Koshari and Karkadai in Cairo

This fall, Cairo was the gateway for CBP’s onsite trainings in East Africa. In the land of the ancient pharaohs CBP founders sampled the delights of a rich regional food culture on their way to begin On-Site Local Leaders Trainings in East Africa. Cairo abounds with small restaurants where the only meal on offer is Koshari, a comfort dish that includes macaroni noodles, rice, lentils, crispy onions, and a delectable tomato sauce. Abdul Tarak runs the most famous Koshari joint in all of Cairo – there are no other locations, but the one location near the Egyptian Museum is so popular that they just keep growing vertically. In fact, the restaurant boasts 6 floors of seating for Koshari (and we still needed to wait to pounce on a table in the process o being cleared). YUM.

After you have gorged on Koshari, the only thing left to do is to go to an open air Sheesha café to enjoy a cold, sweet glass of Kardadi, or Hibiscus tea: especially when it is so hot you can barely think! Good for cooling the body, amongst other health benefits, Hibiscus tea is infamous throughout Egypt – in fact, Aswan grows the most prized Hibiscus and cafes in Cairo compete to offer the best quality. After a few days of boiling hot desert weather, and more fresh dates than any human should consume in a 48 hour period, CBP was thankful that the layover was over and happy to head to Nairobi where there were cooler climes and smiling faces.