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Al-Ahram Weekly
29-03-2025
- General
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Traditions and trends of kahk Al-Eid - Features - Al-Ahram Weekly
At the southern end of Al-Muizz li-Din Allah Street in Islamic Cairo, just a five-minute walk from Bab Zuweila, there is Al-Kahkiyine Street. With the exception of some aluminum kitchenware stores that sell cookie moulds and biscuit funnels, there is nothing to associate this historic alleyway with kahk al-Eid, a kind of biscuit made to celebrate the end of Ramadan with diverse filings and powdered sugar on top. In fact, the alley, once part of a larger complex that also included Haret Al-Halawyin — or Sweet-Makers Alley — is now a venue for eclectic goods, with pickles apparently being the most popular. Nevertheless, tradition states that it was in this alley that kahk al-Eid originated in the Middle Ages. According to Abdel-Azim Fahmi, founder of the Sirat Al-Qahira (Cairo Biography) initiative that is designed to document the history of the city, there is no information about the kahk al-Eid that were produced during the Fatimid Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from the 10th to the 12th centuries CE. However, it is established that Al-Kahkiyine Street was founded during the rule of the Fatimids, whose interest in religious occasions and festive routines, including the baking of confectionary specific to every occasion, was well-known, and this would have included kahk al-Eid. Fahmi said that it is not known whether today's kahk al-Eid are the same as those available 10 centuries ago. It is not even an established fact the Fatimids were the first to introduce these biscuits into Egypt, as some argue that the tradition was initiated earlier during the rule of Ahmed ibn Tulun, the previous ruler of Egypt. 'There are so many narratives, and some compare the kakh that were served during Fatimid rule to the North African biscuits of today,' Fahmi said. He added that it is not clear either whether that marked the beginning of the habit of splashing powdered sugar on top of the round biscuits or not, given that it is only in Egypt that kahk al-Eid is served in this way. Some food historians have chosen to associate the kahk al-Eid of the Tulunid and Fatimid dynasties in Egypt to a much older version that dates back to Pharaonic times. According to anthropologist Nahla Emam, what is established is that the Egyptians have long had some version of kahk. The evolution of the recipe and its association with the Muslim feast that comes at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan is another story that has seen different narratives. 'Whatever the accounts of its origins, kahk al-Eid is part of the collective Egyptian heritage,' Emam said. 'It has been there for as long as anyone can remember, and the tradition, and the recipes, have been passed down from one generation to the next — with inevitable improvisation and changes, of course,' she added. Changes to kahk al-Eid have seen many phases from the Middle Ages, when the ruler of Egypt would order the placing of a dinar inside each biscuit before they were distributed among his subjects, to more modern times that have coupled kahk al-Eid with chocolate spreads and other fillings. Food historians well versed on the matter say that it is hard to know how recipes have developed over the centuries to the versions we see today, according to which kahk is either plain or has fillings that include caramelised walnuts, dates, and sugar-based pastes. It was only in the 1990s and early 2000s that some untypical fillings were introduced, including a marron glacé paste in some high-end Cairo patisseries. 'This was a novelty at the time, but it did not really qualify as kahk — it was almost a new kind of confectionery,' said Ragiya, an engineer in her early 70s. EID AL-FITR: Kahk is one of four kinds of traditional biscuit that are made for the Eid Al-Fitr, the feast that ends the holy month of Ramadan. The others are ghorayeba, which has more sugar and butter and hardly any wheat, petits fours, and regular biscuits. According to the vendors at four Cairo patisseries, kahk and ghorayeba are still made according to the traditional recipes, while petits fours and biscuits can be made to newer ones. During the past quarter century, a fifth item had been introduced in the form of cookies. Ragiya recalls that when they were attending an international school in Cairo, her grandchildren declined to even try kahk or ghorayeba and insisted on having cookies instead. Today, they go for macaroons as part of the Eid selection of bakeries. It was only last year that one of her grandchildren agreed to try kahk filled with chocolate paste. 'For me this is not kahk at all, but for her it is the only way she would eat it,' she said. According to Emam, it is this flexibility that has kept the tradition going. 'This is part of the survival mechanisms of heritage — things evolve in order to live on,' she said. The petits fours and biscuits that have been integrated into the confectionary assortment for Eid Al-Fitr in Cairo and some other cities were introduced as an addition to kahk al-Eid. In the rural areas where the major part of the Egyptian population lives, people mostly bake only kahk or at times kahk and ghorayeba. According to Ahmed Kadri, founder and co-manager of Bascota's, an Alexandria-based online bakery service who is making kahk for the first time this year, there is demand for new flavours that have found their way into many traditional Ramadan delights, including chocolate and pistachio pastes, caramel, and honey paste, and most recently matcha-based paste. Petits fours and biscuits have also seen 'new twists', though it was only in recent years that these have affected kahk and ghorayeba, leading to kahk with caramel fillings and ghorayeba with chocolate fillings, he said. 