Are these Food Products Available in Cairo?

Not sure about nr. 1/2/5/7/9. for the rest yes.
It's not a big problem here to find good quality food. Where you will go to live?  In Maadi and Zamalek is more easy to find "western" food.

They definitely have nuts in Egypt!  And I'm not sure what the difference is between 'cake flour' and normal flour, which many people are known to use to make cakes....I saw loads of mayonnaise today and there is an abundance of cheese.

Crikey,  I thought my special needs list was high maintenance with my coconut oils and garam masla!  I hope you are able to  find what you need!  If not, you'll live!  I have gone 3 weeks without a curry and I'm still OK.

If anyone knows where to get hellman's mayonaise I'd kill to find out.  It's one of the few things I've been unable to find and my girlfriend loves it.

Very difficult to find any kind of pork so I doubt you'll find those sausages.

All of the beef here is killed halal style and not allowed to hang so it's not the same as western beef.  You will get it in some of the "boutique" foodstores but you'll pay a lot for it.

You'll find most things here, Mark, but maybe not by the brand names you recognise so it takes a bit of trial and error but you'll get used to it.

Stephen,

You've been so kind; I'll bring u some from here next trip

try the hypermarkets you will find most of these
Carrefour
Metro
Alfa Market
Spinneys

Search online and find the closest to your home
the biggest are Carrefour and Spinneys

I've not seen the hellmans or the hillshire here but the rest I've spotted in the spinneys at the city stars mall. and im not sure what you mean by western beef. but you can find precut slices of steak in the same packaging as im used to in the US at the spinneys also you shouldnt have any problems finding 99% of the things your used to..but you'll have to pay a little extra for some but im sure you expect that good luck

MLB4861 wrote:

Im from Louisiana USA and  moving to Cairo soon from Abu Dhabi.  I was wondering if the following products are available in Cairo:

1. Corn meal
2. Pecans
3. Hellman's Mayonnaise
4. Philidelphia Cream Cheese
5. Liquid Vanilla Flavoring
6. Western fresh beef
7. Velveeta Cheese
8. Cake flour
9. Hillshire farms sausage

Thanks

Hey Exciting moving to Cairo, although I'm sure coming from Abu Dhabi it won't be too much of a change.

If you are planning on living in Maadi, there are two supermarkets there that bring in imported food, Kimo market on Medan Digla, and Masaouds on Road 9. I've seen velveeta cheese in both, but it is expensive! Phili cheese is pretty much everywhere, and pecans and cake flour are not a problem. You'd be able to find those in pretty much any supermarket. As for corn meal, I'm not sure, I've never looked for it. Corn flour is not a problem though.

Hillshire farms you won't find here, as there are no pork products in the supermarkets here. On a rare occasion you will find restaurants that import pork, you can order them delivery. There's one in Maadi called the German Bakery, they import their pork products from Germany. And their breakfast menu is lovely.

Liquid vannila essence you will not find here, as there is alcohol in it. However, if you are looking to use it for baking, I use powder vanilla and it works just fine. Maybe a tad bit sweeter than the essence, but otherwise it's good to go.

Hellman's mayonnaise is the same thing as Velveeta cheese, you can find it in supermarkets that import, but expect to pay extra for it. The Heinz mayonnaise here is quite good too But i'm not really a mayo fan, so don't take my word on that! :p

It seems that you will be using a lot of these ingredients for baking, there are a few things that are difficult to find here, that I would recommend you bring from outside. Baking soda is nigh on IMPOSSIBLE to find here, baking powder however is everywhere. So baking soda is definitely one thing I would consider bringing.

If you use a lot of food colourings, fortunately there are more on the market here now. But it's still difficult to find decent food colouring here, so that may also be something that you should look into bringing with you.

Good luck with your move!

paddyincairo wrote:

If anyone knows where to get hellman's mayonaise I'd kill to find out.  It's one of the few things I've been unable to find and my girlfriend loves it.

Very difficult to find any kind of pork so I doubt you'll find those sausages.

All of the beef here is killed halal style and not allowed to hang so it's not the same as western beef.  You will get it in some of the "boutique" foodstores but you'll pay a lot for it.

You'll find most things here, Mark, but maybe not by the brand names you recognise so it takes a bit of trial and error but you'll get used to it.

Check Kimo market and Massaouds in Road 9. I've seen it in Seoudi on rare occasions. Problem is that it's sporadically around, so there's no guarantee that you will find it on the day that you look for it anyway :S

Corn meal
Pecans
Hellman's Mayonnaise
Philidelphia Cream Cheese
Liquid Vanilla Flavoring
Cake flour

I've seen them at Carrefour.

