Food connects us
A bowl of Baleela or Asida may look different from one part of Sudan to another but the many hands dipping their spoons or fingers into the same bowl to share a meal is universal: one dish feeds all.
Food
How does food shape our concept of heritage? Food embodies memories and nostalgia and is one of the most popular materialisations of culture in our lives. Food is so much more than recipes and gatherings: it is medicine, it is a craft, it reflects our landscapes and lifestyles, it is who we are.
How does food shape our concept of heritage? Food embodies memories and nostalgia and is one of the most popular materialisations of culture in our lives. Food is so much more than recipes and gatherings: it is medicine, it is a craft, it reflects our landscapes and lifestyles, it is who we are.
Food
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Salt of life
Has a dish reminded you of your grandmother and your childhood? Does the smell of coffee make you happy? Does the cold breeze make you crave a hot drink and does sharing a meal bring you joy? These are the shared experiences of food.
Food is a lifestyle
Food is an industry and source of livelihood for many groups of people, from farmers to herders and craftsmen. It is a source of income and a style of life.
We live by food
We are what we eat. Food is a reflection of our environment and identity. We use it for medicine and for comfort.
Food connects us
A bowl of Baleela or Asida may look different from one part of Sudan to another but the many hands dipping their spoons or fingers into the same bowl to share a meal is universal: one dish feeds all.
30/10/2024
Markets set menu
Read more
object
Markets set menu
There is an interconnected and multifaceted relationship between food markets and eating habits. The culture surrounding food consumption and what is on offer in the market affects what we eat shows how they influence each other. The eating habits of a community can be gleaned by visiting their markets and markets themselves also play a significant role in shaping and influencing eating habits.
The availability and accessibility of variety food provide access to a wide range of food products, including fresh produce, processed foods, and international cuisines. This variety allows consumers to explore different eating styles, but only appears when the economical and cultural dynamics of an area change, commonly apparent with increase of city size or increase of foreigners in an area.
The change of lifestyle sometimes requires convenience which would then be reflected in the markets and types of processed food available.
The change of lifestyle does not eradicate the cultural and social influences.Cultural foods especially types consumed during specific events is always in the dilemma of it being mass produced or not. Until now many small scale food producers are still part of the food supply process but could be found in special markets or as pre-ordered catering service.
As people associate the person the process of the making i.e. the culture with quality and authenticity of the food.
Health and nutrition awareness as well as access to international cuisine through online forums and television shows also affects the eating habits and therefore the market.
However, recently and due to war, the economic factors and shortage of supply has immensely affected the types of food making it to the market and the possibility for people to buy.
Limited grown food and routes of importing along with the raiding of local food factories have orchestrated the types of everyday food people have access to or consume, but also is to a large extent showing the impact of the food security the country is going through.
Food markets and eating styles have a reciprocal relationship. Markets influence eating styles through the availability, marketing, and pricing of food products, while consumer preferences and cultural trends shape what markets offer. This dynamic interaction plays a crucial role in the evolution of eating habits and dietary patterns in society.
The collection if images in this gallery are pictures showing typical food markets all around Sudan © Zainab Gaafar
Header Image © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
There is an interconnected and multifaceted relationship between food markets and eating habits. The culture surrounding food consumption and what is on offer in the market affects what we eat shows how they influence each other. The eating habits of a community can be gleaned by visiting their markets and markets themselves also play a significant role in shaping and influencing eating habits.
The availability and accessibility of variety food provide access to a wide range of food products, including fresh produce, processed foods, and international cuisines. This variety allows consumers to explore different eating styles, but only appears when the economical and cultural dynamics of an area change, commonly apparent with increase of city size or increase of foreigners in an area.
The change of lifestyle sometimes requires convenience which would then be reflected in the markets and types of processed food available.
The change of lifestyle does not eradicate the cultural and social influences.Cultural foods especially types consumed during specific events is always in the dilemma of it being mass produced or not. Until now many small scale food producers are still part of the food supply process but could be found in special markets or as pre-ordered catering service.
As people associate the person the process of the making i.e. the culture with quality and authenticity of the food.
Health and nutrition awareness as well as access to international cuisine through online forums and television shows also affects the eating habits and therefore the market.
However, recently and due to war, the economic factors and shortage of supply has immensely affected the types of food making it to the market and the possibility for people to buy.
Limited grown food and routes of importing along with the raiding of local food factories have orchestrated the types of everyday food people have access to or consume, but also is to a large extent showing the impact of the food security the country is going through.
Food markets and eating styles have a reciprocal relationship. Markets influence eating styles through the availability, marketing, and pricing of food products, while consumer preferences and cultural trends shape what markets offer. This dynamic interaction plays a crucial role in the evolution of eating habits and dietary patterns in society.
The collection if images in this gallery are pictures showing typical food markets all around Sudan © Zainab Gaafar
Header Image © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Read more
Markets set menu
There is an interconnected and multifaceted relationship between food markets and eating habits. The culture surrounding food consumption and what is on offer in the market affects what we eat shows how they influence each other. The eating habits of a community can be gleaned by visiting their markets and markets themselves also play a significant role in shaping and influencing eating habits.
The availability and accessibility of variety food provide access to a wide range of food products, including fresh produce, processed foods, and international cuisines. This variety allows consumers to explore different eating styles, but only appears when the economical and cultural dynamics of an area change, commonly apparent with increase of city size or increase of foreigners in an area.
The change of lifestyle sometimes requires convenience which would then be reflected in the markets and types of processed food available.
The change of lifestyle does not eradicate the cultural and social influences.Cultural foods especially types consumed during specific events is always in the dilemma of it being mass produced or not. Until now many small scale food producers are still part of the food supply process but could be found in special markets or as pre-ordered catering service.
As people associate the person the process of the making i.e. the culture with quality and authenticity of the food.
Health and nutrition awareness as well as access to international cuisine through online forums and television shows also affects the eating habits and therefore the market.
However, recently and due to war, the economic factors and shortage of supply has immensely affected the types of food making it to the market and the possibility for people to buy.
Limited grown food and routes of importing along with the raiding of local food factories have orchestrated the types of everyday food people have access to or consume, but also is to a large extent showing the impact of the food security the country is going through.
Food markets and eating styles have a reciprocal relationship. Markets influence eating styles through the availability, marketing, and pricing of food products, while consumer preferences and cultural trends shape what markets offer. This dynamic interaction plays a crucial role in the evolution of eating habits and dietary patterns in society.
The collection if images in this gallery are pictures showing typical food markets all around Sudan © Zainab Gaafar
Header Image © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
exit
Food is a lifestyle
30/10/2024
From ground to plate
Read more
object
From ground to plate
During Sudan’s Kushite Kingdom some 3,000 - 4,000 years ago, sorghum, millet and barley were the main staple foods in Sudan while wheat flour bread was mostly native to Egypt. The ancient Kushites had close cultural and trading ties with Egypt, which had a well-documented tradition of wheat bread making going back to at least 3000 BCE. Wheat flour bread is known all around Sudan and there are multiple documents and poems stating that bread was baked and sold in the 1900s even though it is likely that it was consumed before then. This is why up until post colonial times, types of wheat flour bread, especially baked bread, was only dominant in northern Sudan where wheat grain is grown. This does not mean that wheat, both wild and farm grown, did not grow elsewhere in central Sudan and Al-Jazira and is eaten, not as bread, but as other types of food. However, due to cultural influences and a changing lifestyles, baked wheat flour bread has become an important staple food all around Sudan especially in cities, indeed so important that the increase of bread prices sparked the nation-wide revolution that erupted in 2018. The introduction of bread has also influenced eating habits. Sudanese people have always eaten food collectively but now instead of a single dish of stew eaten with flat bread loaves, multiple dishes are served at the same time and people have the option to dip their hand-held pieces of bread into whatever dishes take their fancy .
This photo gallery explores the trip wheat takes from the ground until it reaches the table
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
During Sudan’s Kushite Kingdom some 3,000 - 4,000 years ago, sorghum, millet and barley were the main staple foods in Sudan while wheat flour bread was mostly native to Egypt. The ancient Kushites had close cultural and trading ties with Egypt, which had a well-documented tradition of wheat bread making going back to at least 3000 BCE. Wheat flour bread is known all around Sudan and there are multiple documents and poems stating that bread was baked and sold in the 1900s even though it is likely that it was consumed before then. This is why up until post colonial times, types of wheat flour bread, especially baked bread, was only dominant in northern Sudan where wheat grain is grown. This does not mean that wheat, both wild and farm grown, did not grow elsewhere in central Sudan and Al-Jazira and is eaten, not as bread, but as other types of food. However, due to cultural influences and a changing lifestyles, baked wheat flour bread has become an important staple food all around Sudan especially in cities, indeed so important that the increase of bread prices sparked the nation-wide revolution that erupted in 2018. The introduction of bread has also influenced eating habits. Sudanese people have always eaten food collectively but now instead of a single dish of stew eaten with flat bread loaves, multiple dishes are served at the same time and people have the option to dip their hand-held pieces of bread into whatever dishes take their fancy .
This photo gallery explores the trip wheat takes from the ground until it reaches the table
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Read more
From ground to plate
During Sudan’s Kushite Kingdom some 3,000 - 4,000 years ago, sorghum, millet and barley were the main staple foods in Sudan while wheat flour bread was mostly native to Egypt. The ancient Kushites had close cultural and trading ties with Egypt, which had a well-documented tradition of wheat bread making going back to at least 3000 BCE. Wheat flour bread is known all around Sudan and there are multiple documents and poems stating that bread was baked and sold in the 1900s even though it is likely that it was consumed before then. This is why up until post colonial times, types of wheat flour bread, especially baked bread, was only dominant in northern Sudan where wheat grain is grown. This does not mean that wheat, both wild and farm grown, did not grow elsewhere in central Sudan and Al-Jazira and is eaten, not as bread, but as other types of food. However, due to cultural influences and a changing lifestyles, baked wheat flour bread has become an important staple food all around Sudan especially in cities, indeed so important that the increase of bread prices sparked the nation-wide revolution that erupted in 2018. The introduction of bread has also influenced eating habits. Sudanese people have always eaten food collectively but now instead of a single dish of stew eaten with flat bread loaves, multiple dishes are served at the same time and people have the option to dip their hand-held pieces of bread into whatever dishes take their fancy .
This photo gallery explores the trip wheat takes from the ground until it reaches the table
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
exit
Food is a lifestyle
30/10/2024
Sudanese drinks
Read more
object
Sudanese drinks
Panel design showing infused and soaked drinks in Sudan by Zainab Gaafar
Sudanese cuisine includes many dishes and drinks associated with its dry and hot weather. Certain drinks are served and enjoyed on different occasions or different states of health. Many adults will remember how, as children, they were made to drink different types of teas to ease a bout of stomach pain or cure a sore throat. Areas with dry climates around Sudan produce fruits like baobab, nabag or doum and wild plants like harjal (Solenostemma Arghel), maharib (Lemongrass, barbed wire grass) and roots like ghurunjal (Galangal Root). Locally, there are two known methods used to extract taste and flavor from all these different plants. Infusion, which means the plant is added to hot water or is boiled in water. This process is mainly used to produce teas or hot drinks as well as extracting various health benefits from the plants. Or soaking which means they are left in water at room temperature to allow the taste to infuse slowly. This is mainly used for cold and refreshing beverages.
Karakade or hibiscus tea, is one of the most known Sudanese products and is drunk both as a hot drink, sometimes called shiriya, or as a cold drink, after it is soaked in water for some time, the length of time is relevant to how fresh or strong the hibiscus flowers are.
Fermented drinks also undergo a soaking phase to bring out the taste, such as hilu-mur or abray made from sprouted sorghum seed sprouts that are dried, flavored, fermented and cooked into sheets which are then soaked in water and sugared before serving.
Cover picture © Sari Omer, Eldamazin
Panel design showing infused and soaked drinks in Sudan by Zainab Gaafar
Sudanese cuisine includes many dishes and drinks associated with its dry and hot weather. Certain drinks are served and enjoyed on different occasions or different states of health. Many adults will remember how, as children, they were made to drink different types of teas to ease a bout of stomach pain or cure a sore throat. Areas with dry climates around Sudan produce fruits like baobab, nabag or doum and wild plants like harjal (Solenostemma Arghel), maharib (Lemongrass, barbed wire grass) and roots like ghurunjal (Galangal Root). Locally, there are two known methods used to extract taste and flavor from all these different plants. Infusion, which means the plant is added to hot water or is boiled in water. This process is mainly used to produce teas or hot drinks as well as extracting various health benefits from the plants. Or soaking which means they are left in water at room temperature to allow the taste to infuse slowly. This is mainly used for cold and refreshing beverages.
Karakade or hibiscus tea, is one of the most known Sudanese products and is drunk both as a hot drink, sometimes called shiriya, or as a cold drink, after it is soaked in water for some time, the length of time is relevant to how fresh or strong the hibiscus flowers are.
Fermented drinks also undergo a soaking phase to bring out the taste, such as hilu-mur or abray made from sprouted sorghum seed sprouts that are dried, flavored, fermented and cooked into sheets which are then soaked in water and sugared before serving.
Cover picture © Sari Omer, Eldamazin
Read more
Sudanese drinks
Panel design showing infused and soaked drinks in Sudan by Zainab Gaafar
Sudanese cuisine includes many dishes and drinks associated with its dry and hot weather. Certain drinks are served and enjoyed on different occasions or different states of health. Many adults will remember how, as children, they were made to drink different types of teas to ease a bout of stomach pain or cure a sore throat. Areas with dry climates around Sudan produce fruits like baobab, nabag or doum and wild plants like harjal (Solenostemma Arghel), maharib (Lemongrass, barbed wire grass) and roots like ghurunjal (Galangal Root). Locally, there are two known methods used to extract taste and flavor from all these different plants. Infusion, which means the plant is added to hot water or is boiled in water. This process is mainly used to produce teas or hot drinks as well as extracting various health benefits from the plants. Or soaking which means they are left in water at room temperature to allow the taste to infuse slowly. This is mainly used for cold and refreshing beverages.
