Search
Brazil
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
French Guiana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Poland
Portugal
the United Kingdom
the Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Bermuda
Canada
the United States
Mexico
the Dominican RepublicTurkey
South AfricaEgypt
Australia
Fiji
New Zealand
Papua New GuineaFlavors · Alexandria
Beef liver cut into thin strips and quickly fried with garlic and bell pepper, seasoned with cumin and lemon. It’s named after Alexandria and is served as a sandwich on the city’s thin bread, with tahini.
Traditional dish from Alexandria, Alexandria
Also known as: Kebda eskandarani, Kebda iskandrani, Alexandrian kebda, كبدة إسكندراني
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Kebda iskandarani — Alexandria, Egypt
Kebda iskandarani means “liver of Alexandria.” Beef liver is cut into thin strips and thrown into a very hot pan, where it fries quickly with garlic and bell pepper. The seasoning includes cumin and lemon, and the liver becomes tender and aromatic.
Egypt’s official tourism presents the kebda of Alexandria as a sandwich with tahini. In the city, the bread is usually the thin wheat bread typical of Alexandria, and the sandwich receives a final squeeze of lemon.
It’s street food, sold in small shops and carts and sought after late into the night. The Alexandrian style has spread across Egypt, and Alexandrians and Cairenes good-naturedly argue about which of the two cities makes the best liver sandwich.
Alexandria has its own versions of other everyday dishes, such as ful and koshary, and a fish-and-seafood cuisine connected to the port and the Mediterranean. The kebda is the specialty that bears the city’s name.
Alexandria , Alexandria
A liver preparation named after the city and served as a sandwich on thin bread.
Beef liver, garlic, bell pepper, cumin, lemon and oil. In the sandwich: thin bread and tahini.
As a sandwich, on thin bread or baladi bread, with tahini and lemon. Also plated, with bread and salad.
Year-round, as a snack or quick meal, including at night.
Your questions
It’s beef liver in thin strips, quickly fried with garlic and bell pepper and seasoned with cumin and lemon. The name means “liver of Alexandria.”
In the city, the most common is thin bread, with tahini and lemon. In other parts of Egypt, baladi bread is also used.
The basic seasoning is garlic, bell pepper, cumin and lemon. If you prefer it without chili, ask beforehand how the dish is seasoned.
Flavors of Egypt
Layers of toasted bread moistened with broth, rice and a garlic, vinegar and tomato sauce, topped with cooked meat. It’s the Eid al-Adha dish in Egypt and also appears at Coptic Easter and other family celebrations.
A multi-layered puff pastry made with samna, the clarified butter, baked until golden and crisp. It’s eaten plain, with honey, molasses or ashta, or with savory fillings; traditionally baked in clay ovens.
Slow-cooked dried fava beans until tender, partly mashed and seasoned with oil, cumin, lemon and garlic. It’s the most common breakfast in Egypt, served with baladi bread in homes, small restaurants and street carts.
Young pigeon stuffed with rice or fireek (green wheat), with onion and giblets, cooked in broth and then roasted or grilled until the skin browns. A classic on Egyptian tables, it is usually served in pairs.
Round buttery cookie, dusted with powdered sugar, plain or filled with ajameya (honey and walnuts), dates, or pistachio. It’s the sweet of Eid al-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan, prepared at home or bought at bakeries and patisseries.
Rice, short pasta, lentils and chickpeas, topped with tomato sauce and crispy fried onions, served with garlic vinegar and a spicy sauce on the side. It is Egypt’s most popular everyday dish, sold in specialty shops and street carts, and was inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2025.
Thick green soup made from very finely chopped jute leaves, cooked in broth and seasoned with toasted garlic and coriander. Served with rice or bread, often with chicken or rabbit, it is for many Egyptians the quintessential home dish.
Fried patty made from ground dried fava beans and herbs, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. It’s the Egyptian version of falafel and, together with ful medames, forms Egypt’s most common breakfast, often served in a baladi bread sandwich.
A dark-red drink made from dried hibiscus calyces steeped in water, with a tart flavor, sweetened and served cold or hot. In the Aswan region, among the Nubians, it is the welcome drink offered to arriving guests.
