A Cultural Experience - Courses - Team Development - Culinary Delights Call +44 (0)7958 629220
Thank you Paul for inviting me back to Sunday Kitchen Show at BBC Radio Shropshire. I brought some delicious Egyptian recipes with me for him to taste. We talked about how I celebrated Christmas. Well, with me being German-Egyptian I have family in Germany as well as in Egypt. And I now live in Shropshire. It is not a straight forward question to answer. In fact, the Germans, the Coptic Egyptians and the British all prepare and celebrate Christmas differently. It couldn’t be more diverse. Not only are there different ingredients and recipes. They also have varied styles of cooking.There is for instance the rather competitive “my kitchen is my castle method”. Or the more community-based “the more cooks the better the broth approach”. The ones cook for praise and achievement. The others cook for a fun and gossipy get-together.
As Intercultural Consultant I love discovering, explaining and teaching different cultures. For a better understanding and respect amongst each other it is important. Traditional events bring these differences to the forefront. But it is not always clear why cultures are like this? Why and how do they impact me, my life and my job?
In my ‘Tasting Culture’ workshops I use food as metaphor to learn about other cultures and understand cultural differences. And I offer cross-cultural competency training and global mindset coaching to help executives, teams and companies become aware of their own culture and the cultures they are trading with. In understanding culture better, its values, motivators, drivers they benefit from working smarter with anyone, anywhere.
They can save time and money by avoiding expensive mistakes when working on international projects. You can listen to the Sunday Kitchen Interview 08-01-2017
Enjoy my menu: Artichoke Cream Soup – Cauliflower Salad – Hibiscus-Poached Pears
(Please find Cleopatra’s recipes are FREE to download via Cleopatra Recipes)
Thoroughly enjoyed presenting at yesterday’s SlowFood Event “Flavours of North-Africa” at Ludlow Food Festival which took place on Friday, 9 September at Ludlow Castle.
Together with Sophie Browne from The The M’hencha Company we both introduced to Slow Food aficionados and guests the cultures, tastes and flavours around Egypt’s magic bean recipes such as Ful Medammes and Ta’amya but also the sweet Moroccan pastry cakes: Mmmh yum!
This year’s Ludlow Food Festival saw sold out Egyptian Masterclasses, the launch of “Made in Shropshire” featuring Cooking Like Cleopatra (page 150)’ and Marina’s new Egyptian Cook Book – absolutely delighted about the buzz and fun we had! Thank you all! Love & (((hugs))) xxx
My culinary trip to Byblos, Lebanon
Considering it’s from one of the oldest civilisations in the world, Egyptian food is not as well known as it should be, and I am delighted to have a new ally in my quest – Ali
ce
Edde and the team from Edde Sands – invited me to bring it to Food Lovers, Recipe Explorers and Health & Wellness Aficionados in Byblos, The Lebanon.
Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised to hear how much I love talking to people about Egyptian food. It wasn’t anything different when exhibiting at the World Travel Market in London recently supporting Egypt’s State Tourism Office at their stand offering “Taste of Egypt” culinary samples to visitors. An amazing event where I met lots of wonderful people including Alice Edde, who was so intrigued by my Egyptian food samples and teas, that she invited me to host cookery classes at the beautiful holistic wellness resort Edde Sands.
I felt so honoured and excited when I visited Byblos in April to open the season with my spring cooking courses titled Sham El Nassim “The Smell of the Fresh Breeze” inviting course participants to celebrate together with me what the Egyptians celebrate as the arrival of spring.
We explored the wonders of this Arabic nation with authentic, fresh, healthy and nutricious recipes such as Ful Medammes, Molokhia, Salata Bangar, Baba Ghanough, Ful Ta’amya, Salata Baladi, Kusheri, Shurbit Aadz, Umm Ali and many more. In this collection for some of the recipes I used my own-created Dukka spice & nut mix to flavour soups, sauces, salads, dips, vegetables, fish, meat, poultry and almost everything from eggs to eggplant.
