Stella!

Whilst in Egypt, we've been savoring a tasty and light local lager called Stella. Brewed in Giza by the Al Ahram Brewery (a subsidiary of Heineken, who could learn a thing or two from their Egyptian brewmasters), Stella is supposedly concocted using a recipe dating from pharonic times and comes in a few varieties - "local," export and premium - the chief difference being alcohol content. It's delicious and nutty and goes great with shwarma.

Last night at dinner on a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Nile and the Temple of Luxor, we paired our Stella with an Egyptian delicacy called kofta, a spicy grilled minced lamb-ball. Its name derived from the Perian kūfta which means (surprise!) meatball. Similar dishes are common in Asian and Indian cuisine and recipes appear in the earliest Arabic cookbooks. Tam likes it with rice!