Friday March 29th, 2024
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A Brief History Of Crepes, Brought To You By The Courtyard Maadi

Skot impresses us with an American-style history lesson on one of his favourite food groups after his experience at the weekly brunch at The Courtyard, Maadi.

Staff Writer

A Brief History Of Crepes, Brought To You By The Courtyard Maadi
Trying to make a choice as to where to eat for brunch in Egypt is difficult, let alone at The Courtyard. The options are paralysing. It's kind of like when you have too many awesome recommendations on Netflix and you spend almost all the time you had free to watch a movie, just looking at their descriptions. The Brazilian meathouse breakfast buffet looks amazing - oh, but that cafe has adorable little croissant sandwiches! 
 
Eventually, after much deliberation, I chose to go with the little impossibly thin folded pancakes at the Carpaccio. I have a thing for the warm microthin little pockets filled delicious sweet or savoury fillings that the French explorers termed “crêpes,” and their equally rich history. 
When the French discovered French Canada after the the Sasquatch wars of the late 1700s, they found an entire French culture that had developed independently of Europe’s. They marveled at the funny hats and rude demeanour that mirrored what they had left behind in the old world.
 
Weary from the battles with three-metre-tall apemen, they sought refuge in the town of Quebec, which translates into “no Sasquatch’s allowed” in French Canadian. Back in France all they had to eat was gross stuff like frog’s legs and snails. Sampling the superior Canadian foods like poutine, croissants, and éclairs, the French came to the same conclusion that the rest of the world had: “our food is gross and weird.” Then they met a witch who used her black magic to create the thinnest, most delicate little pancakes, which she then folded and filled with awesome stuff like Nutella or meatsnacks. 
After sampling her devil-hotcakes, the French countrymen were said to have exclaimed, “holy crêpe!” and thus one of my favourite food groups was born. 
 
Settled on the top floor of Maadi’s Courtyard, sipping cappuccinos, we devoured Nutella crêpes and cheese crêpes and, of course, a plate of french fries, because France. Taking in the lovely view of the Courtyard and the sounds of the weekly live music, I was reminded how those brave Sasquatch-bashing Frenchmen must have felt on the day they discovered crêpes: pleasant and contented.  
 
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