'For most people, however, these items are simply not an option,' he added. Judging by tasting events he has been hosting for his new line of kahk, he concluded that 'plain kahk and kahk with traditional fillings remain the market preference.' Bascota's, he added, will certainly consider some of the non-traditional fillings, but this will not be the core of its production because even his clients who can afford high-end quality and prices prefer the traditional versions. According to Emam, there are several reasons why traditional kahk has survived all the incoming trends and influences. 'The majority of people live in rural areas where they are less exposed to and less influenced by the newer trends. This has been key to the preservation of the traditional version of kahk,' she said. Another key factor relates to 'the nature of collective Egyptian taste', which subscribes to core recipes that have been baked and served for decades. Trends come and go, but the traditional recipes have been resilient, just like the traditional recipes for koshari (a rice and pasta dish) that have survived changing fashions. Emam said it is important to remember that Egypt is not the only Arab country where kahk is baked for the Eid Al-Fitr, as well as for Christmas and Easter for Christians. Almost every other Arab country has its own version of kahk, though these are all similar to the Egyptian recipe in various ways. 'This is why at times we go to the UN cultural agency UNESCO as a group of countries to have an element of our immaterial heritage registered collectively,' she said. 'It is why we need to think that our recipes have never been far from the influences of others. Heritage has a dynamic of its own.' TRADITIONS: It is the traditional recipe of Kadri's mother, originally also that of his grandmother, that Bascota's kahk uses, 'with some modifications in the weights of the ingredients'. Meanwhile, social media videos and TV cooking programmes have started to share recipes and baking methods for kahk, ghorayeba and petits fours that are more compatible with healthy eating and also with increasing levels of inflation. Some grocers are said to have added 30 per cent to the price of the ingredients. Shoppers at mid-range patisseries in Cairo said that the prices of kahk had increased by at least one third. Most said that they were buying less than in previous years, and some said that in the future it would make more sense to bake at home. Up until the 1970s it was usual to prepare kahk at home and then send it to the nearest bakery to be baked. With the introduction of modern home ovens, people became more inclined to bake smaller quantities at home. Since the early 1950s, the biscuit company Bisco Masr has also had a line in ready-baked kahk. 'For the middle and upper-middle classes, it was not fashionable to buy the Bisco Masr assortment, however. It was only later, perhaps in the 1980s and 1990s, that Bisco Masr became popular, but in any case fewer and fewer people were making kakh at home,' Ragiya commented. Bisco Masr was considered to be of reasonable quality and at a reasonable price for the middle classes. However, the real impact of the company, later privatised and not so much of a value-for-money choice, was that it emphasised a culture of buying ready-made foods. This encouraged more patisseries and bakeries to put out their own selections, which did not all necessarily use top-quality ingredients but at least made it possible for more people shopping on a limited budget to buy. This year, the prices of kahk have soared to an almost prohibitive degree, forcing more people to shop at the outlets of the Ministry of Supply that offer kahk at economic prices, even if not at the best quality. 'We can still buy it, even if we do not buy as much as we used to. I know people who have decided to drop kahk al-Eid completely, simply because their budgets are too strained,' said Afaf, a Cairo shopper at a Ministry of Supply outlet. According to Wael Gamal, head of the economic section at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, an NGO, it is not hard to think that levels of inflation have forced limitations on people's spending, especially on items like kahk. 'The 2019 World Bank figures show that some 70 per cent of the population lives on less than LE42 a day, and for this reason we can see why items like kahk are no longer an option for many,' he said. There has been over 20 per cent inflation for over two years, though it has gone down recently, and people have already cut down on their spending on food items, including dairy products, meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables. 'People are trying to spare themselves from hunger. They are not worried about eating healthy food or buying confectionary,' he said. With every devaluation of the currency since the first in 2016, more and more people have hit the hunger zone and more and more have become apprehensive shoppers. This has a negative effect on the overall economy because restrained spending means subdued growth. However, Gamal noted that this does not apply to the entire population. 