Chapter 1133: Tastes Amazing
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A Chinese man holding a silver Arabian hookah with a cat and dog following beside him was extremely out of the norm, but all of Zhang Zian’s focus was on looking for food and not on noticing the weird looks that he had been getting from the pa.s.sersby.
With this many strays in Egypt, it was evident that they had basically no pet laws at all, so there was absolutely no issue with him walking Famous down the streets even without a leash.
Zhang Zian kept looking back as he walked, worried that the few Egyptian men would look for revenge after they applied the Cooling Ointment to places that they shouldn’t. Besides, those weren’t Cooling Ointment at all, they were some unknown substance called Cooling Oil, and only G.o.d knew what would happen to them.
Richard laughed at him for being a coward, swearing on its life that those few men definitely would not come after them.
Along the way, they did see a few people selling Egyptian biscuits, the price unbelievably low. The flour, oil, and sugar used to make these biscuits were all sent to them for free by the richer Arabian neighboring countries after all. Since the cost was zero, their price naturally dropped under the compet.i.tion. Even one penny earned was money too, after all.
This was to stabilize the situation in Egypt and to make sure that the Egyptians, surviving on an average income of a few hundred Egyptian pounds per month, wouldn’t riot due to hunger. As the country with the highest population in the Middle East, and as an important Arabian country, if there was any rioting in Egypt, it would be a disaster.
The Egyptian biscuits were actually named aish baladi. They didn’t look delectable, but more like bread that hadn’t been leavened, and they did nothing for Zhang Zian’s appet.i.te at all. The elfins showed disinterest towards these starchy foods too.
Aish baladi was the staple of poor people’s meals here. It was extremely filling, and the poor usually bought a few at a time, eating them with a sesame dipping sauce with lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper. This was usually their breakfast or even dinner every day.
When Zhang Zian and his group walked past, they saw a few poor people ripping open the aish baladi and dipping it in something before devouring the piece. They ate it with a gla.s.s of fruit juice, since Egypt’s fruit juice was ridiculously cheap too. Most fruits weren’t even selling for more than one dollar per kilogram.
Other than aish baladi, there was another smaller type of bread called pita. Pita bread was a thousand times more delicious than aish baladi. It looked like a flatbread that had a hollow center, and you could add in fillings based on your own preference. Grilled meats, vegetables, tomatoes, and a sauce, and it would taste just like a mix of a burrito and a hamburger.
Zhang Zian remembered that while on the streets of Berlin, he had eaten Turkish grilled meat. In Egypt, they had Turkish grilled meat too, but these weren’t authentic. Instead, they had been modified to suit Egyptian tastes. It was called shawarma here, or the Egyptian hamburger.
The elfins had a great impression of the Turkish grilled meat, so he stopped to order a few sets of shawarma when he saw a street vendor selling it.
The shawarma was complete when the vendor expertly shaved off pieces of grilled meat from the spinning grill and mixed it with pickled vegetables, raw vegetables, and bean paste, clasping it within a skin that was crispy yet soft, and a spicy red sauce was drizzled on.
It was sweet and spicy, and an extremely appetizing sourness filled your palate when you bit into it, proving to its devourer why it was one of Egypt’s most popular street foods.
Of course, the true most popular food in Egypt was koshari. Koshari was a mixture of rice, macaroni, broad beans, peas, vinegar, and chilli sauce. You could also add sausages and olives according to your own tastes. It seemed a little like fried rice, but not quite stir-fried.
Koshari was also very popular with the poor people, as it came in a hefty portion despite being cheap. It could satisfy the carbohydrate and vegetable requirements at once, and it was one step higher-cla.s.s than aish baladi, but it was also a bit more expensive.
Zhang Zian wanted to try, but he had heard that the street vendors’ food, though authentic, may not be the most hygienic, and had caused several instances of diarrhea. That was why he’d decided against trying it now, instead heading to a restaurant.
Famous had just ingested one portion of shawarma, licking its lips in reminiscence of its taste, when it suddenly caught an amazing scent that was difficult to ignore. It took in a deep breath. This aroma was foreign. It should be from some sort of meat, but this was the first time it had smelled an aroma like that.
Zhang Zian was tall and could see past the crowd, noticing the stall right in front of them. He shrugged the shoulder that Richard was on, teasing, “Richard, did you see? Your buddy has already become roast duck. Why don’t you join them?”
“Gah?” Richard had stolen a piece of vegetable from Zhang Zian’s shawarma earlier on, and it was so startled by his words that its beak opened, dropping the vegetable with sauce on it and almost dirtying his s.h.i.+rt.
“What kind of barbaric country is this? How dare they eat parrots?” it exclaimed, unable to believe what was happening before its eyes.
Old Time Tea chuckled. “Do not scare him, Zian. From what I see, that is neither a parrot nor a duck, but is instead a pigeon.”
The stall before them was selling another famous type street food in Egypt: roast pigeon.
Egypt roasted their pigeons by removing the b.u.t.t and innards, putting in oats, rice, spices, and chopped foie gras, and roasting it on charcoal. Fina and Famous saw it too. The aroma of roast pigeon floated towards them, tickling their noses and causing them to drool, their feet fixed to the floor.
The charcoal was a burning red, the pigeons a deep brown caramel color. Plenty of oils had seeped through the skin, gathering together before falling off with gravity’s help and splattering onto the charcoal. The flames, fueled by fat, grew taller with each drip, the licks of flames leaping into the air and missing the pigeons by a hair’s breadth.
These pigeons were pretty fat, and the charcoal fire was just the right temperature too. They looked like roast duck, but they had an exotic charm to them. Most importantly, these kinds of roasted foods were, in general, more hygienic.
The carnivorous cats and dogs were thirsting over it, and even Zhang Zian had to consciously swallow his saliva. He fished out money without second thought to buy a few roasted pigeons for the elfins there, as well as two more for Snowy Lionet.
They had only explored a small fraction of the Khan el-Khalili Market, but their hunger had driven them to leave the market prematurely to find a quiet place to feast. Fina couldn’t wait anymore, sinking its teeth into the pigeon before Zhang Zian could remind it that it was still hot. It was immediately scalded by the heat, and it sent a searing glare Zhang Zian’s way, blaming him for not reminding it.
Oh well. Zhang Zian could only rip apart the pigeon with his hands to dissipate the heat within so that they could eat quickly. After a moment’s wait, the elfins could finally feast.
Zhang Zian couldn’t be bothered to monitor his image anymore either. He picked up the pigeon with both his hands, the juices painting his face with an oily sheen.
The skin of the pigeon was crispy and aromatic, the pigeon just the right ratio of meat to fat, and the scents of oats and fois gras wafted up. He and the elfins couldn’t stop themselves, devouring pigeon after pigeon.
After they were done, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Tastes amazing!”