Karakade or hibiscus tea, is one of the most known Sudanese products and is drunk both as a hot drink, sometimes called shiriya, or as a cold drink, after it is soaked in water for some time, the length of time is relevant to how fresh or strong the hibiscus flowers are.
Fermented drinks also undergo a soaking phase to bring out the taste, such as hilu-mur or abray made from sprouted sorghum seed sprouts that are dried, flavored, fermented and cooked into sheets which are then soaked in water and sugared before serving.
Cover picture © Sari Omer, Eldamazin
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
Festive food
Read more
object
Festive food
In every culture anywhere in the world, feasts and food at celebrations are always at the heart of any occasion. This is perhaps the one thing that we humans all have in common; that we celebrate with food.
Sudan’s diverse cultures mean people always have different ways they cook and present their food at large events such as religious celebrations - the Moulid, Ramadan or Eid - or when someone returns from a long trip or recovers from an illness or has achieved academic or career success or even at the most popular event, weddings. Women from the family and neighbours from far and near gather to cook hearty meals and delicious dishes. Festivities themselves start well before the day itself usually by preparing, cutting and baking biscuits. The baskawit, khabiz, minen and ajwa biscuits and many more varieties are a very important component served to the waves of guests and well wishers who pass by in weeks and days before and after the wedding day.
The video shows fateer preparations, a light biscuit made especially for weddings consisting of flour, a pinch of salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs and vegetable oil. The dough is then spread very thinly using a pasta making machine and cut into shapes and deep-fried in oil. The crunchy, light biscuits are dusted in icing sugar and handled with tremendous care not only because of how fragile they are, but because they are likely to be devoured by anyone who gets their hand on one!
Cover picture and video © Zainab Gaafar
In every culture anywhere in the world, feasts and food at celebrations are always at the heart of any occasion. This is perhaps the one thing that we humans all have in common; that we celebrate with food.
Sudan’s diverse cultures mean people always have different ways they cook and present their food at large events such as religious celebrations - the Moulid, Ramadan or Eid - or when someone returns from a long trip or recovers from an illness or has achieved academic or career success or even at the most popular event, weddings. Women from the family and neighbours from far and near gather to cook hearty meals and delicious dishes. Festivities themselves start well before the day itself usually by preparing, cutting and baking biscuits. The baskawit, khabiz, minen and ajwa biscuits and many more varieties are a very important component served to the waves of guests and well wishers who pass by in weeks and days before and after the wedding day.
The video shows fateer preparations, a light biscuit made especially for weddings consisting of flour, a pinch of salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs and vegetable oil. The dough is then spread very thinly using a pasta making machine and cut into shapes and deep-fried in oil. The crunchy, light biscuits are dusted in icing sugar and handled with tremendous care not only because of how fragile they are, but because they are likely to be devoured by anyone who gets their hand on one!
Cover picture and video © Zainab Gaafar
Read more
Festive food
In every culture anywhere in the world, feasts and food at celebrations are always at the heart of any occasion. This is perhaps the one thing that we humans all have in common; that we celebrate with food.
Sudan’s diverse cultures mean people always have different ways they cook and present their food at large events such as religious celebrations - the Moulid, Ramadan or Eid - or when someone returns from a long trip or recovers from an illness or has achieved academic or career success or even at the most popular event, weddings. Women from the family and neighbours from far and near gather to cook hearty meals and delicious dishes. Festivities themselves start well before the day itself usually by preparing, cutting and baking biscuits. The baskawit, khabiz, minen and ajwa biscuits and many more varieties are a very important component served to the waves of guests and well wishers who pass by in weeks and days before and after the wedding day.
The video shows fateer preparations, a light biscuit made especially for weddings consisting of flour, a pinch of salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs and vegetable oil. The dough is then spread very thinly using a pasta making machine and cut into shapes and deep-fried in oil. The crunchy, light biscuits are dusted in icing sugar and handled with tremendous care not only because of how fragile they are, but because they are likely to be devoured by anyone who gets their hand on one!
Cover picture and video © Zainab Gaafar
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
Storage-vessel
Read more
object
Storage-vessel
A large gourd, transformed through a woven neck and tight fitting lid into a container, bokhsa,. Vessels like this could be used to make rob (buttermilk), a fermented milk product. Often made with excess milk, this process of fermentation helps to extend the life of dairy products and provides a delicious base for traditional recipes. In this bokhsa, cracks in the base of the gourd have been locally repaired with vegetable fibre, showing the value of this container to its owner.
Purchased in Buram (South Darfur, Sudan) in 1981 by Paul Wilson © The Trustees of the British Museum
A large gourd, transformed through a woven neck and tight fitting lid into a container, bokhsa,. Vessels like this could be used to make rob (buttermilk), a fermented milk product. Often made with excess milk, this process of fermentation helps to extend the life of dairy products and provides a delicious base for traditional recipes. In this bokhsa, cracks in the base of the gourd have been locally repaired with vegetable fibre, showing the value of this container to its owner.
Purchased in Buram (South Darfur, Sudan) in 1981 by Paul Wilson © The Trustees of the British Museum
Read more
Storage-vessel
A large gourd, transformed through a woven neck and tight fitting lid into a container, bokhsa,. Vessels like this could be used to make rob (buttermilk), a fermented milk product. Often made with excess milk, this process of fermentation helps to extend the life of dairy products and provides a delicious base for traditional recipes. In this bokhsa, cracks in the base of the gourd have been locally repaired with vegetable fibre, showing the value of this container to its owner.
Purchased in Buram (South Darfur, Sudan) in 1981 by Paul Wilson © The Trustees of the British Museum
exit
Food is a lifestyle
30/10/2024
A ladle
Read more
object
A ladle
A ladle, made from part of a gourd with inscribed decorations.
Collected in the Eastern Nuba Mountains, from Otoro Nuba people in 1938 by the anthropologist S F Nadal © The Trustees of the British Museum
A ladle, made from part of a gourd with inscribed decorations.
Collected in the Eastern Nuba Mountains, from Otoro Nuba people in 1938 by the anthropologist S F Nadal © The Trustees of the British Museum
Read more
A ladle
A ladle, made from part of a gourd with inscribed decorations.
Collected in the Eastern Nuba Mountains, from Otoro Nuba people in 1938 by the anthropologist S F Nadal © The Trustees of the British Museum
exit
Food is a lifestyle
30/10/2024
Date harvesting
Read more
object
Date harvesting
Barkal, North Sudan 2015
Zainab Osman Mahgoub and Dr. Osman Mahgoub Gaafar
The strip of land along the banks of the Nile in northern Sudan, the landscape from a distance, on Google Maps for example, may all look very similar. Vast areas of greenery offset the curves of the river with brown-tinted villages enclaved among the gardens. While they may appear similar, in fact there is a wonderful diversity on the ground of villages, towns, tribes, traditions and even languages.
Al-Barkal is one such town with the same palm tree groves inhabited by the people of "Balad Be Tihit" or lower lands, and surrounded by the town of "Be Fawq” who are residents of the highlands living far from the Nile. One of the well-known landmarks of the region, and the reason behind the name of the town, is Al-Barkal mountain, which is a rocky platform rising over 100 metres with a rocky protrusion on the side which has been carved out to resemble a minaret. It is dubbed "Al-Shurayma", or “the crooked tooth” a name created by the most famous Shaygiya tribe poet Hassouna who was expressing his disappointment in one of the great leaders of Al-Barkal saying:
AlBarkal Mountain, the one with a crooked tooth
It cannot compare to Ibn Ouf Mountain in lower Hizaima
The temple of Amun, built by Baankhi and his son Taharqa, can be seen on the side of the mountain along with the disintegrating and slowly vanishing row of stone rams. Some pyramids are scattered around the mountain, and the entire town currently lies on what was the capital of Kush during the reign of the Kingdom of Meroe.
About two kilometres south of the mountain, on the main road, is the house of my grandfather Mahgoub Gaafar Mustafa, a household now inhabited and run by my aunt Ruqayya. The house, and my aunt, are both as important a monument as the ones mentioned above, at least in as far as the following story goes about my visit to the area in 2015, to take part in the date harvesting season, or as it is called "Hash al-Tamur". The text also contains notes by my father, Dr. Osman Mahgoub Gaafar, because my 10-day experience is nothing compared to the length of time he spent there being born in this house and raised on these lands.
The date harvesting season in Al-Barkal begins in September, or "Nasi," as it is called in the old Egyptian Coptic calendar which is used for cultivating and harvesting in most parts of northern Sudan because its months correspond to clear changes in weather patterns and seasons. Al-Barkal produces a variety of dates including the dry variety, when the fruit is left to ripen and dry on the tree before being harvested. This type is easier to preserve and store and is thus more suitable for trading. Soft dates are dates harvested when they are still soft. They are kept in baskets, stacked on top of each other, to maintain their moisture, especially as northern Sudan is a dry region. There are also the semi-soft dates produced in the areas of Rubatab and Jaaliyin in River Nile State, from which types of pressed dates, “ajwa”, are made such as the Mashreq, Wad Laqai and Wad Khatib.
In the past, palm groves in Al-Barkal were secure and left unguarded. However, in more recent times there have been incidents of harvest stealing and a system has therefore been developed to protect the crop. This involves setting a specific day on which the harvest season will begin and within this period, each sagyia, or palm grove, owner will have an allocated day so that everyone knows who will be harvesting their dates on which day. The 18th of September 2015 was the day designated for harvesting the sagyia, owned by my grandfather's family. We went down early in the morning, me and my late aunt Hafsa who was an excellent business woman and who managed our entire family’s date business. The “qafaz” and his family came with us. The “qafaz” is usually a partner of the land owner and cares for, and harvests the dates. The name comes from the term “qafouza”, which is the process of pollinating dates, which takes place in winter, several months before the harvest season.
On our way to the palm groves in the lower lands, we came across a row of young men sitting on the ground next to the main street opposite the farms waiting for work. Myself and my two aunts, Hafsa and Aisha, may God have mercy on both of their souls, were not the only ones who had come to Al-Barkal days before the harvest season. While we had come from Khartoum, this line of young men came from the vast deserts of northern Sudan. During the harvest season, nomadic Arabs camp on the outskirts of the city with men taking up work in harvesting, and women undertaking small domestic chores in the town’s households. The young man whom my aunt hired was from West Africa and had come to northern Sudan to seek an education in Sudan’s khalawi, or Quranic schools. He and his companions had come to work on date harvesting to earn a wage to support him over the next few months. Harvest is a blessed season, characterized by the abundance of wealth and happiness. For a short while people are rich and this is always a reason to celebrate. At the time of our visit, several weddings were planned to take place. Local people who work in Khartoum or other large cities and those who work abroad, usually come home on annual leave during the harvest season. Meanwhile, the reason children are happy is because the harvest season is an official holiday from schools, so that they can help their families harvesting and because the children are given a small wage for gathering dates, whether from their work with their family or from collecting the Haboob dates, which are the dates that are blown down in the strong winds. These latter dates are not of high quality, because they are heterogeneous, but children use them to grow the pile of dates they have gathered.
Ways of paying the workers involved in harvesting varies; the Qafaz usually receives a share of the dates for example one or two branches, or “sabita”, from each palm tree depending on the agreement, and according to the height of the tree. Date pickers prefer money, and are paid per working day, while children and young pickers are paid by the quantity of dates collected. These are usually the dates that fall far away from the area around the palm tree which the children gather in "kaila" which is a tin measuring vessel. One kaila is the equivalent of two rubu which is made up of two malwa while most date sacks are made up of six kaila. These old units of measurement derive from an Islamic heritage. At the end of the season adults buy the dates children have gathered per kaila.
Our small delegation arrived at the sagyia to start the process of harvesting dates. Agricultural plots in northern Sudan are divided into sagiyas, a plot of land approximately twenty to thirty square acres, that can be irrigated with a single traditional water wheel, or saqyia. The name persists even after the old sagyia was replaced by mechanical pumps. The saqya is equal 20 to 30 acres: An acre has twenty four carats, and a carat has twenty four “arrows”, and the sakia is divided by “ropes” and “bones”, which are length measutments, and the happiest is the owner of twenty-four carats of all kinds. The area is divided into a long strip of planting beds called Ingaya, and this strip is watered with a parallel water stream. The side of a single bed is usually in the range of five to six meters, and in the middle of each bed one palm tree is planted, sometimes two palm trees are placed in the corners.
The mother palm tree is called "Omiya", and the small saplings are called "daughters", they can be seen growing next to the tree. Three or four of them are usually left to keep the mother company, and the rest are replanted elsewhere. The palm tree is very similar to humans, it produces off-springs, has male and female trees and lives up to a hundred years, but does not stop growing, and after a while it becomes difficult to reach the top of the dates. A palm tree in Al-Barkal is climbed without using any auxiliary tools such as ropes or ladders. Instead, to climb to the top, date pickers use the dried ridges, called “karoug”, which are left on the trunk when the palm fronds are cut every time the tree grows. Climbers sometimes fall when they step onto the older, weaker ridges.
After the Qafaz climbed the tree, the rest of the workers pulled a piece of tarpaulin underneath. The Qafaz first cut and lowered his branch, and then cut the rest of the branches for the owner of the land, then all the pickers including myself - I was promised a kaila of dates if I helped gather the fallen dates – "scraped" the dates from the branch, that is, by hitting them on the ground until all the dates fell off, then removed the remaining dates by hand. The dates were then gathered in the middle of the linoleum and poured into sacks. Although burlap sacks “shawal” look like they are locally produced, they are in fact imported from India just as they were during British colonial times. The Kanaf factory in the Blue Nile region that was built in the 1970s tried to cover the market's need for sacks, but has now stopped operating. Nowadays sacks are sometimes made of plastic in Sudan. The shawal is then sewn with “arjun” or metal wire and carried home.
