Egypt's warm, sunny climate allows farmers to grow multiple crops of fruits and vegetables a year. Not surprisingly, more than 65% of the residents' diet consists of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Egyptian market stalls are always littered with fresh fruit. Arriving on vacation in this country, you can stock up on vitamins for the whole year ahead.
However, many fruit plants in Egypt have their own seasonality. The locals are well aware of this, and we will try to tell tourists what time of the year and what fruits in Egypt are worth trying.
Habitual citrus fruits and bananas
For a long time no one has been surprised by the abundance of oranges or grapefruits in our supermarkets. However, oranges and tangerines grown in hot Egypt are distinguished by their peculiar sweet and sour taste and thin skin. If you get to the vicinity of Alexandria in winter, you can enjoy the delicate aroma of tangerine trees.
Relatively recentlyLimes, beloved by Russians and growing in Egypt all year round, have long been served by Arabs with soups and seafood.
And besides the fruits of Egypt, which are familiar to us, red bananas surprise us. They are smaller and their skin is red-brown or purple. The taste of these fruits is also a little unusual, more pronounced and a bit reminiscent of strawberries. Delicate pink flesh of these fruits is rich in potassium and vitamins C and B.
Almost all year round in this country you can enjoy grapes, strawberries and watermelons. However, some exotic fruits of Egypt have a pronounced seasonality. It is during these months that they are the most useful and tasty. It remains only to choose.
What to eat in winter
We associate the beginning of the year with snow and blizzards, while in Egypt it is the harvest season for strawberries, dates, pomegranates, physalis and guava.
If everyone knows about dates and pomegranates, then the fruits of physalis are found only in the tropics. These fruits of Egypt look a bit like cherries, only amber-yellow in color. Fruits contain a lot of useful elements and acids that have a beneficial effect on he alth. However, you should not eat a lot of berries, because the stomach can get upset out of habit, and the rest will be ruined.
Large, about 10-15 centimeters, guava fruits begin to be harvested in November. The spherical fruit is covered with a rough peel. It may seem dense, although it is actually very thin and is considered useful. Inside the pulp are many small hard bones.
Locals never useeating overripe guava fruit. Only slightly soft specimens are used. Depending on the variety, guava blends the familiar taste of raspberries or strawberries with a slight hint of pine needles from the peel.
Watermelons and medlar
In spring, the number of seasonal fruits increases. There are still a lot of ripe strawberries, citrus fruits and pomegranates on the shelves. However, April's guava season is coming to an end.
Instead of it, watermelons begin to ripen en masse. They are sweet and juicy in Egypt, with small seeds. There is one caveat: when choosing a watermelon, do not be shy - inspect the fruit from all sides. The fact is that the Egyptians do not stand on ceremony when collecting watermelons and throw heavy balls at random. And in such heat, the cracked fruit almost immediately begins to deteriorate and ferment.
At the end of April, loquat begins to appear on the market stalls. The photo of these Egyptian fruits (see above) shows that they resemble an elongated apple in shape, only the fruits grow in clusters. The taste is a little unusual, reminiscent of a pear and a hawthorn at the same time. Loquat fruits have many medicinal properties, it is not for nothing that they have been grown in hot countries for more than a thousand years.
By the way, the most delicious cherries ripen in May-June. Of course, there are cherries on the menu of hotels all year round, but in spring these berries are the most juicy.
Summer abundance
In summer, the many names of Egypt's fruits can make your head spin. Grapes, local peaches, apricots, cherries. The first melons are starting to appear. They are not large in Egypt, weighing approximatelykilogram. Due to the fact that oh is harvested a little underripe, Egyptian melons are inferior in taste to the usual Uzbek ones. Although you still need to try and compare.
In June, the long mango season begins. These fruits, which we consider exotic, grow in Egypt from June to October. Depending on the variety (and there are more than a dozen of them grown in this country), the weight of mango fruits can reach two kilograms. Ripe fruits are very fragrant and tasty, the pulp is slightly fibrous and just melts in your mouth. Of the abundance of mango varieties, the Egyptians themselves prefer Timor, which ripens towards the end of summer.
Short fruit seasons
Some of Egypt's delicious fruits come and go very quickly. This refers to figs, persimmons and pears, which are adored by the locals.