You can make your own vanilla essence by putting some vanilla pods in vodka and leaving it infuse for about 2 months.
You can then just top it up with more pods/vodka every now and then. All the liquor stores sell ID Vodka , which would do fine.

try carrefour, metro, and spinney's in city stars

1. Corn meal (NO)
2. Pecans   (Some times)
3. Hellman's Mayonnaise (Yes, but costly. I substitute it for Heinz, it's not as expensive and it's made locally)
4. Philidelphia Cream Cheese (Yes, but expensive)
5. Liquid Vanilla Flavoring (No)
6. Western fresh beef (Gourmet Egypt does, its Australian and they deliver to your house)
7. Velveeta Cheese (some times)
8. Cake flour (YES)
9. Hillshire farms sausage (NO, the only place you may be able to get them is at the US commisary, but you have to have contacts)

" Alfa Market" in Cornish Maadi, Mausoud Market in Street 9 Maadi you could find SURE corn meal, Italian one, it is called Polenta, and vanilla essense, liquid one it is available there, and not only!

I do my shopping in Maadi and here's where I've found these items:

1. Corn meal - Carrefour but it's coarse.  I roll it with a rolling pin before I use it for cornbread and similar items but it's fine for some cooking, especially where it can sit to soften a bit before cooking.  I increase liquids by a Tablespoon or two for that reason.

2. Pecans - I bought my last ones at Khan El Khalili

3. Hellman's Mayonnaise - Miriam Market and Metro Market on Road 9

4. Philidelphia Cream Cheese - Carrefour and Metro Market.  Local brands of cream cheese are good too.

5. Liquid Vanilla Flavoring - Metro Market on Road 9

6. Western fresh beef - The Gourmet on Ring Road (near Carrefour)and Carrefour but not always.  If not from the US then they'll have it from Australia or other places.  I've had good luck with beef from Carrefour. 

7. Velveeta Cheese - I bought some at Miriam market in Digla but haven't looked lately.  It was in the frozen foods and that didn't seem to hurt it.  Carrefour has a great cheese selection and they have a soft, mild cheddar that works excellent.

8. Cake flour - Miriam market and Alpha Market on the Corniche.

9. Hillshire farms sausage - Not that I have found and I haven't had any luck finding anything even close.  I make a sausage soup that's great but needs the right sausage.  Next step is to make my own I guess.

If your a card carrying retired or active duty personnel being assigned to a dod contract in Egypt, it may have duty free privileges and our commissary allowances.

i also buy my baking soda from the local pharmacy just ask for bicarbonate of soda any of the larger ones will have it on hand.

Arrived yesteday.

Went to Metro Market last night and they have corn meal; was so happy

Thanks everyone for your help.

Shorouk wrote:

If your a card carrying retired or active duty personnel being assigned to a dod contract in Egypt, it may have duty free privileges and our commissary allowances.

i also buy my baking soda from the local pharmacy just ask for bicarbonate of soda any of the larger ones will have it on hand.

!!! you can find baking soda in pharmacy's here? thanks for that tip, i've been looking for it everywhere!

I could find baking soda in a big supermarket in Sfinx Building, Sfinx Square.

It's funny, you're list has about half of the food items I have been looking for lately here! 

Baking soda is called sodium bicarbonate here, or bicarbonato.  I found it in a local market, it is bagged with the spices.  I wouldn't have known if I was buying the right thing if my husband wasn't with me though, as the entire package was written in arabic.  The same market (Grand Market in the Al Rehab souq) also sold Arm and Hammer baking soda.  Imported and about half the size of the box sold in the US and about 4X the price.

I am having my sis bring me vanilla extract when she visits in a few weeks, although my husband is ordering it for me through his bakery.  It is not easily found, but I'm sure as others have listed that it is available.

Philadelphia cream cheese is also available.

You should be able to find pecans, especially now during Ramadan as nuts are sold all over.

Enjoy your stay in Cairo!

But you know, Egyptians have a very good thing for cakes, and it is more efficiently than baking soda!
It is called " baking powder" and you could find it in any supermarket.
Try it!

You can substitute baking powder in place of baking soda (you'll need more baking powder and it may affect the taste), but you can't use baking soda when a recipe calls for baking powder. Baking soda by itself lacks the acidity to make a cake rise. However, you can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda and cream of tartar. Simply mix two parts cream of tartar with one part baking soda

Good luck finding flour to use we went five places today all where out of flour!They say its due to a shortage of imports of grain.

