Egyptian Officer's Mess

[Tribunus]

I was out at an Egyptian base today that is literally in the middle of the desert. There is nothing as far as the eye can see but sand. Sorry, I have no pictures. The Egyptian military is extremely sensitive about cameras on there military installations.

So when lunch time rolled around, we went to the Egyptian Officers Mess. Now the Egyptian military live under some pretty austere conditions. None of the buildings here have air-conditioned and it was about 43C at lunch time. So the Officers Mess was a little warm.

What we got for lunch was typically Egyptian. The Mess Steward brought everyone a plate with four small pita breads, four thin slices of tomato, three thin slices of cucumber and two very thin slices of green bell pepper.

The first pita had a layer of scrambled eggs inside.

The second one was full of fried potatoes.

The third one had a Falafel patty inside. Falafel is a fried patty of finely minced fava beans, seasoned with garlic, scallions and God knows what else. It's actually very taste.

The fourth pita had a layer of cream cheese spread inside.

We washed this feast down with a can of Pepsi, served at room temperature. Now remember, the temperature was around 43C, so it was like drinking sweetened carbonated bath water.

That was lunch in the Egyptian Officer's Mess.

I know that this sounds trivial, but it was actually a decent lunch and I had good time.

[Blairgowrie]

Sounds like a very tasty lunch.

[T_O_A_D]

@ that temp, I'd of wanted nothing more, and probably wouldn't ate all of that.

Room temp liquid is better for you, in extreme heat anyway isn't it?

Not as much fun for sure, but it seams I've read that before.

[Snacko]

How did they cook the eggs? Sun and rock, or on the stove?

[GreyKnight]

How much did they charge for that? Or was someone else paying?

[Fireman]

pepsi instead of coke?!?!?! I would have walked out into the desert for that.....

I wish I got to see as much of this planet as you do man....

[Tribunus]

How did they cook the eggs? Sun and rock, or on the stove?

Are you sure you want to know Mate? Most people don’t want to think about that.

The ‘kitchen’ is not much more than a sink and two burners that run off of bottle gas.

The ‘cook’ is a young draftee who has been assigned the duty. Now it’s important to remember that Egyptian/Arab men as a rule don’t know how to cook. Cooking is considered woman’s work and is beneath them. (As Allah intended). So the kid that gets assigned cooking duties is not going to really know much about cooking.

Kitchen cleanliness is far from western standards. As I said, there is no air conditioning and it’s fairly warm here. So naturally the kitchen windows are all wide open trying to catch a breeze. That combined with the lack of window screens means the kitchen is full of flies and they are crawling on everything. Anything and everything you read about living in North Africa will mention the flies and every word of it is true. Then there is the water, the water used to clean the cook ware and vegetables is of questionable purity. There is no hot water available, so dishes, pots and pans are all washed with cold water, which means that the accumulated oils and grease never really get washed off. Food storage is the same way, there is no refrigerator so things go bad quickly. The windows are open, so everything will soon be covered with a dusting of windblown sand. Egypt is a poor country and as I said living conditions here are very austere, so the oil that they use to cook almost everything with is used and re-used, again and again and again. It has to be really bad before they throw it out.

So as you have probably figured out by now, eating even a simple meal over here can be real adventure. It’s not a question of IF you’re going to get sick from the food it’s a matter of when and how badly sick you going to get. But you can’t refuse the meal. It’s offered in the spirit of Arab hospitality and to not eat, and eat heartily, would be an insult. So no matter what they serve, you need to eat it.

Over the years I’ve developed a cast iron stomach, but even I can have a queasy moment or two. This meal turned out to be one of those occasions. I’m not sure if it was the rancid oil that they fried everything in, or if it was the cream cheese that set out in the heat too long. (I’m personally betting on the cream cheese) But by the end of the day my stomach was doing flips.

It’s all part of the fun of living and working in the Third World.

[Tribunus]

How much did they charge for that? Or was someone else paying?

I was an invited guest , so I didn’t have to pay.

But, there are all sorts of little food kiosks near the metro stations, where you can buy four Pita breads stuffed with Falafel for a grand total of 4 Egyptian Pounds, which is around 70 cents U.S.

If you are willing to eat where the locals eat, you can get a full meal for about one U.S. dollar

[Perfesser]

Damn, can people even survive in 40+ heat?

Seems like a perfect place for solar water heaters and solar cookers.

Old satellite dish?

Point it at the sun (tin foil of course) and put a pan at the focal point.

Hell even and old ammo box lined inside with tin foil and a glass lid would boil water in a tin cup(painted black).

