108 Ancient Egyptian Dishes
Where not specified, generic “vegetable” oil was
often produced from castor, olives, radish, and
sesame. Frying was also done in ghee (a kind of
clarified butter) and fat from animals like geese.
Where I refer to “grain” or “flour,” or otherwise
don’t specify what grain the bread is made from,
use wheat if the dish is prepared by or for someone
of means, and barley in other cases.
Honey was the most common sweetener for the
rich, and dates (or their juice) were used by the
poor. You can substitute either for the other.
Common livestock included cattle, goats, pigs, and
sheep, which can be substituted for each other in
most dishes. Beef was especially expensive while
pork was eaten almost exclusively by the lower
classes from the 16th century BC onward.
Onion is very common, and garlic only slightly less
so. If you want to add either or both to a dish, you
probably can’t go wrong in doing so.
Beverages
1. Barley beer, sweetened with date juice or
honey.
2. Beer of barley bread left to soak in water and
then strained.
3. Beer of sprouted wheat, with anise, fennel, and
honey.
4. Boiled cardamom and cloves.
5. Boiled fenugreek and honey.
6. Date wine.
7. Fig wine.
8. Grape wine with dissolved opium.
9. Grape wine, fermented with dates.
10. Grape wine, sweetened with figs to mask the
presence of bitter medicinal tree resin.
11. Grape wine, with radish seeds.
12. Plum wine.
13. Pomegranate juice or wine.
14. Water, infused with boiled hibiscus leaves and
honey and (usually) served hot.
15. Water, infused with honey and powdered
carob.
16. Water, sweetened with dates.
Bread-based Dishes
1. Alternating layers of thin pastry, ghee, and
meat.
2. Balls of barley bread, served with aged cheese
and radishes.
3. Balls of bread, filled with minced beef, onions,
and broth from a previous meal.
4. Barley bread, whose yeast was left to sit with an
onion. The top is sliced off and the bread is
filled with milk to soften it.
5. Bread of lotus fruit, ground into a flour and
baked with milk and salt.
6. Bread with bits of onion baked inside, served
with fish.
7. Flat bread, stuffed with minced meat, onions,
parsley, and black pepper.
8. Flat discs of bread, baked lightly and served
with aged cheese and vegetables.
9. Flat discs of bread, baked till crunchy and
served with minced meat and broth-soaked
onion.
10. Flat discs of bread, fried in vegetable oil and
sprinkled with honey or molasses.
11. Flat discs of bread.
12. Flat discs of white bread of equal parts white
and brown flour.
13. Little balls of pastry, fried and topped with
honey and cinnamon.
14. Loaves of sourdough bread, left to rise in the
sun.
15. Round loaves of bread with chickpeas, baked
till crispy and topped with ghee and oil.
16. Round loaves of one-fifth bean flour and four-
fifths wheat flour.
Porridges & Soups & Stews
1. Porridge of barley, with coconut milk and
carob juice or honey to sweeten it.
2. Soup of beans, garlic, greens, onion, cumin,
and salt.
3. Soup of duck fried in ghee or vegetable oil,
onion, broken pieces of old bread, black
pepper, and salt.
4. Soup of duck or goose eggs, fried onions, and
rice boiled together with caraway, cumin, black
pepper, and salt.
5. Soup of green beans and onion fried in ghee,
then boiled with tomato juice, black pepper,
and salt.
6. Soup of lettuce, minced onion, and fried garlic.
7. Stew of “bush okra,” lamb, garlic, and
coriander, boiled till thick and slimy.
8. Stew of beans, chopped parsley, garlic, onion,
black pepper, vegetable oil, and salt.
9. Stew of beans, peas, onions fried in ghee, and
a sauce of cubed tomatoes.
10. Stew of boiled lamb, diced onion, black
pepper, and salt. The broth is saved for
cooking other vegetables in.
11. Stew of catfish, minced and fried onions, diced
tomatoes, garlic, greens, wheat, and salt.
Casseroles
1. Casserole of baked catfish, sliced onions,
cumin, and salt.
2. Casserole of baked fish and crushed grain.
3. Casserole of baked goose, crushed grain,
onion, ghee, black pepper, and salt.
4. Casserole of beef, brans, eggplant, goose fat,
okra, onion, black pepper, mint, and salt.
5. Casserole of boiled, crushed, and sun-dried
grain, with tomato juice, ghee, and salt.
6. Casserole of cubed beef over a layer of grain
and ghee, with black pepper and salt.
7. Casserole of cubed eggplants and onions, with
ghee.
8. Casserole of lamb, garlic, okra, onion,
tomatoes, and oil.
9. Casserole of pigeons fried in butter.
