Battle for the hearts, minds and stomachs of Cairo

A secret battle is being waged in Cairo. You won’t see it on the nightly news or read about it in the papers. But it is fierce. Each side has assembled their weapons: grenades of garlic-lemon and chilli at the ready. The prize of the battle? The title of “best Koshary in all of Cairo”.

Koshary is to Egypt what sushi is to Japan: the Egyptians even tried to patent it. For the unacquainted, koshary is a plate of carbohydrate-a-go-go. It includes rice, macaroni, spaghetti, lentils and chickpeas dressed with a tomato sauce and fried onions. The salivating diner then has the choice of adding a lemony-garlic sauce and a fiery chilli sauce. This is stick-to-your-ribs food that will keep you going for a week.

In the trenches to my left is Koshary El-Tahrir. The only question posed to the diner is: ‘small, medium or large?’ Small turns out to be more than enough for a small family and all for a few Australian dollars. While the combination of carbohydrates sounds strange, it actually works. The fried onion adds crispiness, the lentils and chickpeas add texture, and the tomato sauce has a pleasant acidic kick, intensified by the lemon-garlic sauce.

In the trenches to my right is Abu Tarek. Lit up with neon signs, it is not a wallflower. "Special koshary” is the order of the day on the 2nd floor. I read a complaint from a tourist that they were charged 10LE for the special koshary compared to 5LE for those eating on the ground floor. But when you realise that 10LE is equivalent to about $1.70 AUD it’s hard to maintain the rage.

And special this koshary is: one plate holds all the pasta-rice-lentil goodness, while a separate silver platter hosts separate dishes of chickpeas and fried onion, together with a silver jug of tomato sauce. With a flourish, the waiter adds the chickpeas. The lemon-garlic and chilli sauce is then mixed into the tomato sauce and this is poured over the top. Fried onions are scattered with a final flourish.

And the victor? Definitely the diner!