Egypt food and clothing research took me to a variety of restaurants and friends.
When you can’t visit the country where a large chunk of your historical novel takes place, you have to adapt.
I’ve written before about Egypt research opportunities in books and films.
As a writer, I sought accuracy but also a way to set mood and place using the senses.
In addition to what I could see, I needed to be able to evoke other senses like taste, smell and feel.
Dinner almost always can help hit those markers!
Egypt research at restaurants
We do not have an Egyptian restaurant anywhere near my home, but we did visit Los Angeles.
It happened to be the night before Thanksgiving and six of us visited a spot featuring middle eastern food.
(The fact it was owned and run by Russians, we decided, was immaterial).
A hookah parlor took up the building next door, so it felt authentic!
We were familiar with humus, dates, flat breads and sizzling lamb.
I don’t remember what it is, but we ate it!
Falafel made the menu and various rice dishes. Several items were wrapped in date leaves.
We told them to bring us anything authentic and while we cleared our plates, none of us have returned to an Egyptian restaurant!
Still, I could describe a meal to provide a savory element to my story:
“They dined in a local restaurant on sayadeya, bluefish cooked with rice, onion and tomato sauce and baked in earthenware. She’d never eaten chick peas before, and new spices appeared with each dish.
Claire savored cool yoghurt with a tang of cucumber and a date and honey baklava so sweet her teeth hurt.”
Best Egypt research
The best research I did came from interviewing friends who had been to Egypt.
Marianne, who pointed out she had visited only 60 years after the Chambers family left, explained why Biddy wore long sleeves in her photographs.
“I wore long sleeves to keep the sun off my skin and keep my perspiration from drying out immediately in the sun. Being hot and moist under clothes was much more comfortable and cooler than being hot and dry under the sun.”
She talked about visiting the pyramids and what she ate. Very helpful.
Another friend has run camps in Egypt. Wendy answered a question about smell:
We ate this, too.
“Ah, every country has a smell. Hard to describe. Date palms have a sweet-smelling shade. You know you are near the spice merchants at the bazaars by the aroma, or the perfumeries which are very ancient and unlike the cosmetic stores. Those are heavy and musky.”
She also waxed lyrical about food:
“I love kofta! Ground lamb in meatballs or sausage shape. Molihia (have no idea the spelling) we call it green slime, but it is delicious, heavy garlic for sure. Lots of fish and chicken and rice and lentils. Shwarma too, and fantastic flat bread, like pita.”
Judi described the white sand against the blue thread of the Suez Canal and mentioned the swarms of tour guides around the pyramids.
Family story
My favorite story came from my father long ago.
My parents and grandmother visited in 1975 when women did not appear on Cairo streets with bare arms and legs.
In their story, my mother, a determined girls physical education teacher wearing shorts on a hot day, announced she was going for a walk outside their Cairo hotel.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” my father said. “As soon as you walk out that door, every man in the neighborhood is going to be after you.”
At least my grandmother knew what to wear!
Characteristically, my mother said. “I can do anything I want to. I don’t care what men say or do.”
She only lasted five minutes before running back into the hotel.
She wore a skirt the rest of her visit and always walked with my father after that!
Did I need to do Egypt research in the country?
Ideally, I would love to travel to Egypt and see the cemetery where Oswald Chambers is still buried.
A man attending one of my lectures was surprised to discover Chambers was in Zeitoun–his birthplace.
He shook his head over the photos from 100 years ago. It’s very changed, as you would expect.
But I feel like I’ve been there–and hope that comes out in A Poppy in Remembrance.
Tweetables
Tasting Egyptian food in a Los Angeles restaurant–it’s all research! Click to Tweet
The best research stories come from people who’ve been there–in this case, Egypt! Click to Tweet
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