Once a shawal was filled we could stop working and have a rest. The place was soon covered with bodies seeking any amount of shade to rest under. Lunch, or brunch, was sent from our house and as usual consisted of gurasa “wheat flat bread” and “waika” dried okra stew, followed by a nap. The cooks at home also have a wage at the end of the season, as no one works for free in the harvest season. At the end of the day we returned home followed by a camel carrying our sacks of dates. The camel walked straight through the door and into the house courtyard just as these animals had entered this same house of my great-grandfather, Mayor Gaafar Wad Mustafa Wad Muhammad, more than sixty years ago. The sacks were lowered into the yard, and then the dates were spread under the sun to dry.
People are usually afraid that the rain will fall suddenly and spoil the crop, because the harvest season corresponds to the rainy season or autumn, and some are so afraid of this happening that they ask the religious Sheikhs to pray and stop the rain falling. Next to our pile of dates was another pile belonging to my other aunt, Aisha, which had arrived on another camel owned by the family of her husband, Muhammad al-Amin Sharif. We found my aunt Aisha sitting proudly next to her high-quality “Gondela” dates, which are called “dates for eating”, such as the tamuda and kalamah variety, which are dates produced in smaller quantities, and distributed in limited ranges. Our pile on the other hand was "Barkawi" which is a commercial date variety produced in large quantities, and exported to different parts of Sudan. "Al-Jaw" meanwhile, is a lower quality date sold to those who do not care about the quality of their dates.
During my ten day stay, there was nothing more important than the topic of dates and their condition. Guests, passers-by and even the shopkeeper may ask you how much you had harvested or how the season had been. “Is the date ‘shayil’ or not?” they would ask, referring to the quantity of dates per branch. If the palm trees this season are not “shayil,” everyone would be discussing the reason why this was; it could be climate change, as my aunt Ruqayya said in one such discussion, or because of increasing humidity caused by the lake created by the recently constructed Marawi dam. In any case, dates were the main topic of conversation, only surpassed once during my stay, when a notorious cat stole some fish from a neighbour’s kitchen.
On our second day of work, our house was transformed to prepare for a wedding in the neighbourhood. Women descended on the house to bake the wedding biscuits and pastries for a son’s wedding. They wanted to use our large gas oven which is more efficient than the old stoves run on "wagood,” dry palm fronds, especially the "kood," the wide part of the palm fronds. These large leaves are also used to make children’s toys and sometimes to make whips for disciplining the same children! The family who’s occasion it is, brings trays filled with dishes of food for lunch to feed everyone. Just like with the dates, the owner of the occasion, harvest or wedding, is always responsible for feeding everyone who gives a helping hand.
As usual during wedding preparations, the house is filled with laughter, joviality and singing. In the outdoor kitchen women work a biscuit making machine while others come to chat on the veranda. From the veranda the house’s traditional roof can be seen, made of course, from palm trunks which are cut lengthwise into quarters or sixths and are called "falaga". These form the main structure on which the rest of the roof is built. The stems of palm fronds are tied together and placed on top of the structure. Previously, green palm fronds were usually cut and removed when the trees were pruned outside of the harvest season so that the dates would not be damaged. Palm fronds and mud are then placed on top of newspapers and this is topped with animal manure, usually donkey dung. Before the autumn, this process is repeated before the walls are painted white, and the water drains are cleared, as stagnant water and moisture are the enemies of mud houses.
Once the harvesting season ends, the second stage begins, which involves the packaging and distribution of dates. “The packers" are skilled workers who sort out the dates quickly and pack them. Bad dates, or "karmosha", are thrown to the animals to eat. In the past, dates were stored in clay silos of varying sizes that were raised off the ground called “Qasiba” or “Qusaiba”. These were also used to store crops such as wheat and continue to be used in some villages in the north but in our region, dates are placed in tight sacks, raised above the ground supported by iron beams away from water and insects, and covered with plastic sheeting.
"Al Musharaf dates, which the sam “protective walls” were raised for
The one which before it ripens the “sababa” middle men showed up
The happy one in the world takes the fate of his days
And on you Oh God I don't know what comes ahead
(old Shayqi poet)
A number of traders deal in dates, mostly the “sababa” who are the middlemen who buy dates from the small-scale dealers and pickers and sell them on to market traders. Street vendors buy dates to sell in the market. Merchants store dates in large warehouses and sell them wholesale to other merchants in large cities such as Al-Obeid, Al-Fasher, Nyala, Madani, Damazin, Al-Nuhud and others. In the past, dates were transported down the river by ship to Karima and from there by train onto all these cities. They also travelled by river to the south on the White Nile from Kosti. Dates also have a large market in eastern Sudan delivered there by train and sold by the “malwa” in the market and where they are consumed with coffee.
In the late fifties, during the government of General Aboud and with the help of American aid, a date processing factory was set up in Karima. The machinery arrived from California and was assembled at the factory and the factory produced dates stuffed with walnuts, almonds and coconut packed in beautiful boxes. As part of the packaging process, dates are fumigated to wash, clean and tenderize them to help remove the kernel, which was used as animal feed, and to insert a filling. The factory also produced white spirit or alcohol as a by-product which was used in hospitals to disinfect wounds. The factory stopped fully operating a long time ago, but returned to work seasonally through the efforts of local Sudanese entrepreneurs when the dates were harvested.
I returned to Khartoum with a kaila of dates which was not given to me as payment because I did not last more than a quarter of a day. It was harder than I imagined! The little sack I was given was a gift from my aunts for my efforts.
Cover picture © Zainab Gaafar
Barkal, North Sudan 2015
Zainab Osman Mahgoub and Dr. Osman Mahgoub Gaafar
The strip of land along the banks of the Nile in northern Sudan, the landscape from a distance, on Google Maps for example, may all look very similar. Vast areas of greenery offset the curves of the river with brown-tinted villages enclaved among the gardens. While they may appear similar, in fact there is a wonderful diversity on the ground of villages, towns, tribes, traditions and even languages.
Al-Barkal is one such town with the same palm tree groves inhabited by the people of "Balad Be Tihit" or lower lands, and surrounded by the town of "Be Fawq” who are residents of the highlands living far from the Nile. One of the well-known landmarks of the region, and the reason behind the name of the town, is Al-Barkal mountain, which is a rocky platform rising over 100 metres with a rocky protrusion on the side which has been carved out to resemble a minaret. It is dubbed "Al-Shurayma", or “the crooked tooth” a name created by the most famous Shaygiya tribe poet Hassouna who was expressing his disappointment in one of the great leaders of Al-Barkal saying:
AlBarkal Mountain, the one with a crooked tooth
It cannot compare to Ibn Ouf Mountain in lower Hizaima
The temple of Amun, built by Baankhi and his son Taharqa, can be seen on the side of the mountain along with the disintegrating and slowly vanishing row of stone rams. Some pyramids are scattered around the mountain, and the entire town currently lies on what was the capital of Kush during the reign of the Kingdom of Meroe.
About two kilometres south of the mountain, on the main road, is the house of my grandfather Mahgoub Gaafar Mustafa, a household now inhabited and run by my aunt Ruqayya. The house, and my aunt, are both as important a monument as the ones mentioned above, at least in as far as the following story goes about my visit to the area in 2015, to take part in the date harvesting season, or as it is called "Hash al-Tamur". The text also contains notes by my father, Dr. Osman Mahgoub Gaafar, because my 10-day experience is nothing compared to the length of time he spent there being born in this house and raised on these lands.
The date harvesting season in Al-Barkal begins in September, or "Nasi," as it is called in the old Egyptian Coptic calendar which is used for cultivating and harvesting in most parts of northern Sudan because its months correspond to clear changes in weather patterns and seasons. Al-Barkal produces a variety of dates including the dry variety, when the fruit is left to ripen and dry on the tree before being harvested. This type is easier to preserve and store and is thus more suitable for trading. Soft dates are dates harvested when they are still soft. They are kept in baskets, stacked on top of each other, to maintain their moisture, especially as northern Sudan is a dry region. There are also the semi-soft dates produced in the areas of Rubatab and Jaaliyin in River Nile State, from which types of pressed dates, “ajwa”, are made such as the Mashreq, Wad Laqai and Wad Khatib.
In the past, palm groves in Al-Barkal were secure and left unguarded. However, in more recent times there have been incidents of harvest stealing and a system has therefore been developed to protect the crop. This involves setting a specific day on which the harvest season will begin and within this period, each sagyia, or palm grove, owner will have an allocated day so that everyone knows who will be harvesting their dates on which day. The 18th of September 2015 was the day designated for harvesting the sagyia, owned by my grandfather's family. We went down early in the morning, me and my late aunt Hafsa who was an excellent business woman and who managed our entire family’s date business. The “qafaz” and his family came with us. The “qafaz” is usually a partner of the land owner and cares for, and harvests the dates. The name comes from the term “qafouza”, which is the process of pollinating dates, which takes place in winter, several months before the harvest season.
On our way to the palm groves in the lower lands, we came across a row of young men sitting on the ground next to the main street opposite the farms waiting for work. Myself and my two aunts, Hafsa and Aisha, may God have mercy on both of their souls, were not the only ones who had come to Al-Barkal days before the harvest season. While we had come from Khartoum, this line of young men came from the vast deserts of northern Sudan. During the harvest season, nomadic Arabs camp on the outskirts of the city with men taking up work in harvesting, and women undertaking small domestic chores in the town’s households. The young man whom my aunt hired was from West Africa and had come to northern Sudan to seek an education in Sudan’s khalawi, or Quranic schools. He and his companions had come to work on date harvesting to earn a wage to support him over the next few months. Harvest is a blessed season, characterized by the abundance of wealth and happiness. For a short while people are rich and this is always a reason to celebrate. At the time of our visit, several weddings were planned to take place. Local people who work in Khartoum or other large cities and those who work abroad, usually come home on annual leave during the harvest season. Meanwhile, the reason children are happy is because the harvest season is an official holiday from schools, so that they can help their families harvesting and because the children are given a small wage for gathering dates, whether from their work with their family or from collecting the Haboob dates, which are the dates that are blown down in the strong winds. These latter dates are not of high quality, because they are heterogeneous, but children use them to grow the pile of dates they have gathered.
Ways of paying the workers involved in harvesting varies; the Qafaz usually receives a share of the dates for example one or two branches, or “sabita”, from each palm tree depending on the agreement, and according to the height of the tree. Date pickers prefer money, and are paid per working day, while children and young pickers are paid by the quantity of dates collected. These are usually the dates that fall far away from the area around the palm tree which the children gather in "kaila" which is a tin measuring vessel. One kaila is the equivalent of two rubu which is made up of two malwa while most date sacks are made up of six kaila. These old units of measurement derive from an Islamic heritage. At the end of the season adults buy the dates children have gathered per kaila.
Our small delegation arrived at the sagyia to start the process of harvesting dates. Agricultural plots in northern Sudan are divided into sagiyas, a plot of land approximately twenty to thirty square acres, that can be irrigated with a single traditional water wheel, or saqyia. The name persists even after the old sagyia was replaced by mechanical pumps. The saqya is equal 20 to 30 acres: An acre has twenty four carats, and a carat has twenty four “arrows”, and the sakia is divided by “ropes” and “bones”, which are length measutments, and the happiest is the owner of twenty-four carats of all kinds. The area is divided into a long strip of planting beds called Ingaya, and this strip is watered with a parallel water stream. The side of a single bed is usually in the range of five to six meters, and in the middle of each bed one palm tree is planted, sometimes two palm trees are placed in the corners.
The mother palm tree is called "Omiya", and the small saplings are called "daughters", they can be seen growing next to the tree. Three or four of them are usually left to keep the mother company, and the rest are replanted elsewhere. The palm tree is very similar to humans, it produces off-springs, has male and female trees and lives up to a hundred years, but does not stop growing, and after a while it becomes difficult to reach the top of the dates. A palm tree in Al-Barkal is climbed without using any auxiliary tools such as ropes or ladders. Instead, to climb to the top, date pickers use the dried ridges, called “karoug”, which are left on the trunk when the palm fronds are cut every time the tree grows. Climbers sometimes fall when they step onto the older, weaker ridges.
After the Qafaz climbed the tree, the rest of the workers pulled a piece of tarpaulin underneath. The Qafaz first cut and lowered his branch, and then cut the rest of the branches for the owner of the land, then all the pickers including myself - I was promised a kaila of dates if I helped gather the fallen dates – "scraped" the dates from the branch, that is, by hitting them on the ground until all the dates fell off, then removed the remaining dates by hand. The dates were then gathered in the middle of the linoleum and poured into sacks. Although burlap sacks “shawal” look like they are locally produced, they are in fact imported from India just as they were during British colonial times. The Kanaf factory in the Blue Nile region that was built in the 1970s tried to cover the market's need for sacks, but has now stopped operating. Nowadays sacks are sometimes made of plastic in Sudan. The shawal is then sewn with “arjun” or metal wire and carried home.
Once a shawal was filled we could stop working and have a rest. The place was soon covered with bodies seeking any amount of shade to rest under. Lunch, or brunch, was sent from our house and as usual consisted of gurasa “wheat flat bread” and “waika” dried okra stew, followed by a nap. The cooks at home also have a wage at the end of the season, as no one works for free in the harvest season. At the end of the day we returned home followed by a camel carrying our sacks of dates. The camel walked straight through the door and into the house courtyard just as these animals had entered this same house of my great-grandfather, Mayor Gaafar Wad Mustafa Wad Muhammad, more than sixty years ago. The sacks were lowered into the yard, and then the dates were spread under the sun to dry.
People are usually afraid that the rain will fall suddenly and spoil the crop, because the harvest season corresponds to the rainy season or autumn, and some are so afraid of this happening that they ask the religious Sheikhs to pray and stop the rain falling. Next to our pile of dates was another pile belonging to my other aunt, Aisha, which had arrived on another camel owned by the family of her husband, Muhammad al-Amin Sharif. We found my aunt Aisha sitting proudly next to her high-quality “Gondela” dates, which are called “dates for eating”, such as the tamuda and kalamah variety, which are dates produced in smaller quantities, and distributed in limited ranges. Our pile on the other hand was "Barkawi" which is a commercial date variety produced in large quantities, and exported to different parts of Sudan. "Al-Jaw" meanwhile, is a lower quality date sold to those who do not care about the quality of their dates.
