埃及飲食文化

foodThousandsofyearsago,ancientEgyptiansleftevidenceoftheirloveforfood.Well-preservedwallpaintingsandcarvingshavebeendiscoveredontombsandtemples,depictinglargefeastsandavarietyoffoods.ManyoftheseancientfoodsarestilleateninEgyptianhouseholdstoday.Peas,beans,cucumbers,dates,figs,andgrapeswerepopularfruitsandvegetablesinancienttimes.Wheatandbarley,ancientstaplecrops,wereusedtomakebreadandbeer.Fishandpoultrywerealsopopular.Driedfishwaspreparedbycleaningthefish,coatingthepieceswithsalt,andplacingthemthesuntodry.Fasieekh(salted,driedfish)remainedapopularmealinEgyptasof2000.

BecauseEgyptwasverydry,andreliedmostlyontheNileRivertowaterthecrops,peopleinEgyptcouldonlygrowcertainkindsoffood.Mainlyfarmersgrewwheatandbarley.TheEgyptiansmadethewheatintobreadandintosoupandporridge,andtheyalsofermentedbarleytomakebeer.埃及是世界四大文明古國之一，在飲食方面嚴格遵守伊斯蘭教的教規(guī)，齋月里白天禁止吃任何食物，也不喝水。埃及美食帶有濃厚的北非風情和阿拉伯色彩,菜烹飪以燒烤煮拌為主，擅長用鹽、胡椒、辣椒、孜然、咖喱粉、檸檬汁等來調味，口味偏重。埃及的烹飪廣泛以大米、黃豆、羊肉、山羊肉、家禽和雞蛋為原料，喜歡吃山羊奶酪以及酸制品，也喜愛用蔬菜作菜肴。在沿海地區(qū)魚肴非常流行。此外，埃及人偏愛吃甜食，且品種多樣，這些甜食大多是杏仁、橄欖、葡萄干、甘蔗汁、檸檬汁和奶酪等制作而成的。埃及人喜歡吃甜食，種類不下幾十種。開羅大街小巷，專營甜食的商店比比皆是。飯館里，甜食也是每餐必備。有趣的是，埃及甜食的名字很有特色，充滿異國風情。TheuniqueEgyptiancuisinehasbeeninfluencedthroughouthistory,particularlybyitsneighborsfromtheMiddleEast.However,Egyptiancuisinemaintainsitsuniqueness.Afterthousandsofyears,riceandbreadremainstaplefoods,andmolokhiyya(aspinach-likevegetable)andfulmedames(cooked,creamyfavabeans),anationaldish,arenearlyaspopularaslongago.

莫洛奇亞(Molokhiyya)是一道綠色的濃湯，是用綠色蔬菜、米飯及大蒜燉成的。FulmedamesisapopularbreakfastdishinEgypt.Itisusuallyservedwithafriedeggandpitabread.Thepitabreadissometimesusedasascoopforthefavabeans.FulmedamesdatesbacktoancientEgypt.Ful,oneofthecountry'sseveralnationaldishes,isatypicalbreakfastmeal.Itisoftenservedinaspicysauce,toppedwithanegg.Lunch,normallyservedbetween2P.M.and4P.M.,usuallyincludesmeatorfish,rice,bread,andseasonalvegetables.Salad,toppedwithtypicalMiddleEasternfaresuchasolives,cheese,andnuts,mayalsobeeaten.Meat(usuallylamb,chicken,fish,rabbit,orpigeon),vegetables,andbreadmakeupatypicaldinnerinEgypt.Teaandadessert,suchasbaklava(honeypastry),basbousa(cream-filledcake),orkonafa(cookedbatterstuffedwithnuts),arefamiliarafter-dinnertreats.