I truly believe that Egyptian food is on the cusp of being embraced by the western world on the scale of Indian, Italian, Lebanese or Thai food. It certainly deserves to be, and the vast array of flavours and aromas means there is something for everyone.
I had the most wonderful holistic and culinary trip to the Lebanon. It was a great experience, meeting and eating and being part of such a committed creative team who put all efforts into the wellness week. Wonderful! Everyone enjoyed it…
Considering it’s from one of the oldest civilisations in the world, Egyptian food is not as well known as it should be, and I am delighted to have a new ally in my quest to bring it to the masses.
Dave Myers, one half of the Hairy Bikers duo, was recently in a new TV show all about Egypt and its food.
A Cook Abroad on BBC Two highlights a different chef each week who visits one of their favourite foodie places in the world and Dave chose Egypt – quite right, Dave!
It was great to watch him trying the amazing street food of Cairo, and his voyage up the Nile to discover the origins of some of Egypt’s favourite dishes was fascinating.
I truly believe that Egyptian food is on the cusp of being embraced by the western world on the scale of Indian, Thai or Chinese food. It certainly deserves to be, and the vast array of flavours and aromas means there is something for everyone.
OK, so I may be a little biased, but it was lovely to see someone well known for his love of traditional British food like Dave Myers (@HairyBikers) to be so passionate about the food of my homeland.
If you are looking for a food course that’s a little bit different, then why not follow Dave’s lead and try Cooking Like Cleopatra!
Whether it is a vegetarian mezze class at home or a corporate team building event, cooking an Egyptian meal is great fun and hugely rewarding. My next course is at Harborne Food School on 14 March 2015.
Did you know that the ancient Pharaos brew beer? Join me on the exciting “Ales & Tales” evening in collaboration with Hobsons Brewery on 26th March 2015.
Or why not come and learn to build a coboven to bake Egyptian bread? The Fabulous Coboven Company run regular workshops, one of them is with an Egyptian street food lunch on 25 April in Lentwardine.
Please get in touch for more details: marina@cooking-like-cleopatra.com or +44 (0) 7958 629 220.
Marina Ibrahim one of the guest speakers at the launch event of ‘Secret Egypt – Unravelling Truth from Myth’ at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery which opened the doors for its brand new blockbuster exhibition on 23 January 2015).
Some of Egypt’s best-kept secrets about food and recipes are as old as the pharaohs:
On my courses you can learn these recipes, which are delicious and easy to cook.
“Enjoy this exciting exhibition and I hope it resonates with Howard Carters words, who – when discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun and being asked: “Can you see you anything?” answered: “YES, WONDERFULT THINGS!”
‘Secret Egypt- Unravelling Truth from Myth’ is a touring exhibition organised by the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. It runs from 24 January to 26 April 2015 and brings together over 150 objects drawn from Birmingham Museums’ significant ancient Egyptian collection.
Based on the evidence of objects spanning 4000 years, this exhibition will allow visitors to investigate the truth behind some of the popular myths about ancient Egypt.
The country and its civilisation have always fascinated people and have been the inspiration behind many books, films and TV shows. Such is its resonance in society that some of the most popular and commonly held beliefs on the subject are mere fabrications by the film industry used to sensationalise the story and excite the audience. Secret Egypt will show that a truer picture of the past can still be remarkable.
Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised to learn that I love talking to people about Egyptian food.
So, I was honoured and excited to be invited by the Egypt State Tourism Office to provide a “Taste of Egypt” culinary samples for their stand at the World Travel Market in London. It was an amazing event and I met lots of wonderful people who were intrigued and impressed by my Egyptian food samples and teas. I met some great contacts too and have been invited to host cookery classes at a five-star resort at Edde Sands in The Lebanon which is very exciting, and there is also the potential of being involved in an Arabic TV programme, so it was a fantastic event for me professionally.