During my ten day stay, there was nothing more important than the topic of dates and their condition. Guests, passers-by and even the shopkeeper may ask you how much you had harvested or how the season had been. “Is the date ‘shayil’ or not?” they would ask, referring to the quantity of dates per branch. If the palm trees this season are not “shayil,” everyone would be discussing the reason why this was; it could be climate change, as my aunt Ruqayya said in one such discussion, or because of increasing humidity caused by the lake created by the recently constructed Marawi dam. In any case, dates were the main topic of conversation, only surpassed once during my stay, when a notorious cat stole some fish from a neighbour’s kitchen.
On our second day of work, our house was transformed to prepare for a wedding in the neighbourhood. Women descended on the house to bake the wedding biscuits and pastries for a son’s wedding. They wanted to use our large gas oven which is more efficient than the old stoves run on "wagood,” dry palm fronds, especially the "kood," the wide part of the palm fronds. These large leaves are also used to make children’s toys and sometimes to make whips for disciplining the same children! The family who’s occasion it is, brings trays filled with dishes of food for lunch to feed everyone. Just like with the dates, the owner of the occasion, harvest or wedding, is always responsible for feeding everyone who gives a helping hand.
As usual during wedding preparations, the house is filled with laughter, joviality and singing. In the outdoor kitchen women work a biscuit making machine while others come to chat on the veranda. From the veranda the house’s traditional roof can be seen, made of course, from palm trunks which are cut lengthwise into quarters or sixths and are called "falaga". These form the main structure on which the rest of the roof is built. The stems of palm fronds are tied together and placed on top of the structure. Previously, green palm fronds were usually cut and removed when the trees were pruned outside of the harvest season so that the dates would not be damaged. Palm fronds and mud are then placed on top of newspapers and this is topped with animal manure, usually donkey dung. Before the autumn, this process is repeated before the walls are painted white, and the water drains are cleared, as stagnant water and moisture are the enemies of mud houses.
Once the harvesting season ends, the second stage begins, which involves the packaging and distribution of dates. “The packers" are skilled workers who sort out the dates quickly and pack them. Bad dates, or "karmosha", are thrown to the animals to eat. In the past, dates were stored in clay silos of varying sizes that were raised off the ground called “Qasiba” or “Qusaiba”. These were also used to store crops such as wheat and continue to be used in some villages in the north but in our region, dates are placed in tight sacks, raised above the ground supported by iron beams away from water and insects, and covered with plastic sheeting.
"Al Musharaf dates, which the sam “protective walls” were raised for
The one which before it ripens the “sababa” middle men showed up
The happy one in the world takes the fate of his days
And on you Oh God I don't know what comes ahead
(old Shayqi poet)
A number of traders deal in dates, mostly the “sababa” who are the middlemen who buy dates from the small-scale dealers and pickers and sell them on to market traders. Street vendors buy dates to sell in the market. Merchants store dates in large warehouses and sell them wholesale to other merchants in large cities such as Al-Obeid, Al-Fasher, Nyala, Madani, Damazin, Al-Nuhud and others. In the past, dates were transported down the river by ship to Karima and from there by train onto all these cities. They also travelled by river to the south on the White Nile from Kosti. Dates also have a large market in eastern Sudan delivered there by train and sold by the “malwa” in the market and where they are consumed with coffee.
In the late fifties, during the government of General Aboud and with the help of American aid, a date processing factory was set up in Karima. The machinery arrived from California and was assembled at the factory and the factory produced dates stuffed with walnuts, almonds and coconut packed in beautiful boxes. As part of the packaging process, dates are fumigated to wash, clean and tenderize them to help remove the kernel, which was used as animal feed, and to insert a filling. The factory also produced white spirit or alcohol as a by-product which was used in hospitals to disinfect wounds. The factory stopped fully operating a long time ago, but returned to work seasonally through the efforts of local Sudanese entrepreneurs when the dates were harvested.
I returned to Khartoum with a kaila of dates which was not given to me as payment because I did not last more than a quarter of a day. It was harder than I imagined! The little sack I was given was a gift from my aunts for my efforts.
Cover picture © Zainab Gaafar
Read more
Date harvesting
Barkal, North Sudan 2015
Zainab Osman Mahgoub and Dr. Osman Mahgoub Gaafar
The strip of land along the banks of the Nile in northern Sudan, the landscape from a distance, on Google Maps for example, may all look very similar. Vast areas of greenery offset the curves of the river with brown-tinted villages enclaved among the gardens. While they may appear similar, in fact there is a wonderful diversity on the ground of villages, towns, tribes, traditions and even languages.
Al-Barkal is one such town with the same palm tree groves inhabited by the people of "Balad Be Tihit" or lower lands, and surrounded by the town of "Be Fawq” who are residents of the highlands living far from the Nile. One of the well-known landmarks of the region, and the reason behind the name of the town, is Al-Barkal mountain, which is a rocky platform rising over 100 metres with a rocky protrusion on the side which has been carved out to resemble a minaret. It is dubbed "Al-Shurayma", or “the crooked tooth” a name created by the most famous Shaygiya tribe poet Hassouna who was expressing his disappointment in one of the great leaders of Al-Barkal saying:
AlBarkal Mountain, the one with a crooked tooth
It cannot compare to Ibn Ouf Mountain in lower Hizaima
The temple of Amun, built by Baankhi and his son Taharqa, can be seen on the side of the mountain along with the disintegrating and slowly vanishing row of stone rams. Some pyramids are scattered around the mountain, and the entire town currently lies on what was the capital of Kush during the reign of the Kingdom of Meroe.
About two kilometres south of the mountain, on the main road, is the house of my grandfather Mahgoub Gaafar Mustafa, a household now inhabited and run by my aunt Ruqayya. The house, and my aunt, are both as important a monument as the ones mentioned above, at least in as far as the following story goes about my visit to the area in 2015, to take part in the date harvesting season, or as it is called "Hash al-Tamur". The text also contains notes by my father, Dr. Osman Mahgoub Gaafar, because my 10-day experience is nothing compared to the length of time he spent there being born in this house and raised on these lands.
The date harvesting season in Al-Barkal begins in September, or "Nasi," as it is called in the old Egyptian Coptic calendar which is used for cultivating and harvesting in most parts of northern Sudan because its months correspond to clear changes in weather patterns and seasons. Al-Barkal produces a variety of dates including the dry variety, when the fruit is left to ripen and dry on the tree before being harvested. This type is easier to preserve and store and is thus more suitable for trading. Soft dates are dates harvested when they are still soft. They are kept in baskets, stacked on top of each other, to maintain their moisture, especially as northern Sudan is a dry region. There are also the semi-soft dates produced in the areas of Rubatab and Jaaliyin in River Nile State, from which types of pressed dates, “ajwa”, are made such as the Mashreq, Wad Laqai and Wad Khatib.
In the past, palm groves in Al-Barkal were secure and left unguarded. However, in more recent times there have been incidents of harvest stealing and a system has therefore been developed to protect the crop. This involves setting a specific day on which the harvest season will begin and within this period, each sagyia, or palm grove, owner will have an allocated day so that everyone knows who will be harvesting their dates on which day. The 18th of September 2015 was the day designated for harvesting the sagyia, owned by my grandfather's family. We went down early in the morning, me and my late aunt Hafsa who was an excellent business woman and who managed our entire family’s date business. The “qafaz” and his family came with us. The “qafaz” is usually a partner of the land owner and cares for, and harvests the dates. The name comes from the term “qafouza”, which is the process of pollinating dates, which takes place in winter, several months before the harvest season.
On our way to the palm groves in the lower lands, we came across a row of young men sitting on the ground next to the main street opposite the farms waiting for work. Myself and my two aunts, Hafsa and Aisha, may God have mercy on both of their souls, were not the only ones who had come to Al-Barkal days before the harvest season. While we had come from Khartoum, this line of young men came from the vast deserts of northern Sudan. During the harvest season, nomadic Arabs camp on the outskirts of the city with men taking up work in harvesting, and women undertaking small domestic chores in the town’s households. The young man whom my aunt hired was from West Africa and had come to northern Sudan to seek an education in Sudan’s khalawi, or Quranic schools. He and his companions had come to work on date harvesting to earn a wage to support him over the next few months. Harvest is a blessed season, characterized by the abundance of wealth and happiness. For a short while people are rich and this is always a reason to celebrate. At the time of our visit, several weddings were planned to take place. Local people who work in Khartoum or other large cities and those who work abroad, usually come home on annual leave during the harvest season. Meanwhile, the reason children are happy is because the harvest season is an official holiday from schools, so that they can help their families harvesting and because the children are given a small wage for gathering dates, whether from their work with their family or from collecting the Haboob dates, which are the dates that are blown down in the strong winds. These latter dates are not of high quality, because they are heterogeneous, but children use them to grow the pile of dates they have gathered.
Ways of paying the workers involved in harvesting varies; the Qafaz usually receives a share of the dates for example one or two branches, or “sabita”, from each palm tree depending on the agreement, and according to the height of the tree. Date pickers prefer money, and are paid per working day, while children and young pickers are paid by the quantity of dates collected. These are usually the dates that fall far away from the area around the palm tree which the children gather in "kaila" which is a tin measuring vessel. One kaila is the equivalent of two rubu which is made up of two malwa while most date sacks are made up of six kaila. These old units of measurement derive from an Islamic heritage. At the end of the season adults buy the dates children have gathered per kaila.
Our small delegation arrived at the sagyia to start the process of harvesting dates. Agricultural plots in northern Sudan are divided into sagiyas, a plot of land approximately twenty to thirty square acres, that can be irrigated with a single traditional water wheel, or saqyia. The name persists even after the old sagyia was replaced by mechanical pumps. The saqya is equal 20 to 30 acres: An acre has twenty four carats, and a carat has twenty four “arrows”, and the sakia is divided by “ropes” and “bones”, which are length measutments, and the happiest is the owner of twenty-four carats of all kinds. The area is divided into a long strip of planting beds called Ingaya, and this strip is watered with a parallel water stream. The side of a single bed is usually in the range of five to six meters, and in the middle of each bed one palm tree is planted, sometimes two palm trees are placed in the corners.
The mother palm tree is called "Omiya", and the small saplings are called "daughters", they can be seen growing next to the tree. Three or four of them are usually left to keep the mother company, and the rest are replanted elsewhere. The palm tree is very similar to humans, it produces off-springs, has male and female trees and lives up to a hundred years, but does not stop growing, and after a while it becomes difficult to reach the top of the dates. A palm tree in Al-Barkal is climbed without using any auxiliary tools such as ropes or ladders. Instead, to climb to the top, date pickers use the dried ridges, called “karoug”, which are left on the trunk when the palm fronds are cut every time the tree grows. Climbers sometimes fall when they step onto the older, weaker ridges.
After the Qafaz climbed the tree, the rest of the workers pulled a piece of tarpaulin underneath. The Qafaz first cut and lowered his branch, and then cut the rest of the branches for the owner of the land, then all the pickers including myself - I was promised a kaila of dates if I helped gather the fallen dates – "scraped" the dates from the branch, that is, by hitting them on the ground until all the dates fell off, then removed the remaining dates by hand. The dates were then gathered in the middle of the linoleum and poured into sacks. Although burlap sacks “shawal” look like they are locally produced, they are in fact imported from India just as they were during British colonial times. The Kanaf factory in the Blue Nile region that was built in the 1970s tried to cover the market's need for sacks, but has now stopped operating. Nowadays sacks are sometimes made of plastic in Sudan. The shawal is then sewn with “arjun” or metal wire and carried home.
Once a shawal was filled we could stop working and have a rest. The place was soon covered with bodies seeking any amount of shade to rest under. Lunch, or brunch, was sent from our house and as usual consisted of gurasa “wheat flat bread” and “waika” dried okra stew, followed by a nap. The cooks at home also have a wage at the end of the season, as no one works for free in the harvest season. At the end of the day we returned home followed by a camel carrying our sacks of dates. The camel walked straight through the door and into the house courtyard just as these animals had entered this same house of my great-grandfather, Mayor Gaafar Wad Mustafa Wad Muhammad, more than sixty years ago. The sacks were lowered into the yard, and then the dates were spread under the sun to dry.
People are usually afraid that the rain will fall suddenly and spoil the crop, because the harvest season corresponds to the rainy season or autumn, and some are so afraid of this happening that they ask the religious Sheikhs to pray and stop the rain falling. Next to our pile of dates was another pile belonging to my other aunt, Aisha, which had arrived on another camel owned by the family of her husband, Muhammad al-Amin Sharif. We found my aunt Aisha sitting proudly next to her high-quality “Gondela” dates, which are called “dates for eating”, such as the tamuda and kalamah variety, which are dates produced in smaller quantities, and distributed in limited ranges. Our pile on the other hand was "Barkawi" which is a commercial date variety produced in large quantities, and exported to different parts of Sudan. "Al-Jaw" meanwhile, is a lower quality date sold to those who do not care about the quality of their dates.
During my ten day stay, there was nothing more important than the topic of dates and their condition. Guests, passers-by and even the shopkeeper may ask you how much you had harvested or how the season had been. “Is the date ‘shayil’ or not?” they would ask, referring to the quantity of dates per branch. If the palm trees this season are not “shayil,” everyone would be discussing the reason why this was; it could be climate change, as my aunt Ruqayya said in one such discussion, or because of increasing humidity caused by the lake created by the recently constructed Marawi dam. In any case, dates were the main topic of conversation, only surpassed once during my stay, when a notorious cat stole some fish from a neighbour’s kitchen.
On our second day of work, our house was transformed to prepare for a wedding in the neighbourhood. Women descended on the house to bake the wedding biscuits and pastries for a son’s wedding. They wanted to use our large gas oven which is more efficient than the old stoves run on "wagood,” dry palm fronds, especially the "kood," the wide part of the palm fronds. These large leaves are also used to make children’s toys and sometimes to make whips for disciplining the same children! The family who’s occasion it is, brings trays filled with dishes of food for lunch to feed everyone. Just like with the dates, the owner of the occasion, harvest or wedding, is always responsible for feeding everyone who gives a helping hand.
