Ancient Egyptian Food Recipes

Finding ancient Egyptian food recipes is not that easy. Not much is preserved, we know pretty much what they ate, but quite little about how it was put together. Remember they didn´t have sugar or chilis, to what extent they used butter is unknown. If you want to read more about Ancient Egyptian Food just go here

Ancient Egyptian Food Recipes - Bread

Egyptian Pita Bread
(appr. 8 pieces)
- 300 ml finger warm water
- 25 g of fresh yeast
- 500 g spelt flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
In a large bowl, mix yeast with finger warm water. Gradually blend in 400 g of flour mixed with salt. Knead it until the dough is smooth, add flour until it doesn´t stick to the bowl. Turn on the oven to 220 °C. Cover in cloth and put in warm (not hot) place. When the dough has doubled in size, after appr. 40 minutes, knead it firmly on a floured surface for a couple of minutes. Cut in 8 pieces and flatten them to the thickness of a finger. Bake in middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes. A bubble of air will rise in the middle of the bread. Eat when cool.

Semeet - Sesame Rings
- 300 ml finger warm water
- 25 g of fresh yeast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 1 egg
- sesame seeds
Mix yeast in finger warm water in a large bowl, add olive oil. Gradually blend in 400 g of flour mixed with salt and honey. Knead it until the dough is smooth, add flour until the dough doesn´t stick to the bowl. Turn on the oven to 220 °C. Cover in cloth and put in warm (not hot) place. When the size has doubled, after appr. 40 minutes, knead it firmly an a floured surface for a couple of minutes. Make a 5 cm thick roll and cut it in half, make two rings and put on a baking tray. Glaze them with beaten egg and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. In the middle of the oven; bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 160 °C (if you have an electrical oven you have to let the hot air out to get the temperature down) for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Note that the use of egg as glazing probably wasn´t used in ancient Egyptian food recipes.

Ancient Egyptian Food Recipes - Sweets

Tiger Nut Sweets
- 400g fresh pitted dates
- some water
- 2 tbsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 4 tbsp roughly chopped walnuts
- a little honey
- 4 tbsp finely chopped almonds
Mash the dates with water to a rough paste. Add cinnamon, cardamom powder and walnuts, blend well. Roll into to balls, coat in honey and sprinkle the finely chopped almonds over them. This is one of few "confirmed" genuine ancient Egyptian food recipes.

Ancient Egyptian Food Recipes - Main Courses

Taamia Falafal
- 250g fava beans, soaked and drained
- 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 2 finely chopped onions
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
- sesame seeds
- 1 cup of olive oil
This dish takes a bit of planning since the beans should be soaked in water 24 hours before use. Drain the soft beans and remove the skins. Mash them in a sturdy bowl with garlic, onions, ground cumin, ground coriander seeds, ground black pepper, parsley and salt - the result should be a paste. Leave for one hour. Make little flat buns roughly finger thick and sprinkle both sides with sesame seeds. Fry in olive oil on medium (not hot!) temperature until golden brown, strain and leave them to cool off. Serve with the Egyptian Pita Bread (see above), cucumbers, lettuce and sliced fresh onion.