What would you get if you combine budget friendly international food and an outdoor food court setting, you would get Hawker Centers of course! Truly one of the best Singaporean gastronomic innovations. I was lucky enough to be taken to the most popular Hawker center in Singapore, the Newton Hawker Center.
There is a reason why this food establishment is given its own title and differentiates itself from the concept of food courts that we are accustomed to encountering in malls such as City Stars or Mall of Egypt. It is a whole other kind of food experience. Unlike the mass produced junk food items offered in fast food establishments such as McDonald’s, Hawker Centers specialize in offering delicious, cheap local food representative of Singapore’s trio identity of Chinese, Malay and Indian . Not only are all three cuisines equally represented but there are innumerable brightly lit stalls that outline the front and back of a large square courtyard offering an endless range of menu items. There is also seating under a tent ceiling for those who prefer something similar to indoor seating.
Once we chose a table, my Singaporean friend took charge and ordered us food from six different stalls. Unlike conventional food courts, if there are many employees at the stall, there is the added luxury of choosing to have your food served right at your table as each table is identifiable due to being labelled with a number but my friend decided to pick up the food herself from each stall. This feature is another way that hawker centers outperform conventional food courts. As shown in the above picture, on that night, I ate North Indian spicy mutton biryani drizzled in a red sauce, Southern Chinese Chai tow kway aka carrot cake (not actually carrot cake but rather soft, fried white radish cake), Malaysian lamb and beef satay, fish cake, Malaysian ice kachang (Shaved ice covered in yellow durian sauce with a layer of red beans and grass jelly below) and Malaysian popiah (similar to a spring roll sandwich) (not pictured above). I was actually able to eat from three different countries without having to step foot into an airport/airplane. That is the true beauty of Hawker Centers.
Egypt could benefit from this lucrative idea if it combines its local street food all in one location in an open air setting. I truly believe it would be a big success especially as local street food is a favored choice among the majority of Egyptian citizens and it surpasses social class. It would be nice to see a similar establishment in either Cairo or Alexandria, housing everything Egypt has to offer in stalls ranging from foul, falafel and kebda sandwiches to hawawshi and even Um Ali . If I were to make such an establishment, a perfect location would be by the corniche at Alexandria as it is already a location that boasts a wide variety of restaurants, cafes and so forth.
As seen in the documentary Ugly Delicious, when countries come together, new successful food inventions and establishments can be created such as the Mexican and Lebanese love child taco el pastor. So why shouldn’t Egypt and Singapore plan a matrimony soon?
Egyptian Gastronome 