As usual during wedding preparations, the house is filled with laughter, joviality and singing. In the outdoor kitchen women work a biscuit making machine while others come to chat on the veranda. From the veranda the house’s traditional roof can be seen, made of course, from palm trunks which are cut lengthwise into quarters or sixths and are called "falaga". These form the main structure on which the rest of the roof is built. The stems of palm fronds are tied together and placed on top of the structure. Previously, green palm fronds were usually cut and removed when the trees were pruned outside of the harvest season so that the dates would not be damaged. Palm fronds and mud are then placed on top of newspapers and this is topped with animal manure, usually donkey dung. Before the autumn, this process is repeated before the walls are painted white, and the water drains are cleared, as stagnant water and moisture are the enemies of mud houses.
Once the harvesting season ends, the second stage begins, which involves the packaging and distribution of dates. “The packers" are skilled workers who sort out the dates quickly and pack them. Bad dates, or "karmosha", are thrown to the animals to eat. In the past, dates were stored in clay silos of varying sizes that were raised off the ground called “Qasiba” or “Qusaiba”. These were also used to store crops such as wheat and continue to be used in some villages in the north but in our region, dates are placed in tight sacks, raised above the ground supported by iron beams away from water and insects, and covered with plastic sheeting.
"Al Musharaf dates, which the sam “protective walls” were raised for
The one which before it ripens the “sababa” middle men showed up
The happy one in the world takes the fate of his days
And on you Oh God I don't know what comes ahead
(old Shayqi poet)
A number of traders deal in dates, mostly the “sababa” who are the middlemen who buy dates from the small-scale dealers and pickers and sell them on to market traders. Street vendors buy dates to sell in the market. Merchants store dates in large warehouses and sell them wholesale to other merchants in large cities such as Al-Obeid, Al-Fasher, Nyala, Madani, Damazin, Al-Nuhud and others. In the past, dates were transported down the river by ship to Karima and from there by train onto all these cities. They also travelled by river to the south on the White Nile from Kosti. Dates also have a large market in eastern Sudan delivered there by train and sold by the “malwa” in the market and where they are consumed with coffee.
In the late fifties, during the government of General Aboud and with the help of American aid, a date processing factory was set up in Karima. The machinery arrived from California and was assembled at the factory and the factory produced dates stuffed with walnuts, almonds and coconut packed in beautiful boxes. As part of the packaging process, dates are fumigated to wash, clean and tenderize them to help remove the kernel, which was used as animal feed, and to insert a filling. The factory also produced white spirit or alcohol as a by-product which was used in hospitals to disinfect wounds. The factory stopped fully operating a long time ago, but returned to work seasonally through the efforts of local Sudanese entrepreneurs when the dates were harvested.
I returned to Khartoum with a kaila of dates which was not given to me as payment because I did not last more than a quarter of a day. It was harder than I imagined! The little sack I was given was a gift from my aunts for my efforts.
Cover picture © Zainab Gaafar
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
Harvest season playlist
Read more
object
Harvest season playlist
This playlist contains a combination of traditional harvest songs, music and dances as well as a group of new songs celebrating sudanese produce and harvest.
Harvest music has always been an influence to modern music and songs and the beats of the harvesting a tune for many new music style such as Zanig and Rap.
Header picture © A woman using a local threshing tool called ‘ab rasen’ to separate the grains from the chaff after the harvest. Mohammed Osman, Gezira
This playlist contains a combination of traditional harvest songs, music and dances as well as a group of new songs celebrating sudanese produce and harvest.
Harvest music has always been an influence to modern music and songs and the beats of the harvesting a tune for many new music style such as Zanig and Rap.
Header picture © A woman using a local threshing tool called ‘ab rasen’ to separate the grains from the chaff after the harvest. Mohammed Osman, Gezira
Read more
Harvest season playlist
This playlist contains a combination of traditional harvest songs, music and dances as well as a group of new songs celebrating sudanese produce and harvest.
Harvest music has always been an influence to modern music and songs and the beats of the harvesting a tune for many new music style such as Zanig and Rap.
Header picture © A woman using a local threshing tool called ‘ab rasen’ to separate the grains from the chaff after the harvest. Mohammed Osman, Gezira
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
It’s a rainy day
Read more
object
It’s a rainy day
Cultures determine which foods we crave; in colder countries this could be for comfort foods that are high in energy to warm up the body whereas in hot countries like Sudan, cravings are often associated with foods that cool us down, a cold lime juice or homemade popsicles. In Sudan, and as temperatures drop, during the winter months or at the beginning of the rainy season, people have different cravings. They may choose to spend time outside, eating grilled meats such as agashay and shaya, or fish cooked in different ways like fried or grilled bulti or ijil and sometimes salted fish known as faseekh. A simple milky tea with ligaymat donuts is also a popular choice in the cooler weather. The way people describe the objects of their cravings is indicative of how keen they are; “hot fried fish with fresh rocket and white onions, and an ice cold bottle of fizzy pop” is listed longingly. Whatever the favorite dish, what people enjoy the most is spending time together enjoying the weather and the delicious food.
Cultures determine which foods we crave; in colder countries this could be for comfort foods that are high in energy to warm up the body whereas in hot countries like Sudan, cravings are often associated with foods that cool us down, a cold lime juice or homemade popsicles. In Sudan, and as temperatures drop, during the winter months or at the beginning of the rainy season, people have different cravings. They may choose to spend time outside, eating grilled meats such as agashay and shaya, or fish cooked in different ways like fried or grilled bulti or ijil and sometimes salted fish known as faseekh. A simple milky tea with ligaymat donuts is also a popular choice in the cooler weather. The way people describe the objects of their cravings is indicative of how keen they are; “hot fried fish with fresh rocket and white onions, and an ice cold bottle of fizzy pop” is listed longingly. Whatever the favorite dish, what people enjoy the most is spending time together enjoying the weather and the delicious food.
Read more
It’s a rainy day
Cultures determine which foods we crave; in colder countries this could be for comfort foods that are high in energy to warm up the body whereas in hot countries like Sudan, cravings are often associated with foods that cool us down, a cold lime juice or homemade popsicles. In Sudan, and as temperatures drop, during the winter months or at the beginning of the rainy season, people have different cravings. They may choose to spend time outside, eating grilled meats such as agashay and shaya, or fish cooked in different ways like fried or grilled bulti or ijil and sometimes salted fish known as faseekh. A simple milky tea with ligaymat donuts is also a popular choice in the cooler weather. The way people describe the objects of their cravings is indicative of how keen they are; “hot fried fish with fresh rocket and white onions, and an ice cold bottle of fizzy pop” is listed longingly. Whatever the favorite dish, what people enjoy the most is spending time together enjoying the weather and the delicious food.
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
The cheese of Kazgil
Read more
object
The cheese of Kazgil
The Kazgil region is known for its cheese making and the history of Kazgil cheese dates back to the late 1920s a time when a large number of nomadic tribes, who were able to supply large quantities of milk, came through the area that has an extensive forest and vast agricultural lands. At the beginning, a cheese making school was established in Al-Obaid, and the people of Kazgil were invited to learn the skills required to make various cheeses and were awarded certificates for their efforts. After independence a large and successful development programme was implemented that helped increase the activity of the cheese industry in the area until it became a ‘cheese centre’ and earned a reputation for good quality cheese. Relations between the nomads and local farmers were strengthened and the volume of nomads passing through increased, particularly now that they could earn good money for their milk.
Braided cheese is one of the most famous types of cheeses produced in the area and is a cooked type of cheese similar to mozzarella. After adding rennet, an enzyme that used to be extracted from calf intestines and is now made chemically, the curd is separated from the water and cooked in boiling water. Unlike mozzarella which is shaped into balls, braided cheese is stretched into long strips and salt and nigella seeds are added to the mixture. The difference between cooked and uncooked cheeses, such as white, or feta cheese, is that after the curd separates, the cheese is boiled in salted water for a short period of time and a large amount of salt is added to it to preserve it instead of cooking it. In this way the cheese loses its melting property when cooked. This video was filmed as part of the Heritage Survey and Documentation Project in Kordofan that was conducted in 2021.
The Kazgil region is known for its cheese making and the history of Kazgil cheese dates back to the late 1920s a time when a large number of nomadic tribes, who were able to supply large quantities of milk, came through the area that has an extensive forest and vast agricultural lands. At the beginning, a cheese making school was established in Al-Obaid, and the people of Kazgil were invited to learn the skills required to make various cheeses and were awarded certificates for their efforts. After independence a large and successful development programme was implemented that helped increase the activity of the cheese industry in the area until it became a ‘cheese centre’ and earned a reputation for good quality cheese. Relations between the nomads and local farmers were strengthened and the volume of nomads passing through increased, particularly now that they could earn good money for their milk.
Braided cheese is one of the most famous types of cheeses produced in the area and is a cooked type of cheese similar to mozzarella. After adding rennet, an enzyme that used to be extracted from calf intestines and is now made chemically, the curd is separated from the water and cooked in boiling water. Unlike mozzarella which is shaped into balls, braided cheese is stretched into long strips and salt and nigella seeds are added to the mixture. The difference between cooked and uncooked cheeses, such as white, or feta cheese, is that after the curd separates, the cheese is boiled in salted water for a short period of time and a large amount of salt is added to it to preserve it instead of cooking it. In this way the cheese loses its melting property when cooked. This video was filmed as part of the Heritage Survey and Documentation Project in Kordofan that was conducted in 2021.
Read more
The cheese of Kazgil
The Kazgil region is known for its cheese making and the history of Kazgil cheese dates back to the late 1920s a time when a large number of nomadic tribes, who were able to supply large quantities of milk, came through the area that has an extensive forest and vast agricultural lands. At the beginning, a cheese making school was established in Al-Obaid, and the people of Kazgil were invited to learn the skills required to make various cheeses and were awarded certificates for their efforts. After independence a large and successful development programme was implemented that helped increase the activity of the cheese industry in the area until it became a ‘cheese centre’ and earned a reputation for good quality cheese. Relations between the nomads and local farmers were strengthened and the volume of nomads passing through increased, particularly now that they could earn good money for their milk.
Braided cheese is one of the most famous types of cheeses produced in the area and is a cooked type of cheese similar to mozzarella. After adding rennet, an enzyme that used to be extracted from calf intestines and is now made chemically, the curd is separated from the water and cooked in boiling water. Unlike mozzarella which is shaped into balls, braided cheese is stretched into long strips and salt and nigella seeds are added to the mixture. The difference between cooked and uncooked cheeses, such as white, or feta cheese, is that after the curd separates, the cheese is boiled in salted water for a short period of time and a large amount of salt is added to it to preserve it instead of cooking it. In this way the cheese loses its melting property when cooked. This video was filmed as part of the Heritage Survey and Documentation Project in Kordofan that was conducted in 2021.
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
Street Food
Read more
object
Street Food
The street food experience is a unique one and offers a huge range of options and menu choices. The most apparent form of street food is that which is sold by the women known as tea ladies who mainly serve hot beverages such as tea, coffee and karkade or hibiscus tea.
These settings are most popular among groups of friends and youth. Other types of food are light snacks such as tamia or falafel and baleela, a boiled grain, as well as desserts such as bakomba, made with another type of wheat grain. Other more substantial food, such as the traditional stew dishes, are served nearer to where manual and other forms of employees work or live such as by construction sites and in central parts of Khartoum. Many traditional restaurants serve food to their customers seated outside in the street rather than indoors.
“One pound for your juice of the lemons of Bara, that arrived by plane!”
Taking a walk through the central bus station in Khartoum you are likely to hear this call by the juice sellers with their plastic buckets brimming with sweet liquid and chunks of ice bobbing on the surface. Fresh juices and snacks are the most common types of street food on offer next to transport hubs. There are also children pushing wheelbarrows selling sticks of sugarcane and roasted corn on the cob, women with baskets on their heads selling dry fruits and nuts, as well as various mixtures of condiments made from tabaldi or baobab powder, men sitting on the side of road with the popular concoction of green marrow with hot sauce, and girls with portable cold boxes selling popsicles. When it is the season, temporary shops appear selling Moulid sweets.
Other street food stalls sell basta, kunafa and basbusa sweets similar to baklava while others, strategically positioned next to bakeries, sell tamia and eggs, ready to be stuffed into a freshly bought hot loaf. Eating these impromptu sandwiches as you wait for the rest of your tamia order is a common phenomenon! It is also common to see small neighbourhood corner shops with large gourds bubbling away on coal stoves outside cooking the most popular of all; ful or fava beans. Orders of ful are placed in containers you bring with you or in a couple of plastic bags if you forget to bring one. More recently fancy food trucks selling western-style foods like burgers and chips have become very popular. Finally, the most commonly known street food experience is market food which includes grilled meats at livestock markets, and various fish options at fish markets or water fronts.
The collection of images in this gallery, showing different experiences of street food around Sudan, were taken by Zainab Gaafar and Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez.
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
The street food experience is a unique one and offers a huge range of options and menu choices. The most apparent form of street food is that which is sold by the women known as tea ladies who mainly serve hot beverages such as tea, coffee and karkade or hibiscus tea.
These settings are most popular among groups of friends and youth. Other types of food are light snacks such as tamia or falafel and baleela, a boiled grain, as well as desserts such as bakomba, made with another type of wheat grain. Other more substantial food, such as the traditional stew dishes, are served nearer to where manual and other forms of employees work or live such as by construction sites and in central parts of Khartoum. Many traditional restaurants serve food to their customers seated outside in the street rather than indoors.
“One pound for your juice of the lemons of Bara, that arrived by plane!”