Pears do not surprise the inhabitants of our country, and the delicate fruits of figs, in addition to a pleasant taste, are also very rich in useful substances. In ancient Egypt, figs (also called figs), along with grapes and olives, formed the basis of the daily diet.
Ripe figs are very delicate, it is better to eat them immediately on the spot, because they may not withstand transportation to the hotel. It is better to choose small dark-colored fruits, they will be the most delicious.
Similar problem with ripe persimmons. This fruit is very popular in Egypt. Its pulp literally melts in your mouth. However, there is a slight nuance with taste: some persimmon varieties have an astringent, bitter taste. To get rid of this, the fruits need to be frozen for several hours. If you would like to bringexotic persimmon home, it is better to choose hard, unripe fruits, which then ripen after lying in a dark place.
Mango and grape selection
Traditionally, August is considered the peak of the mango season. Without exaggeration, we can say that all the counters are filled with different varieties of this fruit. Particularly tasty are the mangoes of the Timor variety, which is also called Egyptian, and small, up to two hundred grams, fruits of the Hindi variety. They have a rich yellow color and a very pleasant taste and aroma.
At this time, grapes and local peaches finally ripen. Of course, peaches are sold in Egypt all year round, but more often they are imported. And the local variety, small fruits with a whitish skin and pulp, will pleasantly surprise you with a sweet taste.
Since ancient times, grapes have been popular among the abundance of fruits and vegetables in Egypt. And this is not surprising: the fructose contained in the berries quickly gives a feeling of fullness, and dried berries can be stored for a very long time. Almost all varieties grown in Egypt are seedless, so they can be safely given even to babies.
Autumn vitamin paradise
There are no local cherries, figs and pears on the shelves anymore. But there was a fresh crop of physalis and pomegranates. These fruits are well known in our country. However, in Egypt, pomegranates are especially sweet and juicy. The good news is that already at the beginning of the pomegranate season, prices are not at all high, and the choice is simply huge. Besides, in Egypt they just love to bargain!
Roughly from October, merchants beginactively offer ashta - an unusual fruit that looks like a round greenish cone. The Egyptians call it "sweet apple" and simply adore it. It is rather difficult to describe the taste of ashta. Someone feels a banana, someone strawberry, kiwi, yogurt and even cream. In any case, it is definitely worth a try!
What fruits grow in Egypt? Often not only tasty, but also useful for the body. For example, the use of ashta helps prevent cancer, pomegranate strengthens the walls of blood vessels and increases the level of hemoglobin. And dates familiar to us are so popular in Egypt that they are considered a panacea for most diseases.
By the way, the date season also starts in the fall. Unusually, the taste of ripe fruits is a little tart and astringent - a dubious pleasure. And the usual dried dates are much sweeter and more pleasant. Although the locals prefer fresh and consume them in huge quantities.
Where to choose fruit
It is impossible to list and show all the names and photos of Egyptian fruits in a small article, there are too many of them. However, hotel management does not often pamper guests with fresh local fruits, offering inexpensive imported ones.
Therefore, for new tastes and impressions, you should go to the grocery market. Of course, it is always noisy and crowded there. However, there is an opportunity to try, carefully select each berry and bargain with the seller. If you try, the declared price can be reduced several times.
Markets located near hotels or in places visited by tourists are differentinflated prices. Therefore, it is better to combine a walk around the city with a selection of fruits and see where the locals buy them.
Tourist Tips
Often, the administration of hotels in Egypt forbids taking fruits, regardless of their type, into the room, but tourists say that most fruits, except perhaps for a large watermelon, can be carried in unnoticed. The only question is the ethics and expediency of such an act.
This country is very hot, damaged fruits and vegetables can spoil quickly. In addition, the locals are not too concerned about hygiene. Therefore, before eating, all purchased fruits must be thoroughly washed.
I really want to try as many exotic unfamiliar fruits as possible, but experienced travelers are not advised to get carried away. Some fruits can cause an allergic reaction or indigestion. It's best not to try more than one new product a day.
In Egypt, juices are very popular, in which three types of different fruits are mixed. The seller takes turns preparing fresh juices, pours them into a glass in layers and does not mix. It turns out a delicious vitamin "traffic light" that the kids really like.
You can bring home from a sunny country ripe pomegranate fruits, slightly hard mangoes, exotic ashta or unripe persimmons. More delicate fruits are best enjoyed during rest.
