The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, popular amongst educated Egyptians in Middle Kingdom times, provides an insight into the plethora of goods and foodstuffs available to those who could afford them.

So the peasant went down to Egypt, and he loaded his asses with reeds, redemet-plants, / natron, salt, wood from the [Hes]-tiu country, wands of awent-wood from the Farafra Oasis, / panther skins, jackal hides, nesha-plants, kheperur-plants, / sahut, saksut-pellets, misut-plants, senet stones, aba-stones, / ibsa-plants, inbi-plants, pigeons, naru-birds (ostriches?), weges-birds, / weben-plants, tebes-plants, gengenet-pellets, hair fruit, and inset-pellets, / being full measure of all the goodly products of the Wadi Natrun." Extract from the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant

Taking a step back...
As far back as 7000BC in the Saharan desert, cattle herding (of wild cattle) sustained the nomadic peoples. As an aside, one historian suggests that it is from this time that cow goddess iconography was firmly formulated.

In time as the climate changed and living in the equatorial region that was the Nile Valley become more favourable, the desert peoples descended from the arid lands where living was harsh and always fraught with danger. They provided for themselves through the hunting of wild animals, chiefly wild cattle in the Delta marshlands and hartebeest in drier regions. Oryx antelope, dorcas gazelle, addax and jackals and other animals tolerant of desert regions were also hunted. Neolithic settlements began to appear as early Egyptians became increasingly sedentary, tribal chiefdoms giving way to village agrarian chiefdoms in which agriculture and animal husbandry were practiced. Early ceramics date from this time. Methods of growing, storing and preparing food became increasing sophisticated as technology improved. As the old reliance upon hunting for food provision eased and domestic food production increased, a much greater range of foodstuffs would have become available enriching the diet and subsequent health of the Egyptian people.

Moving forwards...
The wealth of foodstuffs available in later times testify to the richness of the Nile Valley. Fishing and fowling became primary sources for animal protein, with turtles and mussels collected from the river. Hippopotami and crocodiles were occasionally hunted for food. Thick nutritious beer made from barley, bread and onions became the staple diet augmented by protein, legumes, fruit and vegetables. At Deir el-Medina it is recorded that those working on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were paid in staple foods. While the poor had to be content in the main with their staple diet and the food they grew and caught themselves, occasional feast days provided meat.

The wealthy enjoyed meats such as pork (where custom allowed), beef, goat, mutton, goose and pigeon. Vegetables and fruit included figs, dates, leeks, pomegranates, grapes, persea fruit to name but a few.

Daily fare was varied by the addition of certain condiments which served to flavour and, in the case of salt, to preserve foods such as meat and fish. Vinegar, a by-product of wine, may have also served as a food preserver. Salt was available to all classes and, in the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, it is mentioned as part of the goods he was taking to market.

Alum, mined in ancient times in the Kharga Oasis, may have been used to curdle milk in cheese-making. As most villages would have had access to milk-producing animals such as goats and sheep, cheese would have provided an additional source of nourishment as would have clarified butter. Poorer households would have rendered sheep tails for cooking fat. Lard, a white fat, provided by pigs could also be in cooking though poorer households would have relied more on goose or duck fat.

Vegetable oils were an important dietary addition. Nearly thirty types of oil are known to have been used in ancient times though not all for cooking purposes and not all have been identified. Those most favoured oils included the oil extracted from the fig-like fruit of the hegelig tree (Balanites aegyptiaca). Another favourite oil was extracted from the seeds of the now-scarce ben tree. Other oils used for cooking included linseed and sesame, the latter probably the most commonly used.

Honey was highly valued as a sweetener. The less affluent would used fruit such dates and figs as sweeteners. Fruit puree, carob and bitter concentrated pomegranate juice, which is still used today in middle eastern cooking, may have been used to flavour sauces.

Finally, herbs and spices would have greatly enhanced the flavour of foods. Coriander, dill, fenugreek, cardamom, mint, sage, cumin, rosemary, poppy seed, parsley and other condiments would have been in the reach of the poorest of Egypt's citizens.

A land of plenty indeed.