埃及人喜吃甜食，正式宴會或富有家庭正餐的最后一道菜都是上甜食。著名甜食有“庫納法”和“蓋塔伊夫”?！板\葵湯”、“基食顆”是埃及人日常生活中的最佳食品?！吧w麥爾丁”是埃及人在齋月里的必備食品。“蠶豆”是必不可少的一種食品。其制造方法多種多樣，制成的食品也花樣百出。例如，切爛蠶豆、油炸蠶豆餅、燉蠶豆、干炒蠶豆和生吃青蠶豆等。錦葵湯是一道用盛產于埃及尼羅河兩岸的錦葵做的綠色濃湯，做法是把錦葵的葉子洗干凈曬干后粉碎，和羊肉、雞、大米等一起煮湯，煮好的錦葵湯，濃綠黏稠，味道十分鮮美。Atthesametime,Egypthasavarietyofnationaldishes.Ful(pronounced"fool,"beanpaste),tahini(sesamepaste),koushari(lentils,macaroni,rice,andchickpeas),aishbaladi(apita-likebread),kofta(spicy,mincedlamb),andkebab(grilledlambpieces)arethemostpopular.Teaandcoffeearewidelyconsumed.Egypt'snumerouscoffeeandteahousesbrewverystrongcoffeeandtea(oftenminttea),usuallyofferingbothfullofsugar.Coffeehousesaretypicallyfilledwithmenwhogathertoplaydominoesorbackgammon.Egyptiansalsoenjoyadrinkcalledsahleb,madefromwheat,milk,andchoppednuts.

ReligiousCustomsEgypt'spopulationisaround71million.Around62millionofthemareSunniMuslimsandabout8-9MillionareCopticChristians(ChristianEgyptians).WhetherMuslimorCopt,theEgyptiansaremoderatelyreligiousandreligiousprinciplesarequitenoticeablein

theirdailylives.每逢周五是埃及人傳統的“主麻日聚禮”，當清真寺內傳出悠揚的喚禮聲，伊斯蘭教徒便紛紛涌向附近的清真寺，做集體禮拜。為數眾多的教徒仍然虔誠地信守每日5次禮拜的教規(guī)：即晨禮、響禮、哺禮、昏禮、宵禮。MarriagecustomsMarriagestartedbythesuitor'sparentsvisitingtohisfiancee'shousetogetherfamilyapprovaltocompletethismarriageandreachinganagreement,whichcontainstwomainitems:anamountofmoney,calledMahr,paidbysuitortohisfiancee'sfamilytohelpthempreparethefurnitureoftheirdaughterandavaluablejewelrygift,calledShabka,givenbythesuitortohisfiancee.Thevalueofthisgiftdependedonthefinancialandsociallevelsofthesuitor"sfamily.Whenthetwopartiescompletedtheagreement,theyfixedanappointmentfortheengagementparty.Mostofrelativesandfriendsattendedthepartyinoneofthecommonbanquethalls,whichwasdecoratedwithseveralkindsofflowersandlights.Thefianceeworetheengagementdresswhichwassimplerthantheweddingdressanditscolorwasblueorpinkwhilethegroomputonthefingerofhisfianceearing,wasasymbolofimmortality.Inaddition,thegroomgavehisfianceethevaluablejewelrygiftagreedonbefore.

每一位埃及成年男子到了婚配年齡，首先要向意中人的父親提親或者在母系親屬及鄰居中擇偶。提親后，男女雙方開始商討女方的陪嫁數額，一般是男方把陪嫁款項的2/3作為聘禮送給女方。迎親前，男方大擺宴席，并有歌舞相伴，有時宴慶數日。迎親時，新郎的母親帶領多輛裝點漂亮的馬車到女方家接新娘，新娘要坐在其中一輛用昂貴克什米爾毛綢、玫瑰花等裝飾的花車上。晚餐后，新郎要由樂隊引路去清真寺行跪拜禮，最后回到新房，與新娘共飲一杯清泉水，以示同享甘甜幸福。這樣的婚禮大約要持續(xù)30天左右，耗資約千余埃鎊。在埃及西部沙漠的錫瓦綠洲，有獨特的婚俗。姑娘8歲定親，14歲完婚。其間，小伙子要不斷地向女方家贈送禮物。新娘頭上要編結很多發(fā)辮。其一半由娘家梳編，另一半需婆家人來完成。姑娘的嫁妝是100件袍裙。所以，錫瓦人家一有女兒出生，母親就要開始忙著為其縫制陪嫁的袍裙。FuneralcustomsTheancientEgyptianshadanelaboratesetofburialcustomsthattheybelievedwerenecessarytoensuretheirimmortalityafterdeath.Theseritualsandprotocolsincludedmummification,castingofmagicspells,andburialwithspecificgravegoodsthoughtto