Bashtak Palace, where Ali's mother was born.
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
TELL ME THURSDAY: Guava Harvest
On Wednesday, I posted a photo of a cardboard box filled with guavas. So I'll bet you hookah folks are wondering what the heck I'm doing, right? After all, it's not a box of guava shisha and this is, after all, a hookah blog! Rest assured, I haven't lost my mind -- at least not today. As you'll soon see, there is a method to my madness. The guavas in the box came from one of the two trees that grow in our yards. I actually cultivated these two trees from seeds -- yes, from seeds! Several years ago, a friend of ours who had just returned from Egypt, told us that she had brought a couple of guavas with her to eat on the plane and had forgotten about them during the trip. When we saw her, she had just eaten one and was ready to toss out the seeds. Ali, who happens to love guavas, asked for the seeds and told her how I had grown a couple of avocado trees from seeds. He was convinced that I could do the same thing with the guava seeds.
Not knowing how successful the venture would be, I planted the seeds into a couple of empty laundry detergent buckets and set them on the patio. I watered and checked on them regularly. It didn't take long before the seeds sprouted and full-fledged trees were in the making. When we bought our home, Ali carefully transplanted the saplings -- one in the front yard and one in the side yard. I continued to water and look after them, wondering if they would ever bear fruit. Not being a guava fan myself, I really hoped for Ali's sake that the trees would blossom. It took about eleven years of care and now, for the past five years, those trees have borne fruit!
When it's guava season, our house is the place on the block to be. Even though the front yard is not fenced in, our neighbors don't just help themselves to the fruit; they will knock on the door and ask permission to take some! Ali, of course, harvests them by the bags full to share with his Egyptian pals because, I suppose, to the guava experts of the world, Egyptian guavas are different than the type that can be found easily in Southern California.
The photo that I posted on Wednesday is a reminder that with care and attention, a small idea can blossom into an incredible harvest. Don't give up too easily on dreams; cultivate and care for them like I did for those guava seeds and you just might get an equally amazing result!
To see what others said about their Wordless Wednesday photos, click here.
Caravan's Grand Washable Hookah Hoses
Innovations in a traditional industry don't come easy, especially when those innovations involve a cultural icon that is manufactured in a country with a history of traditions as long as Egypt's. When customers kept coming to our shop in search of an authentic Egyptian hose that they could wash, being the honestly amazing dude that he is, Ali would always explain that our hoses have a metal coil wire base and that washing them would cause that coil to deteriorate much faster than it would under normal use. So what's a traditionalist like Ali, the amazing Egyptian dude, to do? Innovate, of course!
On his last trip to the family business in Egypt, Ali set our hose makers to work with a new twist on a traditional design. He put them to work making truly washable hoses in the traditional Egyptian style. What they produced is nothing short of amazing. The Caravan Grand Washable Hoses are about 75 inches long, come in a variety of colors, and smoke like a dream!
Who said that the last really great Egyptian innovation was a pyramid?!
The Spirit of Giving
A couple of years ago, Ali and his sister (who still lives in Egypt) started a co-op to help widows and their children. These women and their families live in poverty with very little 
'Tis the season to be jolly for sure, but it's also the time of year when gratitude finds its best expressions. Ali and I would like to thank all of our customers who have purchased one of these items from the Widow's Co-Op because your purchases have helped us to continue to help them help themselves and for that, we are extremely grateful.
Egyptian Food and a Hookah Party
This weekend we went to a graduation party for a friend's son. The party was mad
e up mostly of Egyptians and fabulous food, both of which reminded me of what makes a great hookah party. If you've never had Egyptian food, you don't know what you're missing! So, to help you have an authentic hookah party this summer, I'm going to share some authentic Egyptian recipes with you.
Egyptian Pita Bread – 6 pieces
Bread is a mainstay of every Egyptian meal. It is seldom eaten on its own and more often torn into small, bite-sized pieces and used as a scoop to hold a tasty morsel of something else.
**Note: You may use wheat flour instead of white for this recipe if you prefer.**
Ingredients
2 tsp dry yeast
1 c warm water
1 tsp salt
3 c flour (not the self-rising kind!)
