Egyptian food · Explained
Feteer — fully, feteer meshaltet — is an Egyptian pastry made by stretching dough paper-thin, brushing it with ghee, folding it into dozens of layers, and baking it until the outside crackles and the inside stays tender. It is sometimes called “Egyptian pizza,” though it is older and flakier than anything from Italy.
A ball of dough is worked and swung until it is almost translucent, then folded over butter or ghee again and again. Savory feteer is layered with fillings — cheeses, spiced meats, vegetables — while sweet feteer is finished with things like honey, nuts, or Nutella. The fold is what gives feteer its signature shattering layers.
The same dough goes both ways. Savory versions — mix meat, soujouk, mix cheese — eat like a rich, flaky pie. Sweet versions are dessert: warm, buttery, and dusted or drizzled. Egyptians eat feteer for breakfast, dinner, and celebrations alike.
You will see it written feteer, fiteer, or fateer — all transliterations of the same Arabic word. (Don’t confuse it with fatayer, which are small Levantine stuffed triangles — a different dish.) At Shaltat Guys we stretch every feteer to order.
FAQ · Explained