'There is a segment, small as it might be, whose income and savings are in foreign currencies, and they are certainly in a more comfortable place financially,' he said. This is why while it has become practically impossible for many to afford a kg of kahk for LE120 at the outlets of the Ministry of Supply, others are able to spend LE120 on a single macaroon at a French patisserie in New Cairo. The result is disturbing. 'We are talking about acute socio-economic discrepancies that hit at the very core of social cohesion,' Gamal said. 'This is not a small problem, and it is not strictly an Egyptian problem either. It is a problem that many countries around the world are facing.' 'So, it is not just about who can buy kahk and who cannot, or about who can buy which type of kahk, but rather about the shocking discrepancies in income and spending that are present in the country.' * A version of this article appears in print in the 27 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
22-03-2025
- General
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Ramadan: Providing meals for all - Features - Al-Ahram Weekly
Class divides on food are hard to miss during the holy month of Ramadan even with growing charitable efforts to provide nutritious meals for all. It is past midnight in Old Cairo on the eve of 14 Ramadan (14 March), and the restaurants around Al-Muizz li-Din Allah Street are getting ready for Sohour. Various options are available, with some focused strictly on fuul, falafel, and eggs and others taking menus to a richer and more expensive level. 'It is really a matter of what one can afford and what one enjoys. Personally, I prefer to go basic and stay away from the pricey versions of Sohour because I think they strip the tradition of its unassuming feel,' said Tarek, an engineer at a multinational company. A Cairo resident in his late 50s, Tarek is accustomed to what he calls 'the standard Sohour routine at Al-Hussein: fuul and falafel followed by yoghurt or rice pudding and tea with mint.' This was the way things were prior to the introduction of fancy eating as a must-have experience for the well-to-do. In this respect, he added, his children's generation is different, as 'for them a Ramadan Sohour has to be trendy and chic.' 'I cannot blame them because it is part of the result of our class-segregated education system,' he said. If planning a Sohour out with the family, Tarek said he would bow to the choices of his three children. However, for one with his high-school and university friends, he always goes basic. 'We might try something new, but we don't go fancy,' he said. For their weekend Sohour last Thursday, they decided to try a new restaurant that is 'only slightly more expensive and that serves beef liver, sausage, and kofta sandwiches' on a street called Harat Bab Al-Zahouma in Old Cairo, he said. According to Abdel-Azim Fahmi, founder and chair of Sirat Al-Qahira, an initiative designed to document the history of Egypt's longest-surviving capital city, the venue of this new restaurant is a centuries-old building that has been reworked to fit its new function. It is one of two facing iwans, he said, explaining that an iwan is a rectangular space with walls on three sides. These two are part of the ruins of the Madrassa Al-Salaheiya, which was built in association with the 13th-century Ayoubid ruler Negmeddin Al-Saleh Ayoub. However, Fahmi said, what was really special about this new popular restaurant is that it offers a meat-based menu. The name Harat Bab Al-Zahouma is associated with an even older period of Cairo's history, that of the Fatimid Dynasty, he added. 'Bab al-Zahouma was one of nine gates to the Al-Qasr Al-Sharqi [the Eastern Palace] of the Fatimids, and its name is associated with the fact that it led to the kitchens of the palace,' Fahmi said. He added that it was through this gate that meat, chicken, and other ingredients would enter the building. Al-zahm, he explained, literally means the 'sizzling' sound made when high-protein meals are being cooked. He added that throughout the year and especially in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, it was through this gate that the rulers of the time would send large trays of food for distribution to the poor. 'Despite the few details we have about their cuisine, it is an established fact that the Fatimids had one of the best cuisines in Egypt, with cooks being brought over from different parts of the Islamic world at the time,' Fahmi stated. He added that it is equally an established fact that the Fatimids were particularly generous with their food donations, especially during the month of Ramadan. Generous food donations, Fahmi said, were signs of the stability and wealth of the rulers of Egypt throughout the subsequent Islamic dynasties, especially during the fasting month of Ramadan that has always been associated 'both with food and charity'. Today, however, food charities are more about economic difficulties than about times of prosperity, he added. 'Charitable gifts of food always took place in Ramadan, because they are part of the Islamic creed, but during the past few decades we have been seeing many more such charities due to the economic difficulties that have been making it increasingly difficult for many to put sufficiently nourishing food on the table,' said Hoda, an upper-middle class housewife who is committed to several charities, both in fund-raising and distribution. FOOD AID: Like other members of independent small charities, or larger and government-supervised ones, Hoda argues that more and more people are in need of help to get their basic dietary needs, especially in the month of Ramadan where Iftar meals are part of the festivity of the month. 