Grouper Onion Soup

The famous coastal fish soup known as sayadeya (meaning “fisherman’s soup”) is unlike any other version in the Mediterranean rim. The name sayadeya is misleading however, as other dishes in Egypt share the same name but happen to be something else entirely. A local from Damietta, Hossam El Gammal, suggests that the correct name is Saideya, meaning “from Saida” (Sidon, Lebanon), reflecting the region’s culinary connection with the Levant.