After a morning of temperamental internet and a general Wednesday slump, Al-Masry Al-Youm English Edition decided (communally) to pick a yet-to-be-reviewed restaurant in the vicinity and order in for everyone.
Our choice: Arabica, the feteer connoisseur of Zamalek and the innovators of feteers outside the feteer box (the cornerstones of which are cheese, sausage, custard and sugar).
Almost an hour later, seven boxes and a little paper Arabica bag showed up in the office, carried by a bewildered delivery person–then the great rumpus began.
Our order:
Feteer with feta and semi-dried tomatoes ("What are those?")
Feteer with goat cheese ("Is it real?")
Feteer with zaatar and labna
Feteer with halloumi cheese
Feteer with sugar and eshta
Feteer with dates and sugar
Feteer with apple and cinnamon ("Really?")
Opinions were hard to make out in the first few minutes–with mouths full of pastry and cheese, the expert feteer tasters (a pre-requisite for a job as a reporter or editor at Al-Masry Al-Youm English Edition) could only make noises, some positive, and others confused.
Once stomachs were partially satisfied and everyone remembered the purpose of the feteer extravaganza, conclusions about each feteer were reached and favorites chosen and adamantly defended.
We started with the savory feteers. The goat's cheese test proved that although the goat cheese may have been real, it was definitely not in abundance–in fact, a constant grumbling about the lack of filling continued throughout the tasting event. By far the best savory feteers were the tomato and feta and–yes–the goat's cheese.
Unfortunately for the labna and zaatar feteer, it was mistaken as just a zaatar feteer and judged poorly on that basis; upon closer inspection post consumption, the bag accompagnying the feteers was found to contain a generous portion of labna, into which one is supposed to dip the feteer. For this reason, all zaatar feteer judgments have been suppressed, with only a request to Arabica to send feteer-eating directions.
Although the halloumi cheese feteer was, in fact, eaten in its entirety, our tasting squad was not impressed. It was considered spicy and lacking in ingredients as well.
It took a little longer to delve into the sweet feteer set–stomachs were fuller and tasters began to sense the toll this tasting session would take on their weight and their figures. All the same, the pressure to review was on, and with a little coercion, all three sweet feteers were divided and tasted. The sugar and eshta feteer at Arabica is, like the zaatar feteer, a process–the sugar feteer is ready, but its incredibly thick eshta comes in an accompanying cup. In an effort to join the two we attempted dipping our feteer slices into the eshta, but this was not a success and the experience led us once again to the conclusion that Arabica feteer-eating directions are necessary.
The apple cinnamon feteer was deemed by some to be lacking in apple and by others to be lacking in cinnamon. We considered it a feteer that would probably not be ordered again. The date feteer on the other hand produced many happy sounds from all who tasted it and won best feteer of the session.
All in all, our tasters came to the conclusion that, while the filler ingredients could be a little more plentiful, it was the proper distribution of those ingredients that posed the largest problem. The feteers were as light (butter-wise) as feteers can be, and this was pleasing as it allowed us to try more pieces.
Arabica’s packaging was considered satisfactory and the order came correctly and in good shape. We will order Arabica again, now better informed about their "off the beaten path" feteer ingredients and assured that two people can get through one feteer without entering a food-induced coma.
And presto-chango! A Wednesday slump became a fabulous and food-filled extravaganza.