Taking a walk through the central bus station in Khartoum you are likely to hear this call by the juice sellers with their plastic buckets brimming with sweet liquid and chunks of ice bobbing on the surface. Fresh juices and snacks are the most common types of street food on offer next to transport hubs. There are also children pushing wheelbarrows selling sticks of sugarcane and roasted corn on the cob, women with baskets on their heads selling dry fruits and nuts, as well as various mixtures of condiments made from tabaldi or baobab powder, men sitting on the side of road with the popular concoction of green marrow with hot sauce, and girls with portable cold boxes selling popsicles. When it is the season, temporary shops appear selling Moulid sweets.
Other street food stalls sell basta, kunafa and basbusa sweets similar to baklava while others, strategically positioned next to bakeries, sell tamia and eggs, ready to be stuffed into a freshly bought hot loaf. Eating these impromptu sandwiches as you wait for the rest of your tamia order is a common phenomenon! It is also common to see small neighbourhood corner shops with large gourds bubbling away on coal stoves outside cooking the most popular of all; ful or fava beans. Orders of ful are placed in containers you bring with you or in a couple of plastic bags if you forget to bring one. More recently fancy food trucks selling western-style foods like burgers and chips have become very popular. Finally, the most commonly known street food experience is market food which includes grilled meats at livestock markets, and various fish options at fish markets or water fronts.
The collection of images in this gallery, showing different experiences of street food around Sudan, were taken by Zainab Gaafar and Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez.
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Read more
Street Food
The street food experience is a unique one and offers a huge range of options and menu choices. The most apparent form of street food is that which is sold by the women known as tea ladies who mainly serve hot beverages such as tea, coffee and karkade or hibiscus tea.
These settings are most popular among groups of friends and youth. Other types of food are light snacks such as tamia or falafel and baleela, a boiled grain, as well as desserts such as bakomba, made with another type of wheat grain. Other more substantial food, such as the traditional stew dishes, are served nearer to where manual and other forms of employees work or live such as by construction sites and in central parts of Khartoum. Many traditional restaurants serve food to their customers seated outside in the street rather than indoors.
“One pound for your juice of the lemons of Bara, that arrived by plane!”
Taking a walk through the central bus station in Khartoum you are likely to hear this call by the juice sellers with their plastic buckets brimming with sweet liquid and chunks of ice bobbing on the surface. Fresh juices and snacks are the most common types of street food on offer next to transport hubs. There are also children pushing wheelbarrows selling sticks of sugarcane and roasted corn on the cob, women with baskets on their heads selling dry fruits and nuts, as well as various mixtures of condiments made from tabaldi or baobab powder, men sitting on the side of road with the popular concoction of green marrow with hot sauce, and girls with portable cold boxes selling popsicles. When it is the season, temporary shops appear selling Moulid sweets.
Other street food stalls sell basta, kunafa and basbusa sweets similar to baklava while others, strategically positioned next to bakeries, sell tamia and eggs, ready to be stuffed into a freshly bought hot loaf. Eating these impromptu sandwiches as you wait for the rest of your tamia order is a common phenomenon! It is also common to see small neighbourhood corner shops with large gourds bubbling away on coal stoves outside cooking the most popular of all; ful or fava beans. Orders of ful are placed in containers you bring with you or in a couple of plastic bags if you forget to bring one. More recently fancy food trucks selling western-style foods like burgers and chips have become very popular. Finally, the most commonly known street food experience is market food which includes grilled meats at livestock markets, and various fish options at fish markets or water fronts.
The collection of images in this gallery, showing different experiences of street food around Sudan, were taken by Zainab Gaafar and Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez.
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
exit
Salt of life
.jpg)
30/10/2024
Taste of home
Read more
object
Taste of home
What food brings back memories of home?
I asked ten Sudanese people to list the food items they used to take with them when they were travelling somewhere such as to another city or abroad.
The question took people back to different periods of their lives and invoked interesting memories. One was about the metal suitcase which many Sudanese have in their homes, stashed away under beds or in dusty store rooms containing everything from old photographs and papers to china dinner sets. The metal box for some was associated with their experience of starting their military service and living in a dorm with many other young men enrolled on the mandatory training. Memories of this particular metal suitcase were of it being tied firmly to the top of a rickety old bus, with all the other luggage, on the way to the camp. It was filled with every possible form of sweet food making it, as one person said, a ‘tahniya box.’ Tahniya or Halva, is a thick paste mainly of sugar and sesame oil which is often used as a sandwich filler.
The cardboard Ramadan food box is well-known to everyone inside and outside Sudan. Every year before Ramadan we would receive fresh produce from farms outside Khartoum brought by family members who were visiting. Distant aunts sent us their signature hilu-mur, dried sheets of fermented sorghum that are soaked to create the popular ‘sweet and sour’ drink, rugag or ‘Sudanese cornflakes’ and gargosh rusks. Other Ramadan boxes people remembered contained ground dried meat, sharmoot, or dried onions which even though you could get these in most places they never tasted the same as the ones sent from home!
People’s answers to what they took on their travels and what reminded them of home were very personal and varied from one person to another; what they loved and what they couldn’t find in the places they were going to. One person explained how her brother loved biscuits and so her mother would pack every type of biscuit into his bag. Another said her mother made her special coffee blends with local flavours while another said she brought frozen minced meat with her because she hadn’t been able to find a butcher who could supply anything that tasted the same. Royal biscuits, the soft drink Pasigianos and powdered milk were some more of the things people admitted to taking with them. Sesame seed oil, local spices including dried, ground okra and of course braided cheese were all common items people took with them regularly.
The taste of home is something we all miss today and every now and then there will be some food we crave. We also miss how we used to enjoy meals together and all the memories associated with it but because of the war, it is very unlikely anybody will receive a box of food from home and will have to make do with local alternatives.
Cover picture and designs © Zainab Gaafar
What food brings back memories of home?
I asked ten Sudanese people to list the food items they used to take with them when they were travelling somewhere such as to another city or abroad.
The question took people back to different periods of their lives and invoked interesting memories. One was about the metal suitcase which many Sudanese have in their homes, stashed away under beds or in dusty store rooms containing everything from old photographs and papers to china dinner sets. The metal box for some was associated with their experience of starting their military service and living in a dorm with many other young men enrolled on the mandatory training. Memories of this particular metal suitcase were of it being tied firmly to the top of a rickety old bus, with all the other luggage, on the way to the camp. It was filled with every possible form of sweet food making it, as one person said, a ‘tahniya box.’ Tahniya or Halva, is a thick paste mainly of sugar and sesame oil which is often used as a sandwich filler.
The cardboard Ramadan food box is well-known to everyone inside and outside Sudan. Every year before Ramadan we would receive fresh produce from farms outside Khartoum brought by family members who were visiting. Distant aunts sent us their signature hilu-mur, dried sheets of fermented sorghum that are soaked to create the popular ‘sweet and sour’ drink, rugag or ‘Sudanese cornflakes’ and gargosh rusks. Other Ramadan boxes people remembered contained ground dried meat, sharmoot, or dried onions which even though you could get these in most places they never tasted the same as the ones sent from home!
People’s answers to what they took on their travels and what reminded them of home were very personal and varied from one person to another; what they loved and what they couldn’t find in the places they were going to. One person explained how her brother loved biscuits and so her mother would pack every type of biscuit into his bag. Another said her mother made her special coffee blends with local flavours while another said she brought frozen minced meat with her because she hadn’t been able to find a butcher who could supply anything that tasted the same. Royal biscuits, the soft drink Pasigianos and powdered milk were some more of the things people admitted to taking with them. Sesame seed oil, local spices including dried, ground okra and of course braided cheese were all common items people took with them regularly.
The taste of home is something we all miss today and every now and then there will be some food we crave. We also miss how we used to enjoy meals together and all the memories associated with it but because of the war, it is very unlikely anybody will receive a box of food from home and will have to make do with local alternatives.
Cover picture and designs © Zainab Gaafar
Read more
Taste of home
What food brings back memories of home?
I asked ten Sudanese people to list the food items they used to take with them when they were travelling somewhere such as to another city or abroad.
The question took people back to different periods of their lives and invoked interesting memories. One was about the metal suitcase which many Sudanese have in their homes, stashed away under beds or in dusty store rooms containing everything from old photographs and papers to china dinner sets. The metal box for some was associated with their experience of starting their military service and living in a dorm with many other young men enrolled on the mandatory training. Memories of this particular metal suitcase were of it being tied firmly to the top of a rickety old bus, with all the other luggage, on the way to the camp. It was filled with every possible form of sweet food making it, as one person said, a ‘tahniya box.’ Tahniya or Halva, is a thick paste mainly of sugar and sesame oil which is often used as a sandwich filler.
The cardboard Ramadan food box is well-known to everyone inside and outside Sudan. Every year before Ramadan we would receive fresh produce from farms outside Khartoum brought by family members who were visiting. Distant aunts sent us their signature hilu-mur, dried sheets of fermented sorghum that are soaked to create the popular ‘sweet and sour’ drink, rugag or ‘Sudanese cornflakes’ and gargosh rusks. Other Ramadan boxes people remembered contained ground dried meat, sharmoot, or dried onions which even though you could get these in most places they never tasted the same as the ones sent from home!
People’s answers to what they took on their travels and what reminded them of home were very personal and varied from one person to another; what they loved and what they couldn’t find in the places they were going to. One person explained how her brother loved biscuits and so her mother would pack every type of biscuit into his bag. Another said her mother made her special coffee blends with local flavours while another said she brought frozen minced meat with her because she hadn’t been able to find a butcher who could supply anything that tasted the same. Royal biscuits, the soft drink Pasigianos and powdered milk were some more of the things people admitted to taking with them. Sesame seed oil, local spices including dried, ground okra and of course braided cheese were all common items people took with them regularly.
The taste of home is something we all miss today and every now and then there will be some food we crave. We also miss how we used to enjoy meals together and all the memories associated with it but because of the war, it is very unlikely anybody will receive a box of food from home and will have to make do with local alternatives.
Cover picture and designs © Zainab Gaafar
exit
Salt of life
30/10/2024
Food preservation method.
Read more
object
Food preservation method.
Sudan has various climates and different landscapes. However the largest areas of the country are with dry and semi dry regions, making preserving food especially seasonal crops a must that characterizes to a large degree the Sudanese food cooking style even in his book The Indigenous Fermented Foods of the Sudan: A Study in African Food and Nutrition Hamid A. Dirar describes Sudan as the world’s capital of fermented food.
The most known forms of preservation are: fermenting, salting, and drying.
In Sudan fermentation is used to explain a variety of cooking techniques other than adding yeast or waiting for food to go sour, culturing is used for milk products to make cheese, and curing or pickling is preparing food with brine, that is, salty water.
Cover picture © Aya Sinada, Gezira
Design Zainab Gaafar
Sudan has various climates and different landscapes. However the largest areas of the country are with dry and semi dry regions, making preserving food especially seasonal crops a must that characterizes to a large degree the Sudanese food cooking style even in his book The Indigenous Fermented Foods of the Sudan: A Study in African Food and Nutrition Hamid A. Dirar describes Sudan as the world’s capital of fermented food.
The most known forms of preservation are: fermenting, salting, and drying.
In Sudan fermentation is used to explain a variety of cooking techniques other than adding yeast or waiting for food to go sour, culturing is used for milk products to make cheese, and curing or pickling is preparing food with brine, that is, salty water.
Cover picture © Aya Sinada, Gezira
Design Zainab Gaafar
Read more
Food preservation method.
Sudan has various climates and different landscapes. However the largest areas of the country are with dry and semi dry regions, making preserving food especially seasonal crops a must that characterizes to a large degree the Sudanese food cooking style even in his book The Indigenous Fermented Foods of the Sudan: A Study in African Food and Nutrition Hamid A. Dirar describes Sudan as the world’s capital of fermented food.
The most known forms of preservation are: fermenting, salting, and drying.
In Sudan fermentation is used to explain a variety of cooking techniques other than adding yeast or waiting for food to go sour, culturing is used for milk products to make cheese, and curing or pickling is preparing food with brine, that is, salty water.
Cover picture © Aya Sinada, Gezira
Design Zainab Gaafar
exit
We live by food
30/10/2024
El Obaid Crops Market
Read more
object
El Obaid Crops Market
The Crops Market or Stock Exchange in El-Obaid, is one of the city's main economic landmarks, and is the world's largest stock exchange for exporting gum arabic, from the Hashab tree. The market was established in 1907 after gum arabic became a sought-after commodity in various industries. In its beginnings, the market was an open area surrounded by a small fence. It is currently near the railway, but originally was located where it is now occupied by Kordofan Cinema, Bank of Khartoum, and some other markets.
As for Sudan, the Crops Market in Kordofan is one of the largest crop markets in the western region of the country where various agricultural, forestry, and horticultural crops, which are brought from different climatic regions, are sold.
This archival footage, produced in the 1960s, shows the journey of the hibiscus plant from the ground until it reaches the crop market and auction. This video was shown on the Golden Memory program, which was broadcast on Sudan TV.
Other than hibiscus and gum arabic, other agricultural crops sold in the market are peanuts, white and red sesame, watermelon seeds or tasali, millet, cowpeas, okra and fish. Forest products include tamarind, laloub (fruit of the soapberry tree), dom (fruit of the doum palm), nabag (lotus jujube), gongolez (baobab), and gudem (grewia tenax). Horticultural crops include fruits such as mangoes and guavas, and a variety of vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers and marrows, which are grown in nearby areas such as Al-Banjdid and Al-Rahad around Al-Rahad Lake. Some canned foods such as oils, tomato puree, peanut butter and tahini are also sold in the market.
The Crops Market or Stock Exchange in El-Obaid, is one of the city's main economic landmarks, and is the world's largest stock exchange for exporting gum arabic, from the Hashab tree. The market was established in 1907 after gum arabic became a sought-after commodity in various industries. In its beginnings, the market was an open area surrounded by a small fence. It is currently near the railway, but originally was located where it is now occupied by Kordofan Cinema, Bank of Khartoum, and some other markets.
As for Sudan, the Crops Market in Kordofan is one of the largest crop markets in the western region of the country where various agricultural, forestry, and horticultural crops, which are brought from different climatic regions, are sold.