'Food prices have been increasing year on year, and a modest family that would have been able to provide chicken or meat for Iftar a few times a week a few years ago is now unlikely to be able to do this more than once or twice during the entire month,' she said. She added that the inflation the country has seen in food prices has also come at a cost for charities. The charities she is associated with have stopped giving out enough meat or chicken to cover all family members for every Ramadan Iftar, for example. 'It is not sustainable, not just because prices have been increasing and donors have been working with tighter budgets, but also because the number of people we need to help has increased,' she added. This has been the case despite the many government-operated markets that provide food items, including meat and poultry, at reasonable prices across the country. 'It is all relative because even though the prices in these outlets are cheaper than those at other supermarkets or butchers' shops, they remain too expensive for an increasing number of people,' Hoda said. 'What people do is go for the cheaper items that make them feel full but don't provide a sufficient intake of protein or vitamins,' she added. Critics of food-subsidy programmes in the country blame low-protein and low-vitamin and high-starch and high-sugar items for poor nutrition and obesity. According to hunger index figures for 2023, around 14 per cent of the population are at some risk of food insecurity. Meanwhile, malnutrition figures have been on the increase, especially among children, according to UN agencies. According to the statistics agency CAPMAS, family spending on food has declined significantly over the past few years. 'Even if people were still allocating the same percentage of their monthly budget to food, they would still be suffering from significant reductions in high-protein and high-vitamin elements given the huge increase in prices,' Hoda said. 'This is why this year we decided to focus only on providing meat, chicken, and fruit rather than the more diversified basket we had before. We also don't do the entire list of families on our lists on a daily basis, but we use an every-other-day scheme,' she added. Despite such cuts, Hoda said that Ramadan has become for many the only time when they get to eat meat and chicken several times during the same month. Meanwhile, the Ramadan culinary luxuries that every Iftar should have are off the table for many, including those not helped by charity. 'For the first day of Ramadan and when we have family relatives coming over for Iftar, I make sure to stick to rich meals. But to compensate I cook vegetarian meals on the other days,' said Hala, a civil servant. 'Different times have different norms, and what was possible a few years back is no longer possible,' she added. Hala is content that her family can still eat the traditional roasted duck and stuffed vegetables on the first day and the boiled-and-fried chicken with rice and vegetables for two days a week, which is above the increasingly once-a-week average of the past two years. Otherwise, she said, she makes use of recipes collected from magazines and cookery programmes on TV that she would ordinarily not look at. She is trying to learn how to cook new recipes, she said, and to get family members to enjoy them, 'even if they are not what they would have normally expected.' In his book Kohl and Habban (Kohl and Quadrumane) issued in 2019 after the first two devaluations of the Egyptian pound that ushered in severe food-price inflation, Omar Taher documents the taste for roasted and grilled meat and chicken that most Egyptians enjoy especially in Ramadan. The preferred dishes come from the heart of Egyptian cuisine, including meat stew or boiled-and-fried duck, he said. According to food historians, because Egypt was once part of a larger Islamic Dynasty, its cuisine, like that of other parts of the Muslim Caliphate, is inevitably eclectic. It was mostly during the 19th and 20th centuries, especially after the rule of the Khedive Ismail who was keen on embracing European norms, that European meals and eating habits were introduced among some sections of the population. The first cookery book of European recipes, especially French, appeared in Arabic in Egypt in 1906. However, given the fact that at the time Egypt was under British occupation, there was a mood to reject everything European in favour of everything Egyptian, and this led to a vogue for cookery books focusing on national recipes, including those from specific geographic zones including Upper Egypt and the coastal cities. 'It is unfortunate that we have nothing left from the recipes of the earlier Islamic dynasties, as this would have allowed us to examine the evolution of dishes, cooking methods, and festive meals,' Fahmi said. 'What we know for a fact is that there was always a passion for a good meal followed by an abundance of desserts, especially in the month of Ramadan. This much is established,' he concluded. * A version of this article appears in print in the 20 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
