An ancient cuisine
Egyptian food may not be famous, but it is one of the oldest cuisines in the world. It is unclear what Egyptians ate when they were building the pyramids, but we do know bread was their main staple.
We also know the ancient Egyptians liked to drink beer. This is because we have found very old clay beer jars. In fact, the workers who built the pyramids were probably paid with beer and bread.
Crossroad cuisine
Egypt has been trading with the rest of the world, perhaps longer than anyone else. It has also been invaded by many other cultures, such as the Romans and the Arabs. So food in Egypt has many influences. The Muslim invasion in 642 had a very big influence. It introduced things such as kebabs - meat on a stick, or a skewer - and flat breads called aish. The word 'aish' is related to the Egyptian word 'to live', which shows how important bread was to them.
And they ate lamb and beef. Even before the Muslim invasion, they did not eat pork. The ancient Egyptians thought that eating pork caused a disease called leprosy.