But most importantly it was a real pleasure to bring Egyptian cuisine to a wider audience of people from across the country, and it was interesting to hear that a lot of them had been to Egypt but had not really heard about the wonders of the food. A big part of that is due to Egyptian people not shouting enough about their cuisine, even though they are proud and passionate about it, and food producers do not know how to market themselves. That’s what the Egypt State Tourism Office is trying to change by attending events like the World Travel Market and I was really pleased to be involved.
Over the past 10 years or so, Shropshire food producers have really embraced the importance of selling themselves and putting the county on the map as a food destination. One of its latest projects is “Made in Shropshire” a recipe book with contributions from Shropshire’s chefs, producers, foodies, farmers, shops, restaurants, all doing something great with local food and drink. I am delighted to be a part of that. And by offering my Egyptian cookery classes in Shropshire and beyond I hope that I’m contributing – in my own small way – to the county’s success story!
Whether it is a vegetarian mezze class at home or a corporate team building event, cooking an Egyptian meal is great fun and hugely rewarding. My next course is at Harborne Food School on 14 March 2015.
Did you know that the ancient Pharaos brew beer? Join me on the exciting “Ales & Tales” evening in collaboration with Hobsons Brewery on 26th March 2015.
Or why not come and learn to build a coboven to bake Egyptian bread? The Fabulous Coboven Company run regular workshops, one of them is with an Egyptian street food lunch on 25 April in Lentwardine.
Please get in touch for more details: marina@cooking-like-cleopatra.com or +44 (0) 7958 629 220.
Although I am lucky enough to work with Egyptian food every day, I must admit that I don’t get the chance to visit my native country as often as I would like. So it was a great pleasure to be able to spend some time in Egypt recently to visit family and friends and really touch base with the country again because I hadn’t been there for a while.
It was wonderful to reconnect with my family and the country, and of course to give my tastebuds a polish as well. I spent some time in Cairo, visiting local specialist food shops, such as bakeries and so on, which was really lovely. There was so much fantastic, vibrant food I wish I could have brought it all home with me!
The trip was really inspiring and I met some very interesting business people, including the owners of a restaurant in Cairo, which was fascinating. I’m really excited at what the future holds after connecting with a variety of food businesses out there, and we talked about the possibility of running cooking classes in Egypt in the future. I would love to be able to take people from the UK on culinary trips to Egypt so they can experience the sights, sounds and smells that are so evocative and captivating.
In the meantime, I have some fantastic events coming up closer to home to give people in Shropshire and the Midlands the chance to try their hand at Egyptian cookery:
Then on 26 March I am heading to Hobson’s Brewery in Cleobury Mortimer for an interesting Ales & Tales evening presenting a course of recipes inspired by the legend of the Pharaoh’s beer – they are believed to have drunk beer as part of their staple diet to help keep them strong. Clearly we won’t be using ancient Egyptian beer – Hobson’s will be supplying some lovely brews of their own to accompany our cooking!
Or why not come and learn to build a coboven to bake Egyptian bread? The Fabulous Coboven Company run regular workshops, one of them is with an Egyptian street food lunch on 25 April in Lentwardine.
Please get in touch for more details: marina@cooking-like-cleopatra.com or +44 (0) 7958 629 220.
EGYPTIAN COOKERY CLASSES SOLD OUT!
Fab event as always – Ludlow Food Festival’s 20th Anniversary and it has got bigger and bigger and more attractive. This year’s Festival is bursting with good things to eat, see and do! 2014 combines all the best elements of past festivals including the ever popular sausage, ale and bread trails; pudding tasting, the market and of course a host of free demonstrations from top chefs, food writers and experts on our two stages. More than 180 top quality, independent food and drink producers have been exhibiting including the bursary winners, real foodie finds.
And yes, we were one of the key attractions: We had a bazaar style cookery venue with lots of haggeling happening and everyone enjoyed the classes and the delicious recipes.
