, and is not supposed to seem all that ungodly but always does...

This is what breakfast looks like:


You can see the fig jam in the background, and the black tea with milk, and the ubiquitous "Pasto," a chocolate-covered biscuit that they feed us at breakfast and tea time (which is twice a day). So basically, we live on Pastos. In the center is some delicious (unpasteurized?) yogurt, and behind that is some of the bread that they serve at every single meal. This bread is a new development. For the first few weeks, we had a more pita-like bread, that was even in two layers just like pita bread. But then about four days ago we came down to breakfast and here was this new kind of bread! It keeps things exciting. The white cheese on my plate is called "gebna beta," or white cheese. It is made from BUFFALO milk! Isn't that cool? It tastes a lot like goat cheese, and is also served almost every meal. It is delicious. (Don't, assume, though, that this means I've seen buffalo here. I have no idea where these lactating buffaloes are, I assure you. You'd think they'd stand out in the desert, but no sign yet! )


This picture shows the yogurt without its lid on, showcasing the strange film that collects on the top - because it is unpasteurized? Who knows...


In this picture, Irene is removing the film from the top of the yogurt, just so you can see. I hope you are not grossed out, I am sure it's just the fat separating out. So it makes the yogurt much healthier, I'm sure!


This picture features the latest addition to breakfast: an "omelette," which as you can see just means one egg cooked up in a fry pan. I prefer it to hard-boiled eggs, though, which we are also offered, so it's pretty exciting. To get one, you also have to use Arabic, so that makes it all the more exciting. Let me teach you how to order it: "Mumkin omelet." Now you know how to ask for anything you want in Arabic! "Mumkin" means "may I have," or "please," or just plain "may I." When you know this word, you can get far in the Arabic-speaking world. I promise.

And that's breakfast!