This archival footage, produced in the 1960s, shows the journey of the hibiscus plant from the ground until it reaches the crop market and auction. This video was shown on the Golden Memory program, which was broadcast on Sudan TV.
Other than hibiscus and gum arabic, other agricultural crops sold in the market are peanuts, white and red sesame, watermelon seeds or tasali, millet, cowpeas, okra and fish. Forest products include tamarind, laloub (fruit of the soapberry tree), dom (fruit of the doum palm), nabag (lotus jujube), gongolez (baobab), and gudem (grewia tenax). Horticultural crops include fruits such as mangoes and guavas, and a variety of vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers and marrows, which are grown in nearby areas such as Al-Banjdid and Al-Rahad around Al-Rahad Lake. Some canned foods such as oils, tomato puree, peanut butter and tahini are also sold in the market.
Read more
El Obaid Crops Market
The Crops Market or Stock Exchange in El-Obaid, is one of the city's main economic landmarks, and is the world's largest stock exchange for exporting gum arabic, from the Hashab tree. The market was established in 1907 after gum arabic became a sought-after commodity in various industries. In its beginnings, the market was an open area surrounded by a small fence. It is currently near the railway, but originally was located where it is now occupied by Kordofan Cinema, Bank of Khartoum, and some other markets.
As for Sudan, the Crops Market in Kordofan is one of the largest crop markets in the western region of the country where various agricultural, forestry, and horticultural crops, which are brought from different climatic regions, are sold.
This archival footage, produced in the 1960s, shows the journey of the hibiscus plant from the ground until it reaches the crop market and auction. This video was shown on the Golden Memory program, which was broadcast on Sudan TV.
Other than hibiscus and gum arabic, other agricultural crops sold in the market are peanuts, white and red sesame, watermelon seeds or tasali, millet, cowpeas, okra and fish. Forest products include tamarind, laloub (fruit of the soapberry tree), dom (fruit of the doum palm), nabag (lotus jujube), gongolez (baobab), and gudem (grewia tenax). Horticultural crops include fruits such as mangoes and guavas, and a variety of vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers and marrows, which are grown in nearby areas such as Al-Banjdid and Al-Rahad around Al-Rahad Lake. Some canned foods such as oils, tomato puree, peanut butter and tahini are also sold in the market.
exit
We live by food
30/10/2024
Super food
Read more
object
Super food
The relationship between superfoods and medicinal plants is characterized by their shared focus on health and well-being. While superfoods are primarily recognized for their nutritional benefits, as part of a daily diet, medicinal plants are valued for their specific therapeutic effects. However, the distinction is often less defined, as many plants and foods serve both nutritional and medicinal purposes, contributing to overall health and the prevention and treatment of diseases.
The concept of superfood is new and the term itself is more of a marketing ploy than a scientific classification. No single food can provide all the nutrients needed for good health, and a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods, is essential. However, it is interesting to note that when we look at some of the main staples of Sudanese food, we can see how they are being recognised in the West as ‘superfoods’ or foods which are believed to boost the immune system. Examples are hibiscus tea which is known for its potential to lower blood pressure, sorghum a staple food all over sudan which is believed to be beneficial for digestion, okra which is said to help control blood sugar levels, fenugreek which is added to dairy products and is believed to aid in digestion and dates, which provide energy, and are known to be good for the heart. Moreover, a good portion of the Sudanese diet is made up of fermented ingredients, a type of food that is currently being promoted as essential for healthy gut biomes because of the wealth of probiotics they contain.
Most of these foods are also used in Sudan for medicinal purposes and one in particular, a type of plant, garad, or Acacia Nilotica is very popular. During the Covid pandemic there was much debate over the efficacy of inhaling the smoke of burning garad as a preventive treatment against the disease, a method many people swore by but which was widely discouraged by health professionals who pointed to the harm to vulnerable individuals caused by inhaling smoke. Nevertheless, belief in the medicinal qualities of garad have ancient precedents; it is mentioned in ancient Greek scripts on medicine and has also been used for centuries in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. The plant has been used for its purported wealth in nutrients and for containing therapeutic values which are capable of prevention, mitigation, and treatment of various infectious diseases and deleterious conditions.Regionally, the plant was used by traditional healers in Sudan and the Nile Valley as well as in Ancient Egypt to treat wounds and as an antiseptic, it was also used as an anti-inflammatory and for pain relief.
To this day, the Acacia Nilotica is used extensively in Sudan including the tree’s leaves and bark because of its versatility for use in various ways and because of its therapeutic benefits. Its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, astringent, and antidiabetic properties make it a valuable component of traditional medicine for treating various ailments particularly infections, gastrointestinal problems and inflammatory conditions. However, while these traditional uses are supported by some scientific research, more studies are needed to fully validate and understand the efficacy and safety of the Acacia Nilotica in modern medicine.
Cover picture © Sari Omer، Wad Hajjam, south of South Darfur
The relationship between superfoods and medicinal plants is characterized by their shared focus on health and well-being. While superfoods are primarily recognized for their nutritional benefits, as part of a daily diet, medicinal plants are valued for their specific therapeutic effects. However, the distinction is often less defined, as many plants and foods serve both nutritional and medicinal purposes, contributing to overall health and the prevention and treatment of diseases.
The concept of superfood is new and the term itself is more of a marketing ploy than a scientific classification. No single food can provide all the nutrients needed for good health, and a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods, is essential. However, it is interesting to note that when we look at some of the main staples of Sudanese food, we can see how they are being recognised in the West as ‘superfoods’ or foods which are believed to boost the immune system. Examples are hibiscus tea which is known for its potential to lower blood pressure, sorghum a staple food all over sudan which is believed to be beneficial for digestion, okra which is said to help control blood sugar levels, fenugreek which is added to dairy products and is believed to aid in digestion and dates, which provide energy, and are known to be good for the heart. Moreover, a good portion of the Sudanese diet is made up of fermented ingredients, a type of food that is currently being promoted as essential for healthy gut biomes because of the wealth of probiotics they contain.
Most of these foods are also used in Sudan for medicinal purposes and one in particular, a type of plant, garad, or Acacia Nilotica is very popular. During the Covid pandemic there was much debate over the efficacy of inhaling the smoke of burning garad as a preventive treatment against the disease, a method many people swore by but which was widely discouraged by health professionals who pointed to the harm to vulnerable individuals caused by inhaling smoke. Nevertheless, belief in the medicinal qualities of garad have ancient precedents; it is mentioned in ancient Greek scripts on medicine and has also been used for centuries in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. The plant has been used for its purported wealth in nutrients and for containing therapeutic values which are capable of prevention, mitigation, and treatment of various infectious diseases and deleterious conditions.Regionally, the plant was used by traditional healers in Sudan and the Nile Valley as well as in Ancient Egypt to treat wounds and as an antiseptic, it was also used as an anti-inflammatory and for pain relief.
To this day, the Acacia Nilotica is used extensively in Sudan including the tree’s leaves and bark because of its versatility for use in various ways and because of its therapeutic benefits. Its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, astringent, and antidiabetic properties make it a valuable component of traditional medicine for treating various ailments particularly infections, gastrointestinal problems and inflammatory conditions. However, while these traditional uses are supported by some scientific research, more studies are needed to fully validate and understand the efficacy and safety of the Acacia Nilotica in modern medicine.
Cover picture © Sari Omer، Wad Hajjam, south of South Darfur
Read more
Super food
The relationship between superfoods and medicinal plants is characterized by their shared focus on health and well-being. While superfoods are primarily recognized for their nutritional benefits, as part of a daily diet, medicinal plants are valued for their specific therapeutic effects. However, the distinction is often less defined, as many plants and foods serve both nutritional and medicinal purposes, contributing to overall health and the prevention and treatment of diseases.
The concept of superfood is new and the term itself is more of a marketing ploy than a scientific classification. No single food can provide all the nutrients needed for good health, and a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods, is essential. However, it is interesting to note that when we look at some of the main staples of Sudanese food, we can see how they are being recognised in the West as ‘superfoods’ or foods which are believed to boost the immune system. Examples are hibiscus tea which is known for its potential to lower blood pressure, sorghum a staple food all over sudan which is believed to be beneficial for digestion, okra which is said to help control blood sugar levels, fenugreek which is added to dairy products and is believed to aid in digestion and dates, which provide energy, and are known to be good for the heart. Moreover, a good portion of the Sudanese diet is made up of fermented ingredients, a type of food that is currently being promoted as essential for healthy gut biomes because of the wealth of probiotics they contain.
Most of these foods are also used in Sudan for medicinal purposes and one in particular, a type of plant, garad, or Acacia Nilotica is very popular. During the Covid pandemic there was much debate over the efficacy of inhaling the smoke of burning garad as a preventive treatment against the disease, a method many people swore by but which was widely discouraged by health professionals who pointed to the harm to vulnerable individuals caused by inhaling smoke. Nevertheless, belief in the medicinal qualities of garad have ancient precedents; it is mentioned in ancient Greek scripts on medicine and has also been used for centuries in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. The plant has been used for its purported wealth in nutrients and for containing therapeutic values which are capable of prevention, mitigation, and treatment of various infectious diseases and deleterious conditions.Regionally, the plant was used by traditional healers in Sudan and the Nile Valley as well as in Ancient Egypt to treat wounds and as an antiseptic, it was also used as an anti-inflammatory and for pain relief.
To this day, the Acacia Nilotica is used extensively in Sudan including the tree’s leaves and bark because of its versatility for use in various ways and because of its therapeutic benefits. Its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, astringent, and antidiabetic properties make it a valuable component of traditional medicine for treating various ailments particularly infections, gastrointestinal problems and inflammatory conditions. However, while these traditional uses are supported by some scientific research, more studies are needed to fully validate and understand the efficacy and safety of the Acacia Nilotica in modern medicine.
Cover picture © Sari Omer، Wad Hajjam, south of South Darfur
exit
We live by food
15/11/2024
Storage containers
Read more
object
Storage containers
In ancient agricultural societies along the Nile in northern Sudan, methods of storing the year's produce were prevalent in order to preserve crops, ensuring they remained in good condition and away from pests. Such societies were producer societies rather than consumer ones that mainly relied on agriculture for their livelihood and less so on grazing. Until recently, women in the Mahas region, particularly the island of Dagarta and its surroundings, passed down the method of making "Al-Gusyba" as an essential life skill needed to face the harsh conditions of life in the Northern State. It was considered a fundamental component of the household, made from the same material used to build houses: mud brick. “Al-Gusyba” can be likened to silos or containers for storing food, similar to pottery barrels, but without being exposed to fire - unlike the water jar (known as Zir) which must be fired to hold water without the risk of melting. Women make them from scratch to preserve the crops that the northern diet relies on, such as wheat, fava beans, and dates. But how are they made?
The housewife mixes clay and animal manure, then molds the base of the silo with a diameter of one meter or less. This base is crafted inside the house and left to dry completely. With the help of others, it is lifted onto a base of three stones to protect it from water and termite infestation that could damage it. It is placed in the yard or the outdoor area considered an extension of the house where it will remain permanently.
The second phase begins by molding more clay to create the wall. Height is added to the silo with a circular opening at the bottom through which the provisions that are to be used daily or weekly are taken. It is left to dry for several days before adding new layers. The final height of the silo reaches one and a half meters. It is sometimes decorated with designs to express the housewife’s style. Once dry, it is filled with storage and covered using a clay lid or a circular tin cover.
Worn out parts or those that have slightly melted due to rain are patched with a layer of clay to prevent moisture from reaching and damaging the crops. Naturally, anything that takes time and effort to make and maintain is replaced with an alternative, so the new metal and tin container has found a place in homes there, made in the form of a metal box with several compartments for storing different types of grains and crops.
Cover picture and Gallery © Aya Sinada, Dagarta Island, Northern Sudan, 2024
In ancient agricultural societies along the Nile in northern Sudan, methods of storing the year's produce were prevalent in order to preserve crops, ensuring they remained in good condition and away from pests. Such societies were producer societies rather than consumer ones that mainly relied on agriculture for their livelihood and less so on grazing. Until recently, women in the Mahas region, particularly the island of Dagarta and its surroundings, passed down the method of making "Al-Gusyba" as an essential life skill needed to face the harsh conditions of life in the Northern State. It was considered a fundamental component of the household, made from the same material used to build houses: mud brick. “Al-Gusyba” can be likened to silos or containers for storing food, similar to pottery barrels, but without being exposed to fire - unlike the water jar (known as Zir) which must be fired to hold water without the risk of melting. Women make them from scratch to preserve the crops that the northern diet relies on, such as wheat, fava beans, and dates. But how are they made?
The housewife mixes clay and animal manure, then molds the base of the silo with a diameter of one meter or less. This base is crafted inside the house and left to dry completely. With the help of others, it is lifted onto a base of three stones to protect it from water and termite infestation that could damage it. It is placed in the yard or the outdoor area considered an extension of the house where it will remain permanently.
The second phase begins by molding more clay to create the wall. Height is added to the silo with a circular opening at the bottom through which the provisions that are to be used daily or weekly are taken. It is left to dry for several days before adding new layers. The final height of the silo reaches one and a half meters. It is sometimes decorated with designs to express the housewife’s style. Once dry, it is filled with storage and covered using a clay lid or a circular tin cover.
Worn out parts or those that have slightly melted due to rain are patched with a layer of clay to prevent moisture from reaching and damaging the crops. Naturally, anything that takes time and effort to make and maintain is replaced with an alternative, so the new metal and tin container has found a place in homes there, made in the form of a metal box with several compartments for storing different types of grains and crops.
