With succulent grilled meats, fish, and vegetables, Egyptian cuisine has something to appeal to most eaters, though in order to avoid stomach troubles while on holiday, it's worth taking a few precautions. As tap water is highly chlorinated, it's best to avoid salads unless dining in upmarket restaurants, hotels, and cruise boats. Any food you do eat should be piping hot to ensure it's been cooked properly; avoid food that looks like it has been sitting around for a while. Try taking a probiotic a few weeks before and during your holiday to build up your own natural defence against bugs that you may come into contact with in your stomach. Egyptian cuisine is not unlike the cuisine of Turkey, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern countries. The basic staple centres on pulses: ful medames (fava beans, often served with vegetables and boiled eggs) and ta'amiya (chickpea patties), though visitors to Egypt are more likely to encounter a delicious spread of meats accompanied by salads, rice, seasoned vegetables, and mezzes. Houmous and other yoghurt-based dips, coupled with fresh pitta, schwarma (similar to a Turkish doner kebab), kofta (a skewered spiced meat dish), and falafel (a kind of pizza), are other popular dishes. The lunchtime bargain has to be kosheri, which is a curious but delicious mix of noodles, rice, lentils, fried onions and spicy sauce. It's very tasty and exceedingly cheap. Bread is a staple of Egyptian cuisine, and you'll be offered a variety of sorts with every meal. Vegetarians should find plenty of options, with stuffed peppers, grilled aubergine and baked squash popular meat-free dishes in Egypt. Exotic juices freshly squeezed from the fruits of mango, guava, and other seasonal varieties are also widely available, as is fresh fruit. Alcohol is not readily available as Egypt is a predominantly Islamic country. Despite this, the major hotel chains usually offer a well-stocked bar for guests to use.