Cairo's nights are long, especially in the summer. Even though the street lampposts hardly emit much light, if at all, the shops and restaurants brighten the streets with their own lights, bustle, and smells. This is quite evident in Sayeda Zeinab and its surrounding areas. An old part of Cairo, where many generations have lived, it contains the Sayeda Zeinab Mosque, named after the Prophet Mohammed's daughter. She came to Egypt seeking refuge after her brother Hussein was killed. Her body is entombed inside the mosque, and many Egyptians visit it seeking her blessings. As breathtaking as that experience can be, it is not why my friends and I decided to pop down to Sayeda Zeinab for a night out.
A young restaurant cook prepares traditional Egyptian Hawawshi and Tajen as takeaway.
We shimmied through Sayeda Zeinab's back streets in my friend's small white Fiat 128. Although the car is of Italian make, most residents would agree, it is one of the most prominent Egyptian symbols of our era. With a rattle or a squeak punctuating the guided tour of Sayeda Zeinab my friend was giving, I marveled at the old stone buildings, with many abandoned and neglected relics of Cairo's past in full but sorry display, such as the old Sufi building Sabeel Um Abbass where the Sufi order provided shelter and food to those who needed it in the past, and the former main Cairo gaol call Kism Al-Khalifa, where prisoners from all over Egypt were sent to be processed before moving them to their respective sites. All that remains of it now is a partially operational monster of a stone building with rusted metal bars still holding firm over many of its windows.
Customers line up waiting for their Mombar orders.
We parked next to the restaurant we would be dining at, Habayeb El-Set, one of the many in the area that provide a cuisine uniquely Egyptian, such as Mombar, which are basically rice and herbs stuffed into intestines, as well as Fatet Kaware', which are a rice dish and sheep knuckles. Other famous restaurants in the area include Al-Rakeeb, which provides a similar menu to Habayeb El-Set, Al-Gahsh, a famous foul and ta'miya cart, Al-Refa'i, a kofta and kebab restaurant frequented by famous people, and Booha, a restaurant famous for its Sogo' Balady, an Egyptian sausage containing a mix of herbs, meat and wheat kernels.
After finishing our meals, we headed to Al-Rahmany, a shop on the road leading to Al-Nasriya, serving a special kind of thick drink brewed from rice. They come in two forms called El-Helw (Sweet) and El-Mizez (Sour). I personally prefer the latter which has a tangy flavor accentuated by the cinnamon sprinkled on top. It comes in a small cup, but is definitely filling, as its consistency is similar to that of syrup.
Men of all ages congregate and socialise on roadside coffee shops such as this one.
The night came to a close amidst the chatter and laughter of customers in a coffee shop directly in the middle of Sayeda Zeinab, with wooden chairs arranged on the pavement of the main street next to the area's police station. As the lights went off shop by shop in anticipation of sunrise, I realized that Sayeda Zeinab is a spiritual, historical, and gastronomical experience that can't be missed by anyone visiting or residing in Cairo.
Nice blog! I am an Egyptian-American and I really appreciate the insight into Cairo you offer here. I visit Egypt every year but haven't been to Sayeda Zainab in about 10 years or so. I remember when I first went to the mosque, I was surprised/confused at how people were seeking blessings from the grave. Of course, in Egypt, I guess there's always something to be surprised or confused about!
ReplyDeleteAre you Egyptian?
The Egyptian people are a strange people (I am an Egyptian, but have lived here for the past 10 years alone). Even though Egypt is seen as an Islamic country, even by its own people, many people confuse religion with tradition. The tradition of visiting graves for blessings goes a lot further back than Islam, back to a time where massive pyramids were built to venerate the dead. Instead of pyramids later on though, mosques scattered all over Egypt have tombs placed in them of the venerated dead. Although this practice is questionable in religious terms, it is still carried on to this very day, from mosques as big as Sayeda Zeinab, to smaller ones with hardly any fame at all. People are still buried in tombs today as one of the many traditions still practiced. Many of the holidays celebrated by Egyptians predate Islam, such as Sham El-Neseem, a springtime holiday that was celebrated by Ancient Egyptians as far back as 2700 BC. In rural villages, farmers and their families still place spring onions under their pillows the night before the holiday to bring them a plentiful harvest next season. The Sebou’ ceremony practiced by families celebrating a newborn baby in his/her seventh day of life is also a relic from the ancient past.
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