Pure pleasures

Injy El-Kashef rediscovers the simple things
Since my dear friend Pascal had just returned from Aswan and was absolutely infatuated with all things Nubian, we headed to the Cairo Méridien's Nubian Village for dinner on his last night in Cairo. Reservations had been somewhat problematic, as we were told that the whole place was booked, but we eventually managed to catch a lovely table directly overlooking the Nile and right opposite the mud ovens where two gorgeous fellaha women were cross-legged on the floor baking the most delicious baladi bread. The restaurant is very relaxed, in the open air and full of shisha flavours wafting in the Nile breeze.
While we awaited our orders, a quick and light grape-flavoured shisha was our best friend and allowed us to make perfect fools of ourselves as Pascal insisted on proudly demonstrating his newly-acquired skill of blowing smoke through his nostrils. Our delicious Baba Ghannoug soon made its appearance, topped with a generous amount of olive oil, and that we relished with our burning hot baladi bread, breaking the flavour with bursts of fresh and lemony Tabboula. "Do I have green in my teeth?" I asked Pascal, exposing my two rows of pearls. All he could do was crack up and beg me to stop acting like a clown in a five-star hotel, itself an illegitimate request considering his behaviour a few minutes earlier.
Before the main courses we treated ourselves to another yummy mezza: kofta balls in onion sauce. Although I could sense that the meat came from a sheep I could simply not resist its rich taste and found myself fighting with my friend over the last kofta -- especially that the last one is always the richest in taste. For main courses, he went for the Fish Kebab and I chose the Shish Tawouk. We wanted to keep it nice and healthy, especially that the heat wave had entirely blocked our appetites, which were only just beginning to recover. True, there was nothing accompanying our main dishes apart from bread (no sautéed vegetables, French fries, rice, baked or mashed potatoes -- nothing) but it was actually better that way. Our food was so delicious that any other presence on the plate would have ruined it.
Of course we tasted each other's dishes and the following happened: "Injy, your tawouk is excellent;" "Yes, Pascal, so is your fish;" "No, I mean let's swap, you idiot". And so I ended up with Pascal's fish -- a blessing in disguise. Meaty chunks of fantastically-seasoned fish bathing in lemon and charcoal-grilled; absolutely divine. My ex-tawouk was no worse, extremely tender with a hint of tarragon and sharp spices.
Desserts were the result of pure gluttony. We were stuffed but could not resist the temptation of an Umm Ali and a Rice Pudding. This time no swapping took place as we both left half our succulent desserts from fear of having to unbutton our pants in public. We barely passed the LE60 minimum charge per person with two Stellas, a bottle of water and a mind-blowing dinner.
Nubian Village, Le Méridien Cairo, Nile Corniche.
Tel: 362 1717
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