"Among the great temples of Thebes in Ramses's time, Karnak alone boasted and endowment of 583,000 acres...."
Max Rodenbeck
I'm back in Luxor again enjoying the beautiful spring weather, fantastic views, flavorful food, and friendly people. I'm officially here to participate in a program called The African Urban Poverty Alleviation Program which is a grant that my committee - The Baltimore Luxor Alexandria Sister City Committee was awarded from Sister Cities International. Yesterday we opened the tenders and chose a company to begin constructing a water pipe into a poor village in the outskirts of Luxor that is in need of clean water.
I'm taking advantage of my stay by visiting with as many friends (who have now become family) as possible. During this trip, there have been a lot of pleasant coincides which I've been able to take part in as well.
One of them was the opening of the colossal statue of Amenhotep III - a newly raised quartzite stature in the funerary temple of the king on the West Bank in Luxor. For those unfamiliar with Luxor, the West Bank is also home to Valley of the Kings (King Tut's Tomb), Valley of the Queens (Nefertari), Hatsheput's Temple (The Female Pharoah) and the ancient city of Habu where ancient Thebes existed.
The newly found statue of Amenhotep III was raised in it's original place on March 2, 2012 - 14 years after excavations started. It was great to be at the opening ceremony along with teams of excavators and conservators from around the world. I can now imagine what it must have been like when Carter discovered King Tut's Tomb!
History and discovery are a part of daily life here. In addition to all of the previously mentioned monuments, Luxor's East Bank boasts Luxor Temple and Karnak as well as other soon to be publicized findings. So much so that you can't even install a telephone line without risking tampering with an artifact. Even the taxi drivers can tell you stories of having to move because someone found "something" near or under their home! What amazes me is that even though Luxor is slated to become the world's largest "Open Air Museum" - the splendor that you can see in it's scores of temples, monuments, buildings and art are only a fraction of what originally existed here.
As new discoveries increase, so will tourism, which has been severely effected by recent revolution. People are simply scared to come here even though it is as peaceful and quiet as could be. Tourists are not only taken care of - they're "coddled" by a small city who's used to accommodating 5,000 new arrivals a day.
This trip I've been staying at the Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa - a gorgeous property on an even more stunning location. What I love most about my time here, however, is working with Executive Chef Shankar Paramasivam and discovering his methods of incorporating ancient and extremely well-guarded local recipes into the Hilton's menu. Fusing world class standards with local history and palates, he's created a noteworthy menu which seems to improve daily!
Today we filmed an episode of my new series on Egyptian cuisine....I'm keeping the name a secret until we finish with the production. We made my all-time favorite recipe - the elusive Egyptian Fateer - sometimes known as Egyptian pancakes - but which is actually a homemade, hand stretched puff pastry that can be served plain or served with multitudes of sweet and/or savory fillings.
The chefs at the Luxor Hilton and I have an exciting week of menu sampling planned....stay tuned for updates and an inside look at the delicious cuisine of Southern Egypt.
Max Rodenbeck
I'm back in Luxor again enjoying the beautiful spring weather, fantastic views, flavorful food, and friendly people. I'm officially here to participate in a program called The African Urban Poverty Alleviation Program which is a grant that my committee - The Baltimore Luxor Alexandria Sister City Committee was awarded from Sister Cities International. Yesterday we opened the tenders and chose a company to begin constructing a water pipe into a poor village in the outskirts of Luxor that is in need of clean water.
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| View of Nile from Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa |
I'm taking advantage of my stay by visiting with as many friends (who have now become family) as possible. During this trip, there have been a lot of pleasant coincides which I've been able to take part in as well.
One of them was the opening of the colossal statue of Amenhotep III - a newly raised quartzite stature in the funerary temple of the king on the West Bank in Luxor. For those unfamiliar with Luxor, the West Bank is also home to Valley of the Kings (King Tut's Tomb), Valley of the Queens (Nefertari), Hatsheput's Temple (The Female Pharoah) and the ancient city of Habu where ancient Thebes existed.
 |
| Ancient Village of Habu on West Bank |
The newly found statue of Amenhotep III was raised in it's original place on March 2, 2012 - 14 years after excavations started. It was great to be at the opening ceremony along with teams of excavators and conservators from around the world. I can now imagine what it must have been like when Carter discovered King Tut's Tomb!
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| Unveiling of Amenhotep III on West Bank Luxor |
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| Amenhotep III statue West Bank |
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| The Colossi of Memnon in West Bank, Luxor |
As new discoveries increase, so will tourism, which has been severely effected by recent revolution. People are simply scared to come here even though it is as peaceful and quiet as could be. Tourists are not only taken care of - they're "coddled" by a small city who's used to accommodating 5,000 new arrivals a day.
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| Chef Shankar and I on the set |
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| Chef Ahmed and Chef Bedawi rolling out the fateer dough |
Today we filmed an episode of my new series on Egyptian cuisine....I'm keeping the name a secret until we finish with the production. We made my all-time favorite recipe - the elusive Egyptian Fateer - sometimes known as Egyptian pancakes - but which is actually a homemade, hand stretched puff pastry that can be served plain or served with multitudes of sweet and/or savory fillings.
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| Filling Fateer with Cheese - an Egyptian variety that's been made since 3200BC!!! |
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| Fateer hot out of the oven! |
The chefs at the Luxor Hilton and I have an exciting week of menu sampling planned....stay tuned for updates and an inside look at the delicious cuisine of Southern Egypt.
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