I bought flour yesterday from " New Market", and I don t think it was finished, but who knows!

My husband found me vanilla extract and almond extract yesterday in Misr el Gedida.  I don't remember what he told me the name of the shop was, but it was in one of the shops that sells all the different spices/herbs.  He said it was pretty cheap, also.  I cooked with the vanilla today, the taste is a little bit stronger than that which you get back in the US, but it worked.

On the flour note - I don't know if the retail price has or will go up at all.  My husbands family owns a few bakeries in Heliopolis, and he said that the price that they pay for flour has gone up 1000 LE a ton, so I'm thinking the price will raise sometime soon, if it hasn't already.

Shorouk wrote:

Good luck finding flour to use we went five places today all where out of flour!They say its due to a shortage of imports of grain.

That may be due to Russia having to stop wheat imports due to the forest fires they had there.

MLB Pecans will probably be most readily available at nut shops or stands in supermarkets, I've seen them at Al Mouwfak nuts and dried fruit stands at my local supermarket (in Heliopolis).

Thanks everyone. I  found Hellmans in Carefour in Maadi today.  They had the small jars and gallon size jars; nothing inbetween.

Places like Zamelek and nasr city might have super markets that sell those kinda foods.

There is only one shop in Cairo that has all the products you are looking for -- and more.  It is called Mariam Market and it is in Maadi.  They have tons of American products including Kraft American cheese, tortilla chips, taco shells and fixings for Mexican food (tortillas too), you will find cranberry sauce, Domino Brown sugar, etc., etc.  They will not have pork products, however.  The only place in Cairo to get ham and bacon (Canadian style bacon, that is) is Oscar's in Heliopolis.  Metro is hit or miss and will have some American products, but it is not dependable or consistent.  In Mohandeseen in a market called Petro and they have good Italian cheeses like romano and parmesan.  Parmesan is usually available at Metro, but Romano is only available sporadically.  Mariam carries vanilla, and they have velveeta as well.  The best meat is available through gourmetegypt.com.  The meat is fairly expensive, but it is excellent.  All the meat is imported from Australia.  I have had the steaks, the rack of lamb, the veal shanks and the salmon.  They were all good and reliable.  It is difficult to find baking soda.  I brought some from home, but I believe that you can get it in spice shops if you ask for bicarbonate.  Maybe even in a pharmacy, but I have never seen it in a supermarket of any kind.  I found baking powder at Metro.

speaking of items in egypt....has anyone seen Marshmallows??? My daughter LOVES rice crispy  and I cant remember seeing them..

Alpha market, just saw marshmellows today!! And Rice crispies for that matter.

Great! Thanks Mariposa

does anyone know what corn syrup is in arabic and where i can get it? also, shea butter? thanks!

Corn syrup in Maadi you'd find at Massaouds (rd 9), or Seoudi market. Sorry I can't help you with the Arabic (eep). And as for Shea Butter...I have no idea.

usefull info for expats in cairo;

dear expats 'newly arrived" whos woundring about some imported products & taxis , here by some helpfull info:

*gourmet "for imported fine cuts of meat;salmon;pasta;sausage etc"
gourmetegypt.com         tell :19339

*petro supper market "for all kind of imported grossery;cheese etc"
6 mahmoud badr eldien st mohandessin from waddi el nile st
tel : 33450073

*for taxi you better order one it comes to you wherever u r , its fixed price; you get a recipt and cheaper than the street taxi:
citiy cap  : 16516
cairo international cap  ; 19155

wish you injoy your stay and get all the help u need

suzana

sorry to hijack your post- does anyone know if dolphin-friendly tuna or free range eggs exist here? starting to get a guilty conscience at all this delicious, cheap food!

ISIS company has eggs that are called "organic". I don't know if they are also free range or not though.

whimvsreason wrote:

sorry to hijack your post- does anyone know if dolphin-friendly tuna or free range eggs exist here? starting to get a guilty conscience at all this delicious, cheap food!

Hi whimvsreason!

Cheap? Really? You must tell us where you shop! I find if I want to buy quality food then it is quite pricey, local produce is of course much cheaper but very often substandard.

Yes, I know most Egyptians don't buy imported stuff because of this, but then again why would you move here and endure a lower standard/quality of life?

Anyhow, Egyptian friend of mine owns a farm here and he says that most of the "organic" food you see in the shops is not really organic, but there is very little government regulation in terms of how things are made and what goes on the labels, so basically they can claim whatever they want:(

lol, that makes a certain amount of sense! Even in the UK they have occassional scandals along those lines, so I suppose it's a bit naive to expect much more here...