Anew suburbia is cropping up on the edges of Egypt’s gridlocked capital. As a growing number of people are moving into West Cairo or New Cairo, some of the best restaurants are no longer only found in traditional Central Cairo areas such as Zamalek, Garden City, Maadi, and Mohandesseen. A host of new restaurants are mushrooming on the outskirts of Cairo, especially in mega malls such as Arabia Mall or Festival Mall which have become popular destinations.
However, one of my favorite places to enjoy a good meal is Seasons Country Club which has nothing to do with the Four Seasons Hotel. Situated off the Cairo Alexandria Desert road, Seasons houses a hub of restaurants in a luxuriant garden. This exclusive private club opens its doors exceptionally for guests who want to have lunch or dinner at one of the club’s outlets. Seasons has built a reputation for hosting one of the best Friday brunches thanks to its superb environment, a convivial atmosphere and delicious food. Under the watchful eye of Pascal Moron, the French-born manager, the Friday brunch showcases some of the world’s best European, Eastern and Arab specialties including Lebanese, Egyptian and North African dishes.
There are no serious rules for a brunch which remains a flexible meal and at Seasons it is definitely more lunch than breakfast. So you can leave the coffee to accompany the dessert and start your meal with a soup unless you prefer a salad. The Salad Bar features a choice of mixed salads which changes every week. A salad can be made of almost anything from potatoes, with no greens at all, to greens with mixtures of meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit or fish. The choice of salads featured at Season’s on a rotating basis is definitely eclectic; Caribbean Salad with White Tuna, Tahitian Salad, Gado Gado Salad, Smoked Chicken Salad with Mango and Avocado, Beetroot Citrus Mint Salad, Asian Coleslaw, Indian Green Gram salad are just some of the exciting salads you can enjoy. However, you can also ask the attending chef to prepare an a la minute Caesar salad or the salad of your choice with your favorite ingredients and your choice of dressing.
The brunch also features a Pasta Station where you can order your favorite pasta dish. Pasta is basically a mixture of durum wheat, which has been ground to the coarseness of sugar, and water. The pasta is pressed into plain or fancy shapes, which determines the name, and then dried. If you tried to eat your way through all the different kinds of pasta you could taste a new one every Friday for the next two years. The pasta family ranges from the familiar spaghetti, macaroni and lasagna to delicate little butterflies (farfalle), skeins, (matasse) and sea shells (maruzze). Unless you are having lasagna that is pasta strips baked in layers with meat, tomato sauce and topped with Parmesan cheese, pasta should be served al dente that is firm and not limp and soft.
The main dishes reflect some of the world’s best cuisine. I have enjoyed on several occasions some good Indian specialties but I love French cuisine for the variety of its sauces which accompany any food on your plate, whether eggs, vegetables, meat or fish. Speaking about fish, I was delighted to find monkfish served with a tomato sauce seasoned with herbs. It is an ugly-looking sea fish, hence its French nicknames of crapaud (toad) or diable de mer (sea devil). It has an enormous head with a very large mouth and a scaleless brownish body. The body is unfamiliar because this fish is always sold with the head removed. Its flesh which is delicious, lean, delicate and firm, is prepared rather like meat. Monkfish can be grilled, sautéed but like most fish I prefer it served with a sauce. One of the easiest sauces you can order to accompany a grilled or poached fish is melted butter flavored with lemon. Salmon Paupiette served in a saffron Cream Sauce is another great fish dish. A paupiette is made with a thin slice of meat with a layer of forcemeat and then rolled up. When it is made with fish it consists of thin slices of tuna, sole or salmon stuffed, rolled up and cooked in stock.
Another great French delicacy which Pascal has included is sweetbread which corresponds to the pancreas in calves and lambs. Calves sweetbreads are the best and tenderest.
The buffet also features a roasted lamb or a roasted goat. Goat’s meat is fairly firm with a pleasant flavor but a strong smell. Turkey is also served on a rotating basis. The turkey was called ‘Indian Chicken ‘ by the Spanish conquerors who thought they were still in the Indies when they discovered Mexico. The turkey still lives in the wild in the United States and Mexico but it was already domesticated in Mexico at the time of the Aztecs; it was then prepared with a sauce containing chocolate. Known as “Mole Poblano de Guajolote,” it is a national dish in Mexico and not as sweet as you might think. You can rest assured that at Seasons you will not get chocolate with your turkey but you will definitely have a great choice of chocolate desserts.
The dessert buffet is always exciting. Every week you are sure to find a different selection of mouthwatering sweets which are so tempting that one can hardly resist having one, two or even more… and as my mother would say: “A little of what you fancy does you good”. In fact, many of the desserts are served in mini portions therefore if you are holding back so that you do not gain weight, you can rest assured that the size of the sweets will hardly affect it.
I always prefer French pastries like the “éclair” a small log-shaped bun of choux pastry filled with cream and coated with fondant icing. The dough is piped from a forcing bag onto a baking sheet cooked until crisp and hollow. When the dough is cooked, the éclair is split lengthwise and traditionally filled with cream or confectioner’s custard (pastry cream) usually coffee-or chocolate-flavored. The top is iced with fondant icing of the same flavor as the filling. Another popular French cake is the “financier” which is great with a cup of tea or coffee. This cake is made from a sponge mixture made with ground almonds and whisked egg whites.
During my last visit, there was a Fried Churros Station. Churros are a Spanish specialty. In Spain, these fritters are eaten piping hot because they are fried a la minute and served with a cup of velvety hot chocolate made with real chocolate bars and not powdered chocolate, hence its thick consistency.
Others desserts include trifle, tiramisu, cheesecake, Pavlova (a wondrous duo of meringue, whipped cream and fresh fruit), to name but a few.
If you do not make it for the Friday brunch, you can enjoy the following day a fantastic Oriental breakfast. You will love the delicious Egyptian specialty know as Fitir Mechaltat which resembles the French Kouing-Aman, a Breton specialty from the Douarnenez region. The name literally means ‘bread and butter’. This large flat cake is made with a bread dough enriched with butter. It should be eaten warm with cheese or honey. And the buffet features a Foul Station, Egg Station, Taameya including a selection of fresh juices, freshly baked bread, a great choice of homemade jams and natural honey.
In the evening you can dine at Le Bistro which has an a la carte menu featuring some great specialties like Fondue Bourguignonne which is prepared on the table in a metal fondue dish placed over a heating device and filled with hot oil. A long-handled fork is used to skewer cubes of beef and dip them in the very hot oil until they are cooked. They are then dipped in one of an assortment of sauces such as Bearnaise, aioli, tomato, and mayonnaise.
As the cultural capital of the Arab world is expanding, some of Cairo’s best restaurants are situated on the outskirts of Cairo. Next time you go to Egypt, head for Seasons Country Club near the Pyramids on the Cairo Alexandria Desert road and enjoy a dream brunch!
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