Let the Revolution Be Coated in 11 Secret Herbs and Spices

I'm not sure why current events and this food blog don't often intersect, but they should do so more often. Take the following video (h/t Chris Bodenner at Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish blog at The Atlantic*). Here's the set up: the government media, supportive of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, current recipient of much anger from many protesters in Cairo and other cities in Egypt, are claiming that the protesters are being paid by foreign governments with - wait for it - Kentucky Fried Chicken and €100 (about US$135). Far from angrily yelling that this is ridiculous - which it is (KFC!? Please. I want In N Out Burger or nothing at all) - they openly mock the allegation. The video is in Arabic but subtitled in English.

I find the video both hilarious (for the absurdity of the allegations) and inspiring (that the protesters are just not running out of steam).

* Bodenner links from Robert Mackey at the New York Times who mentions Egyptian blogger Mosa'ab Elshamy, who points out the government's Kentucky Fried Allegations.

The Atlantic Magazine takes on Egyptian street food

I have never heard of this uniquely Egyptian fast food, kushari, the pasta-rice-garbanzo-lentil with tomato and crispy onion dish. Now I have to figure out a way to make this. As Maggie Schmitt noted about it for The Atlantic Magazine's website, this street food is now becoming posher, as more sit-down restaurants are popping up to sell the stuff:

Instead of disappearing before the onslaught of hamburgers and fried chicken, local street foods are updating their image and presentation, and competing with international fast food on its own terms, targeting a middle class with increasingly urbane tastes. While in the older neighborhoods kushari is still ladled out from wooden street carts and in tiny hole-in-the-wall eateries, in the swankier parts of town you can get your fix at a gleaming new kushari restaurant franchise with formica banquette seating and waiters in uniforms with baseball caps.

Hopefully it'll show the McFalafel who's boss. There are also glorious photos of kushari and some places that serve it with the article. I just ate and it's making me hungry again.