Method
1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water and set aside.
2. Sift together flour and salt.
3. Add yeast and water to the flour and salt mixture until it forms a soft dough.
4. Knead the dough until it has a slightly elastic texture.
5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place for 3 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Divide the dough into six equal parts and roll into balls.
8. Flatten each ball into a 5-inch circle that is about ½-inch thick. You can do this with your hand or a rolling pin, whichever way you are most comfortable with. I use my hands because I prefer to do things the old-fashioned way.
9. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until a light golden brown.
Babaghanouj
This has to be my very favorite Egyptian dish of all time and one that is very popular with people who are unaccustomed to eating Egytian food. Babaghanouj is a dip eaten with the pita bread. This recipe makes enough to serve 10-15 people as an appetizer.
Ingredients
3 medium sized eggplants
1 medium sized onion
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp white vinegar
½ c tahina (tahini)
1 tsp ground cumin
3-5 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. Roast the eggplants and onion, in their skins, over an open flame. This can be done on your stovetop. Be sure to cover the area with aluminum foil first, because the eggplant will ooze and make a bit of a mess. When one side begins to ooze, turn the eggplant over. The entire process will take approximately 15-20 minutes.
2. Place hot, roasted eggplants and onion in a plastic bag that you can seal. I use a plastic grocery bag, but a Ziploc baggie will work equally well. Let them sit in the bag for about 30 minutes until they are warm yet cool enough to handle.
3. Remove the eggplants and onion from the plastic bag and peel. Keeping them in the plastic bag does something magical to them that makes peeling really easy!
4. Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix until smooth.
5. Taste. The roasted flavor of the eggplant should be the dominant taste, but it should also have a bit of a zing from the lemon. Add lemon juice, one teaspoon at a time, to desired level of zing.
Pour onto a platter and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle chopped parsley around the edges and drizzle olive oil very lightly over the top. Serve with pita bread.
This bread and dip recipe will get you started, but I have several more to come. Heck, if you wanted to, you could serve an entire meal of nothing but Egyptian food to go with your Egyptian hookah!
Bon apetit, as Julia Child used to say!
e up mostly of Egyptians and fabulous food, both of which reminded me of what makes a great hookah party. If you've never had Egyptian food, you don't know what you're missing! So, to help you have an authentic hookah party this summer, I'm going to share some authentic Egyptian recipes with you. Egyptian Pita Bread – 6 pieces
Bread is a mainstay of every Egyptian meal. It is seldom eaten on its own and more often torn into small, bite-sized pieces and used as a scoop to hold a tasty morsel of something else.
**Note: You may use wheat flour instead of white for this recipe if you prefer.**
Ingredients
2 tsp dry yeast
1 c warm water
1 tsp salt
3 c flour (not the self-rising kind!)
Method
1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water and set aside.
2. Sift together flour and salt.
3. Add yeast and water to the flour and salt mixture until it forms a soft dough.
4. Knead the dough until it has a slightly elastic texture.
5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place for 3 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Divide the dough into six equal parts and roll into balls.
8. Flatten each ball into a 5-inch circle that is about ½-inch thick. You can do this with your hand or a rolling pin, whichever way you are most comfortable with. I use my hands because I prefer to do things the old-fashioned way.
9. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until a light golden brown.
Babaghanouj
This has to be my very favorite Egyptian dish of all time and one that is very popular with people who are unaccustomed to eating Egytian food. Babaghanouj is a dip eaten with the pita bread. This recipe makes enough to serve 10-15 people as an appetizer.
Ingredients
3 medium sized eggplants
1 medium sized onion
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp white vinegar
½ c tahina (tahini)
1 tsp ground cumin
3-5 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. Roast the eggplants and onion, in their skins, over an open flame. This can be done on your stovetop. Be sure to cover the area with aluminum foil first, because the eggplant will ooze and make a bit of a mess. When one side begins to ooze, turn the eggplant over. The entire process will take approximately 15-20 minutes.
2. Place hot, roasted eggplants and onion in a plastic bag that you can seal. I use a plastic grocery bag, but a Ziploc baggie will work equally well. Let them sit in the bag for about 30 minutes until they are warm yet cool enough to handle.
