Forgotten legacy: an endeavor to highlight heritage food of Egyptian Bedouins

Abstract

Despite the issue of food heritage having an important debate around the globe, there is still inconclusive literature addressing Egyptian heritage food in general, and particularly the gastronomic heritage of Egyptian Bedouins. The main argument of the current study is firstly to identify a set of genuine heritage foods of Egyptian Bedouins by using explicit criteria. Then, transfer the data to develop a documented recipe book for these meals, which is intended to be an initial phase of promoting them as a unique component of the Egyptian cultural legacy. The target population of the study is the Egyptian Bedouin society, both in the western and eastern deserts. Through a qualitative approach, 15 semi-structured interviews with elderly local people were undertaken before conducting a focus group with six Bedouin experts. The findings section reported eight heritage foods of Egyptian Bedouins and produced a recipe book for them.