American grocery items in Cairo

Yeah, try Saudi market on rd 9 or Kimo market in maadi also sells the stuff you're after.

Hi,
I hpoe Metro, ALFA, sincipery and carfour also sell most of hese items.
IMIG

For the buttermilk one, at least, unless you use a lot of it, you may find it easier and cheaper to make your own. For each cup of buttermilk in your recipe, use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar, then add enough regular milk to make a cup. (I'm not chiming in on where to find stuff because I don't know, other than the suggestions above.) Good luck!

Where do you shop in Maadi?

I'm an American diplomat's wife, so I have access to the commissary. (Sorry, I wish I could share, but I can't.)

OK, thanks anyway!

Do you know a good way to email the consulate?  I am an American, obviously, and I had a completely dispiriting encounter there with the American Citizen's Unit, sent an email to the main addressr and have heard not a word.

I'm sorry, I don't know. My husband works in IT, and neither of us know any of the consular officers. I'm new to the whole diplomat thing--this is our first post--and I really don't know how things work at the embassy, since I don't work there and rarely go there.

Thanks anyway.  I have to say, as an American who pays taxes -- and lots of them, the whole place was very off putting.  It was my first time there, and I hope my last!

Unfortunately I think it's that way with any government bureaucracy anywhere. But I'm sorry you had a bad experience; hopefully you won't have to go back or, if you do, will have a better experience next time.

For anyone looking for a good selection of AMerican products, I think that Mariam Market in Maadi (78 Road 205 with 253 Degla-Maadi) is by far the best that I have found.

Isn't buttermilk the same as labneh, in Arabic. I'm English and we don't really use buttermilk, but many of the American cake recipes I use call far buttermilk and I use labneh, which is available in all supermarkets. Miriam market has a lot of imported American foodstuffs, by the way.
Denise

Is that what labneh is?  I didn't know that.

Actually, I just looked it up -- labneh is strained yogurt, not buttermilk, but it would probably work.  I added lemon juice to whole milk when I made a cake the other day that called for buttermilk.  It worked fine.

I always assumed labneh was buttermilk because it seems to work really well in recipes that need it. Didn't know about lemon juice and milk, though. I love labneh really cold mixed with fruit juice, too.

Kimo Market in Midan Victoria in Maadi. They have all those items.

Roxlet wrote:

OK, thanks anyway!

Do you know a good way to email the consulate?  I am an American, obviously, and I had a completely dispiriting encounter there with the American Citizen's Unit, sent an email to the main addressr and have heard not a word.

For the most part, my experiences at the American citizen services at the Embassy have been positive.  But I have heard of others who have had bad experiences.  I think it's just par for the course when dealing with consulates abroad.  Don't get too worked up about it.  Just keep it all in perspective.

Hello;
Have you tried Zamalek,there are places here that you might be able to find the items you need.

Aside from Alpha Mart and Metro, which I've tried, are there other spots?  I have now found most of the items I need at Mariam Market in Maadi, which is far from where I am, so if there is a spot in Zamalek I have missed, I am happy to hear about it!

Welcome to the madness that is Cairo!

Re Buttermilk: It's called Laban Rayeb and is commonly available at all supermarkets.

Re: Supermarkets:
You've got more than a few options:

Zamalek:

Al Seoudi Market, just off of Ahmed Heshmat Street, across from Costa Coffee

Alfa Market, near Om Kolthoom Square. enter the side street perpendicular to abu el feda street, keeping Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on your left.

Mohandessin:

Petro! Unfortunately, I can't give directions, since I've only been there once. This little gem has got everything the above markets have, but what sets them apart is there amazing selection of cheeses and cold cuts. Probably the only place I know that has bresaola - they routinely create cheese and meat plates for luncheons, etc. The general vicinity is near the Tersana Sporting Club; sadly I don;t have their number - they deliver all across cairo, I'm told.


Nasr City:

Spinney's - this hypermarket is in City Stars Mall; avoid on weekends at all costs. Midweek Morning shopping is best to avoid the insane crowds.

Anywhere in Cairo:

Metro Markets: A good place to start if you're looking for specific ingredients; they usually carry everything you've listed, although sometimes they're out of stock. There's one on Gameat el Dewal street, if I recall correctly, near the Atlas Hotel.

Good luck with everything, I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info, and we have been to all the places you mentioned except for Petro.  Someone told us about Petro last fall, and we spent several fruitless hours driving around looking for it.  Apparently it was in a building that was taken down and thus doesn't exist anymore.  The one market that has had more of what we're looking for is Miram Market in Maadi.  Unfortunately, it is very far from Mohandeseen.  If anyone has any information about Petro and where/if it relocated, I would be very grateful!  Thanks for your report wmasoud.

I was at Petro about a month ago; the building seemed sturdy enough

Their number is 0233450073

Try the bresaola

AmericanExpatDeborah wrote:

I'm an American diplomat's wife, so I have access to the commissary. (Sorry, I wish I could share, but I can't.)

UGLY!!!  REALLY UGLY!!! So, if you are" an American diplomat' s wife, you have access, but if not?  I advice all of you who are interested in all these products to become DIPLOMAT'S WIVES!
And why do you write these??  just to be proud for what you are?  I could be ashamed if I were you!
I don t like this kind of being!
And why do you " DIE" for this grocery?
When you are in Rome, you have to behave as Romans, says a nice saying, so if you are here you could enjoy excellent spices and wonderful food that this " cuisine", Egyptian one, provide to you!Arabs are all over the world well-known for the way they prepare meat, for wonderful and tasty cookies and so on!
JUST TRY THEM!

WMasoud -- thanks for the phone number.  With a very clever cab driver today I was able to find Petro.  Excellent parmesan and the bresaloa is excellent.  It is in such a tiny street, it is easy to see why so many of my drivers missed it before.  It is very tiny, though, and maybe not as complete as Mariam Market in Maadi.  But so much closer!

And as for Valibilic, I dont "Die" for these items, but I do have a teenaged son who gets homesick for the taste of home.  We try everything, so please don't preach at me.  Thank you.

Sorry, I didn t want to be rude, but just I gave my opinion!
The only thing that I miss from my country, for example is water!
And what should I do?
And I don t give my opinion for " homesick of children", just I invite you to enjoy the Egyptian food!If only I was Egyptian to promote their food!
I think I deserve all their appreciation for promoting it!

Carffour, Metro, Spinnies, ...

valibilic wrote:

Sorry, I didn t want to be rude, but just I gave my opinion!
The only thing that I miss from my country, for example is water!
And what should I do?
And I don t give my opinion for " homesick of children", just I invite you to enjoy the Egyptian food!If only I was Egyptian to promote their food!
I think I deserve all their appreciation for promoting it!

My Egyptian friends often want to try homemade American food and I love learning Egyptian food so we take turns having each other over for dinner.  To cook American meals I need the right ingredients so had to learn where to find them too, so I can sure understand why someone is looking for these items.  I never did find grits anywhere though...

Valibilic - Did you not notice that I didn't mention the commissary until I was asked directly where I shop? I chimed in with the information I had that would be useful and kept the rest to myself until it would have been ruder not to mention it than to mention it. You're the one who should be ashamed of yourself for jumping to conclusions about people you don't know.