3. Remove the eggplants and onion from the plastic bag and peel. Keeping them in the plastic bag does something magical to them that makes peeling really easy!
4. Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix until smooth.
5. Taste. The roasted flavor of the eggplant should be the dominant taste, but it should also have a bit of a zing from the lemon. Add lemon juice, one teaspoon at a time, to desired level of zing.
Pour onto a platter and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle chopped parsley around the edges and drizzle olive oil very lightly over the top. Serve with pita bread.
This bread and dip recipe will get you started, but I have several more to come. Heck, if you wanted to, you could serve an entire meal of nothing but Egyptian food to go with your Egyptian hookah!
Bon apetit, as Julia Child used to say!
The Fine Art of Hookahs
With the Orientalism movement of the late 19th century, European artists introduced the world to the hookah. The Orientalist painters, fascinated with the mystery and romance associated with Egypt and the Middle East, began to travel to places like Cairo and Tangiers in search of subjects for their art. What resulted was not only some fabulous fine art but also the spread of knowledge of the hookah. Many of the images in Orientalist paintings include a hookah, such as Arab Girl with Water Pipe by Gerome. The piece depicts a young woman seated on a ledge in a Cairo alley. The doorway behind her is called a "bab" or gate, and Islamic Cairo (the part of Cairo where the famous bazaar, Khan el-Khalili, is located) has several of them. Soldiers closed and guarded these gates at night to offer protection from invading forces. Several centuries later, parts of the city are still identified by the names of the gates closest to them. Ali comes from one of these gated areas of Islamic Cairo, and it just so happens that this particular part of the city is best known for -- you guessed it -- HOOKAHS! Is it any wonder that Ali's family has been a part of the hookah industry for generations, then? Back to the painting. . .notice how the hookah is made of metal rather than glass. Glass, because of its fragility, was more expensive than metal and was therefore the hookah of choice for those who had enough money to replace them should they break.
In Cafe House in Cairo, the artist gives us a bird's eye view of the precursor to the contemporary hookah lounge! Coffee shops in Cairo don't look like this anymore, even the very old ones. Now they are filled with tables and chairs where people, mostly men, sit to discuss politics, tell jokes (Egyptians LOVE jokes and tell some great ones!), play backgammon or chess, drink tea or Turkish coffee, and smoke shisha (the name for hookah in Egypt). They are centers of social activity day and night, and it is not often that you will find a coffee shop without a few patrons. The oldest coffee shop in Islamic Cairo, which is located across the street from the Al-Hussein Mosque, belongs to a distant relative of Ali's mother. The place is always packed with locals and tourists wandering through the old part of the city. Again, the hookah is made of metal rather than glass, but that is about to change. . .
In Eugene Delacroix's Algiers, we finally get to see a hookah with a glass base! Notice that it is a household hookah used by women? Because it is not likely that the hookah would see the same kind of hard use from women as it would from men, the glass base is a safe investment. Furthermore, the delicacy of the glass serves as a metaphor for the male belief in the fragile nature of the female. Notice, too, how it is considerably smaller or shorter than the metal hookahs that the men use. Another interesting thing to note about the hookah is its shape. Rather than the traditional bell shaped glass commonly associated with the hookah, this one has a bulb shape (also called ola after a clay water vessel). In terms of symbolism, this bulb shape is representative of the female form, especially the pregnant female form. This hookah is definitely a woman's pipe!
I hope that you have enjoyed a brief introduction to the hookah in fine art! There are many more examples available for your viewing pleasure. To find them, do a web search using Orientalism and Fine Art as your search terms. The links below will take you to our eBay store where you will find some authentic Egyptian hookahs like the ones in the paintings. Enjoy!
- 22" 2-Hose Nefertiri Authentic Egyptian Hookah (Comes with a free Caravansarai exclusive golf style carrying bag!)
- 22" 2-Hose King Tut Authentic Egyptian Hookah (With the fabled King Tut Exhibit making its way around the world again, this hookah is the perfect way to remember the Boy King!)
- 34" 1-Hose Gold Camel Authentic Egyptian Hookah (A stunning rendering of the famed ship of the desert on a traditional hookah.)
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