Even in Canada, if you put a coil of garden hose on plywood and cover it with clear plastic the water will boil.

The big screen projection TV's have a fresnel lens in them as big as the screen.

Think of a 3ft x 3ft magnifying glass.

You can melt steel with that.

If you could get the flies near that it would vaporize them.

Sounds like a side business for you Trib.

[Snacko]

Even in Canada, if you put a coil of garden hose on plywood and cover it with clear plastic the water will boil.

That is exactly what my Dad did to make a solar water heater for our pool back in the 70's. He coiled up about 30ft of 3in pvc tubing and put in in a plywood box painted black when a plexiglass cover. That pool was never 'cold'. Never real warm either, but it definitely took the 'edge' off the water temp when it was colder.

[Tribunus]

Damn, can people even survive in 40+ heat?

Seems like a perfect place for solar water heaters and solar cookers.

Mate, over in this part of the world, 40C+ is not considered to be that terribly hot.

We don’t really start complaining about the heat until we hit 50C.

The hottest temperature that I’ve personally experienced was 56C in Baghdad. Not only was it hot, I was of necessity wearing a helmet and body armor and carrying 3 liters of water in a Camelbak, a rifle, a pistol and 300+ rounds of ammunition. Trust me Mate, that can make for a long day.

Think about opening your kitchen oven and having that hot blast of air hit your face and arms. Most people will involuntarily wince from the discomfort caused by the heat. That is what the heat is like once you get into the 50C range. Except it’s not just for a moment or two, it’s all day.

As far as solar water heaters.

That’s fairly universal over here, but it’s not a fancy system. Pretty much each apartment building has a water tank on the roof, but there is no elaborate specialized method of collecting the heat. The tank simply sits there in the sun. By the end of the day the water is scalding hot. It’s actually too hot to shower in, so you shower in the morning.

Given the power of the sun here, you would think that there would be a booming market for Fresnel lens and reflective parabolic cookers, but there is not.

Cooking is women’s work and in a Muslim country, women are expected to stay in the house away from the prying eyes of other men, so the cooking is all done indoors. It would be the scandal of the neighborhood if your wife was seen outside cooking. Then there is the problem of food preparation if you’re cooking outside with all the extra dirt and dust in the air.

Life is different over here, interesting but different.

[JensenPark]

Trib: International Man of Mystery.

(neat post though...always great to read of people's experiences in that part of the world).

[Sweper]

Nice to take part of your experiences with the locals Tribunus )

Reminds me of my first trip to Taiwan -87. Me and a collegue made an educational trip to a factory in the machine tool buisness. We had free lunch every day, made by them self, containing rice, fried pork and some other nonespecific ingredient´s. Same tast, same food almost every day. One day we had a tour around the factory and visit the kitchen among others. It was located in the basement and the sewer passed through the kitchen I only ate rice for lunch rest of the week.

The processing of some parts of the machines were made on soil floor. Some of the toilets had a hole in the floor only, with wery small swing-doors and no toilet paper.

The hotel we stayed in had a clerk on each floor that asked if you needed company for the night. One evening we went to my friends room to have a beer or two before going out for dinner. The door was unlocked and two women were lying (fully dressed) in his bed. They were the cleaning ladys. We kicked them ugly bitches out and they were staring at us in an angry manner.

Next trip to Taiwan in 1989 was a bit better. We still refused to eat lunch at the factory but they had mordern toilets.

Swep

[Tribunus]

One day we had a tour around the factory and visit the kitchen among others. It was located in the basement and the sewer passed through the kitchen I only ate rice for lunch rest of the week.

Some of the toilets had a hole in the floor only, with wery small swing-doors and no toilet paper.

I can relate to that Sweper.

And I’ll share a toilet story with you.

A long, long time ago, I was in a bar in Saigon and had to visit the men’s room. There were urinals along the wall, but there were no pipes connecting the urinals to the sewer line.

Your urine simply poured out the bottom of the urinals, splashed on the floor (and all over your boots) and then disappeared down a floor drain.

[Perfesser]

Given the power of the sun here, you would think that there would be a booming market for Fresnel lens and reflective parabolic cookers, but there is not.

Cooking is women’s work and in a Muslim country, women are expected to stay in the house away from the prying eyes of other men, so the cooking is all done indoors. It would be the scandal of the neighborhood if your wife was seen outside cooking.

A shame really. They're going to deforest the whole continent eventually and we throw away twice the stuff needed to fix it.

Simply because of the cultural rigidity.

Still, you can't fault them for a lack of hospitality.