Other Seafood Dishes
1. Baked sea snake, with garlic, black pepper,
cumin, and salt.
2. Dried fish roe.
3. Fried carp, left to sit in a broth of diced onions,
black pepper, and salt.
4. Fried tilapia stuffed with flour, garlic, cumin,
and salt.
5. Grilled tilapia stuffed with garlic, black pepper,
and salt, then sprinkled with cumin and more
salt.
6. Mullet which has been aged in the sun for a
day, then salted and kept with other fish for
several months.
7. Nile perch stuffed with crushed garlic, black
pepper, cumin, and salt, then coated in flour
and fried in butter.
8. Roasted Nile perch stuffed with diced and fried
onions, black pepper, and salt.
9. Slices of tuna, rubbed with cumin, honey, and
salt, then wrapped in papyrus leaves and baked,
then drizzled with olive oil and onion sauce.
10. Whole mullet, marinated in vegetable oil and
honey and then fried.
Other Egg & Poultry Dishes
1. Diced onions and garlic, fried in ghee and
mixed with tomatoes, chopped parsley, and
black pepper, and one duck or goose egg per
person.
2. Duck or goose eggs with fried diced onions,
barley flour, chopped parsley, black pepper,
and salt.
3. Duck or goose eggs with ghee, black pepper,
and salt.
4. Duck or goose eggs, with honey.
5. Grilled whole duck, with black pepper and salt.
6. Mashed grain and sour milk, fried in ghee and
covered with duck or goose eggs and salt.
7. Strips of dried duck, rubbed with coriander and
coated with honey and then sesame seeds.
8. Whole duck rubbed with salt to dry and
preserve it, then later boiled before eating.
9. Whole goose, boiled first and then fried in ghee
or vegetable oil, with black pepper and salt.
10. Whole goose, stuffed with boiled grain and
then, itself, boiled (so the bird ends up once-
boiled and the grain twice-boiled), with black
pepper and salt.
11. Whole pigeons, fried in ghee and stuffed with
crushed grain and onions.
12. Whole pigeons, topped with milk, grain, black
pepper, and salt, then baked.
Other Meat Dishes
1. Baked hedgehog, enclosed in clay before
cooking so that the spines are removed along
with the clay.
2. Beef tripe, intestines, and lungs, boiled first and
then fried in butter, with onion, black pepper,
and salt.
3. Boiled cow brain, with black pepper and salt.
4. Boiled goat shank, with onions, black pepper,
and salt.
5. Boiled lamb, with onion, black pepper, and
salt.
6. Chopped lamb with sliced onion and garlic,
ghee, black pepper, and salt.
7. Cubed goat, chickpeas, crushed grain, garlic,
cumin, vegetable oil, and salt.
8. Cubed pork, lightly fried in oil or ghee, then
boiled with chickpeas, garlic, cumin, tomato
juice, and salt.
9. Diced organ meat and sliced garlic, black
pepper, and salt, fried in ghee.
10. Diced sheep kidneys and sliced garlic cooked
in butter and oil, with black pepper and salt.
11. Grilled cow spleen, with black pepper and salt.
12. Mashed okra and beef, with garlic, ghee,
onions, black pepper, coriander, and salt.
13. Roasted beef on a skewer, with black pepper
and salt.
3. Lettuce, dipped in oil and salt.
4. Lotus shoots, peeled and then roasted till
yellow and sweet.
5. Okra and onion, boiled and then fried in ghee
with garlic, black pepper, and salt.
6. Okra, fried garlic, onion, black pepper, and salt.
7. Patties of mashed beans, diced leeks and
onions, cumin, and dill.
8. Patties of mashed beans, garlic, onion, black
pepper, cumin, coriander, and salt, coated in
sesame seeds and fried in vegetable oil.
9. Slices of palm tree pith and onion, pickled in
red wine with garlic, black pepper, ginger, and
salt.
10. Yams, roasted with butter and salt.

Dessert Foods

1. Alternating layers of thin pastry and ghee,

soaked in honey before baking.
2. Balls of butter, honey, and milk, coated in dates
and coconut flakes, then baked.
3. Balls of wheat bread, stuffed with a mixture of
honey, nuts, and ghee.
4. Butter, milk, and honey, mixed with coconut
flakes and shaped into animals like crocodiles.
5. Dates, with cardamom seed, cinnamon,
ground walnuts and almonds, and honey.
6. Pastry balls of flour, flower-infused water, and
milk, filled with a paste of nuts and figs.
7. Patties of ground tiger nuts, honey, and ghee.
8. Sun-dried raisins.
9. Thin cakes mixed with honey and onion.
10. Thin cakes topped with honey.
11. Tiger nuts, dried and mixed with honey.

Other Vegetable Dishes

1. Cabbage stuffed with onion, tomatoes, and

miscellaneous herbs.
2. Fried fenugreek, flour, and honey.