page_title: Egyptian cuisine
section_title: Desserts
hierarchical_section_title: Egyptian cuisine / Desserts
caption_attribution_description: English: فطير مشلتت
context_page_description: Egyptian cuisine makes heavy use of legumes, vegetables and fruit from Egypt's rich Nile Valley and Delta. It shares similarities with the food of the Eastern Mediterranean region, such as rice-stuffed vegetables, grape leaves, shawerma, kebab and kofta. Examples of Egyptian dishes include ful medames, mashed fava beans; kushari, lentils and pasta; and molokhiya, bush okra stew.
  Pita bread, known locally as eish baladi is a staple of Egyptian cuisine, and cheesemaking in Egypt dates back to the First Dynasty of Egypt, with domty being the most popular type of cheese consumed today.
  Common meats in Egyptian cuisine are pigeon, chicken, and lamb. Lamb and beef are frequently used for grilling. Offal is a popular fast food in cities, and foie gras is a delicacy that has been prepared in the region since at least 2500 BCE. Fish and seafood are common in Egypt's coastal regions. A significant amount of Egyptian cuisine is vegetarian, due to both the historically high price of meat and the needs of the Coptic Christian community, whose religious restrictions require essentially vegan diets for much of the year.
context_section_description: Egyptian desserts resemble other Eastern Mediterranean desserts. Basbousa (بسبوسة) is a dessert made from semolina and soaked in syrup. It is usually topped with almonds and traditionally cut vertically into pieces so that each piece has a diamond shape. Baqlawa (بقلاوة) is a sweet dish made from many layers of phyllo pastry, an assortment of nuts, and soaked in a sweet syrup. Ghorayiba (غريبة) is a sweet biscuit made with sugar, flour and liberal quantities of butter, similar to shortbread. It can be topped with roasted almonds or black cardamom pods.
  Kahk (كحك) is a sweet biscuit served most commonly during Eid al-Fitr in Egypt. It is covered with icing sugar, and can also be stuffed with dates, walnuts, or 'agameya (عجمية) which is similar in texture to Turkish delight, or just served plain. Kunafa (كنافة) is a sweet cheese pastry soaked in sugar syrup. Luqmet el qadi (لقمة القاضي) are small, round donuts that are crunchy on the outside and soft and syrupy on the inside. They are often served with dusted cinnamon and powdered sugar. The name literally translates to "The Judge's Bite". Atayef (قطايف) is a dessert served exclusively during the month of Ramadan, a sort of sweet mini pancake (made without eggs) filled with cream or nuts and raisins. Rozz be laban (ارز باللبن) is made with short grain white rice, full-cream milk, sugar, and vanilla. It can be served dusted with cinnamon, nuts and ice cream. Umm Ali or Om Ali  (ام على), is a type of bread pudding served hot made puff pastry or rice, milk, coconut, and raisins.
  Other desserts include:
  Couscous (كسكسي) - Egyptian style, with butter or eshta as well as sugar, nuts and dried fruit.
  Halawa (حلاوة)
  Ladida (لديدة)
  Malban (ملبن)
  Mehalabeya (مهلبية)
  Melabbes (ملبس)
  Mifattah (مفتاة) - a thick paste of sesame and molasses.
caption: Feteer meshaltet, a pastry often eaten as a dessert by dipping in honey and eshta or with various sweet fillings.
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