Cover picture and Gallery © Aya Sinada, Dagarta Island, Northern Sudan, 2024
Read more
Storage containers
In ancient agricultural societies along the Nile in northern Sudan, methods of storing the year's produce were prevalent in order to preserve crops, ensuring they remained in good condition and away from pests. Such societies were producer societies rather than consumer ones that mainly relied on agriculture for their livelihood and less so on grazing. Until recently, women in the Mahas region, particularly the island of Dagarta and its surroundings, passed down the method of making "Al-Gusyba" as an essential life skill needed to face the harsh conditions of life in the Northern State. It was considered a fundamental component of the household, made from the same material used to build houses: mud brick. “Al-Gusyba” can be likened to silos or containers for storing food, similar to pottery barrels, but without being exposed to fire - unlike the water jar (known as Zir) which must be fired to hold water without the risk of melting. Women make them from scratch to preserve the crops that the northern diet relies on, such as wheat, fava beans, and dates. But how are they made?
The housewife mixes clay and animal manure, then molds the base of the silo with a diameter of one meter or less. This base is crafted inside the house and left to dry completely. With the help of others, it is lifted onto a base of three stones to protect it from water and termite infestation that could damage it. It is placed in the yard or the outdoor area considered an extension of the house where it will remain permanently.
The second phase begins by molding more clay to create the wall. Height is added to the silo with a circular opening at the bottom through which the provisions that are to be used daily or weekly are taken. It is left to dry for several days before adding new layers. The final height of the silo reaches one and a half meters. It is sometimes decorated with designs to express the housewife’s style. Once dry, it is filled with storage and covered using a clay lid or a circular tin cover.
Worn out parts or those that have slightly melted due to rain are patched with a layer of clay to prevent moisture from reaching and damaging the crops. Naturally, anything that takes time and effort to make and maintain is replaced with an alternative, so the new metal and tin container has found a place in homes there, made in the form of a metal box with several compartments for storing different types of grains and crops.
Cover picture and Gallery © Aya Sinada, Dagarta Island, Northern Sudan, 2024
exit
Food is a lifestyle
.jpg)
15/11/2024
Table of Degarta Island: Stories and Recipes
Read more
object
Table of Degarta Island: Stories and Recipes
The Communality of Food
Degarta Island is a Nile River island in the Northern State of Sudan, part of El- Borqeq locality. Similar to other regions in northern Sudan, its climate is hot and dry in summer and extremely cold and dry in winter. What dishes are served on the tables of people there? Is it a self-sufficient island in terms of food? Has the table been affected by the politics and the war that broke out in several states of Sudan?
In front of us is a platter with several traditional dishes please join us!
The banks of the Nile, with its fertile silt, is used for organic farming without fertilizers. Sudanese farmers used to grow wheat, Egyptian beans, green crops, fruits, and other seasonal crops alongside palm trees. However, the Marawi Dam came to reduce the annual silt quantity in the region of the north, largely impacting soil fertility leading to farmers’ increased use of chemical fertilizers to ensure the quality of their crops.
Following the emergence of the war, locally produced food products were significantly impacted, such as dairy products, oils, tea, sugar, and others, which led the market and citizens to rely on imported products from neighboring countries with lower quality to suit the financial circumstances of citizens following the disruption to their livelihood.
As for fishing in the Nile, the seasons naturally influence the quantity and quality of fish. They hide very deep in winter, and some of them hatch during this season. The Nubians have long invented a method for preserving fish by salting it to prepare Fasikh, and Tarkin (or Maloha). Fish can be consumed throughout the year but in different ways.
However, the increasing demands of life, especially after the rise in prices during the war, have led some fishermen to adopt a method that is criminalized here; electrifying fish. This procedure initially emerged as a scientific method for researching fish but later turned into a quick fishing method. This method negatively impacts fish stocks, as electricity kills fish in the area exposed to the shock, regardless of their type or life cycle stage. Today, the nets may be full, and the pockets heavy, but do fishermen consider the environmental risks for the future?
Don't be surprised by the plate of dates on the platter; it is usually served as an act of hospitality or to break the fast during Ramadan where the dry dates are often served as a side dish on the breakfast table, like salad, for example. They are made into honey, Madidah (date porridge), and date bread, which have long been a provision for travelers from here.
It is said that years ago, cows produced a lot of milk, and women would make cheese and yogurt from it, but these products were not sold. Instead, the owner of the cows would give anyone who wanted milk, yogurt, or cheese whatever they wanted for free. This was until one of them married someone from outside the island, and she decided that milk should be sold and bought. The person who told me this story believes that a curse befell the milk when it became mixed with money, and its quantity became limited, sufficient only for a small number of the population.
Cover picture: Whole wheat Gorassa. Wheat flatbread © Aya Sinada, 2024
The Communality of Food
Degarta Island is a Nile River island in the Northern State of Sudan, part of El- Borqeq locality. Similar to other regions in northern Sudan, its climate is hot and dry in summer and extremely cold and dry in winter. What dishes are served on the tables of people there? Is it a self-sufficient island in terms of food? Has the table been affected by the politics and the war that broke out in several states of Sudan?
In front of us is a platter with several traditional dishes please join us!
The banks of the Nile, with its fertile silt, is used for organic farming without fertilizers. Sudanese farmers used to grow wheat, Egyptian beans, green crops, fruits, and other seasonal crops alongside palm trees. However, the Marawi Dam came to reduce the annual silt quantity in the region of the north, largely impacting soil fertility leading to farmers’ increased use of chemical fertilizers to ensure the quality of their crops.
Following the emergence of the war, locally produced food products were significantly impacted, such as dairy products, oils, tea, sugar, and others, which led the market and citizens to rely on imported products from neighboring countries with lower quality to suit the financial circumstances of citizens following the disruption to their livelihood.
As for fishing in the Nile, the seasons naturally influence the quantity and quality of fish. They hide very deep in winter, and some of them hatch during this season. The Nubians have long invented a method for preserving fish by salting it to prepare Fasikh, and Tarkin (or Maloha). Fish can be consumed throughout the year but in different ways.
However, the increasing demands of life, especially after the rise in prices during the war, have led some fishermen to adopt a method that is criminalized here; electrifying fish. This procedure initially emerged as a scientific method for researching fish but later turned into a quick fishing method. This method negatively impacts fish stocks, as electricity kills fish in the area exposed to the shock, regardless of their type or life cycle stage. Today, the nets may be full, and the pockets heavy, but do fishermen consider the environmental risks for the future?
Don't be surprised by the plate of dates on the platter; it is usually served as an act of hospitality or to break the fast during Ramadan where the dry dates are often served as a side dish on the breakfast table, like salad, for example. They are made into honey, Madidah (date porridge), and date bread, which have long been a provision for travelers from here.
It is said that years ago, cows produced a lot of milk, and women would make cheese and yogurt from it, but these products were not sold. Instead, the owner of the cows would give anyone who wanted milk, yogurt, or cheese whatever they wanted for free. This was until one of them married someone from outside the island, and she decided that milk should be sold and bought. The person who told me this story believes that a curse befell the milk when it became mixed with money, and its quantity became limited, sufficient only for a small number of the population.
Cover picture: Whole wheat Gorassa. Wheat flatbread © Aya Sinada, 2024
Read more
Table of Degarta Island: Stories and Recipes
The Communality of Food
Degarta Island is a Nile River island in the Northern State of Sudan, part of El- Borqeq locality. Similar to other regions in northern Sudan, its climate is hot and dry in summer and extremely cold and dry in winter. What dishes are served on the tables of people there? Is it a self-sufficient island in terms of food? Has the table been affected by the politics and the war that broke out in several states of Sudan?
In front of us is a platter with several traditional dishes please join us!
The banks of the Nile, with its fertile silt, is used for organic farming without fertilizers. Sudanese farmers used to grow wheat, Egyptian beans, green crops, fruits, and other seasonal crops alongside palm trees. However, the Marawi Dam came to reduce the annual silt quantity in the region of the north, largely impacting soil fertility leading to farmers’ increased use of chemical fertilizers to ensure the quality of their crops.
Following the emergence of the war, locally produced food products were significantly impacted, such as dairy products, oils, tea, sugar, and others, which led the market and citizens to rely on imported products from neighboring countries with lower quality to suit the financial circumstances of citizens following the disruption to their livelihood.
As for fishing in the Nile, the seasons naturally influence the quantity and quality of fish. They hide very deep in winter, and some of them hatch during this season. The Nubians have long invented a method for preserving fish by salting it to prepare Fasikh, and Tarkin (or Maloha). Fish can be consumed throughout the year but in different ways.
However, the increasing demands of life, especially after the rise in prices during the war, have led some fishermen to adopt a method that is criminalized here; electrifying fish. This procedure initially emerged as a scientific method for researching fish but later turned into a quick fishing method. This method negatively impacts fish stocks, as electricity kills fish in the area exposed to the shock, regardless of their type or life cycle stage. Today, the nets may be full, and the pockets heavy, but do fishermen consider the environmental risks for the future?
Don't be surprised by the plate of dates on the platter; it is usually served as an act of hospitality or to break the fast during Ramadan where the dry dates are often served as a side dish on the breakfast table, like salad, for example. They are made into honey, Madidah (date porridge), and date bread, which have long been a provision for travelers from here.
It is said that years ago, cows produced a lot of milk, and women would make cheese and yogurt from it, but these products were not sold. Instead, the owner of the cows would give anyone who wanted milk, yogurt, or cheese whatever they wanted for free. This was until one of them married someone from outside the island, and she decided that milk should be sold and bought. The person who told me this story believes that a curse befell the milk when it became mixed with money, and its quantity became limited, sufficient only for a small number of the population.
Cover picture: Whole wheat Gorassa. Wheat flatbread © Aya Sinada, 2024
exit
Food is a lifestyle
15/11/2024
About El-Hakim
Read more
object
About El-Hakim
Presentation of Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi's book: El-Hakim (The Doctor), for doctors with a deeper understanding of their profession, their community’s cultures, and greater awareness of their environment and the conditions of their people. By: Professor Fadwa Abd-El Rahman Ali Taha
The book "El-Hakim" was published in 2013 by Sudan Currency Printing Company Limited, in 594 pages. The book, which took more than four decades to complete, takes you on an exciting historical journey as the author exhibits patience and diligence in his writing; the qualities essential for serious academic researchers. The book is introduced by Professor Abd-Allah Ali Ibrahim with a preface titled “Illness as Treatment and Culture.”
The book includes a preface, an introduction, and nine chapters:
- The Health of Sudan through the Centuries
- The convention Between the Doctor, the Patient, and the Community
- Concepts of Health and Illness
- Causes of Illness and Injury
- Means of Diagnosing Illness and Injury
- Healers, Treatment, Methods, and Prevention
- Remedies and Traditional (Folk) Practices
- The Harvest of Years
- Harmful Medical Actions and Responsible Medicine
The book summary includes a description of its contents and appendices listing the names of Sudanese months/calendar, Sudanese medical informal terms (colloquialisms) and their English equivalents, a glossary of important plants used in traditional medicine, modern drugs with plant origins, foreign doctors who served in Sudan, and the most important health laws in Sudan.
The author begins the book with an engaging discussion about himself, including experiences with customs, traditions, and traditional medicine during his childhood and youth. In the introduction, he discusses types and models of medicine, including biomedical, holistic, and traditional medicine. This first chapter is dedicated to the health of Sudan through the centuries, highlighting what was found in the writings of early travelers, geographers, and explorers, as well as in biographies and writings of some religious leaders, historians, doctors, and members of the Turkish, Egyptian, and English colonial armies, and anthropologists, along with local traditional medicine texts and manuscripts. He presents examples from the writings of travelers and scholars regarding medicine and health, such as John Lewis Burckhard, who described the health and diseases of Sudan, and George Hoskins, the English archaeologist who visited Sudan in 1833.
The author includes extracts from historical books, such as Naoum Shogair's "Geography and History of Sudan," which the author describes as an indispensable source for researchers in the field of Sudanese health in the 19th century..
Chapter two is dedicated to the understanding between the doctor, the patient, and the community, where the author discusses the ethics of the profession, stating that medical ethics is a practical science and a branch of moral philosophy, a branch of medical science, and an essential part of good medical practice. The medical profession is the only profession that has had, since the dawn of history and the beginning of human civilization, a code of ethics for practice which practitioners are committed to before they are allowed to approach patients. This is known as the Hippocratic Oath and emphasizes the necessity of the physician's humanity and the avoidance of the desire for fame.
Chapter three discusses concepts of health and illness, addressing medicine in the minds of the public through language and the concept of illness through popular thought, ritual, and symbols that the physician must be familiar with, as well as how rituals occupy an important space in the constitution of any society.
Chapter four outlines the causes of illness and injury and their connection to environmental factors and people's habits. It discusses the significance of solar eclipses among people, as well as supernatural forces, jinn, demons, zar, its origins, magic, and the evil eye.
Chapter five is dedicated to methods of diagnosing illness and injury, clarifying the difference between modern medical diagnoses which rely on evidence- based methods, and that of the general public who often depend on invoking supernatural forces for assistance in diagnosis. The author included examples of the reading of coffee cups, sand lines, dreams revelations(Ruaya), prayer for guidance, dream interpretation, and astrology.
Chapter Six: Healers, Treatment Methods, and Prevention, emphasizes the list of healers involved with people's health as extensive, highlighting that each ethnic group in Sudan has its own doctor or wise person. Sudanese people have recognized a large number of skilled traditional healers whose help they have sought, such as the fogara, the fakis, the sheikhs (religious leaders), and (the saints). This chapter includes examples of various forms of treatment, such as ruqyah (religious spiritual healing), incense, and herbal remedies. The author also underlined the role of the housewife as a health and social assistant who efficiently manages most family affairs as well as the further roles women played within the family.
Chapter Seven: Traditional Treatments and Practices discusses folk surgery and its risks. This includes exampled of female circumcision in its various forms, cupping, tattooing, bloodletting, and traditional prosthetics. The chapter also references Ali Wad Giyama, a traditional human and veterinary doctor and a fortune teller who practiced wound treatment, anesthesia, pregnancy and delivery. Chapter seven also includes traditional medicine, and folk pharmacy that comprised of various recipes used by people to treat illnesses. It also addresses food and misconceptions that impacted people's health, especially children.
In chapter eight, titled “Harvest of Years,” the author discusses the journey of Sudanese people in caring for their health during the second half of the twentieth century, pointing to Sudan’s failure since independence to implement a comprehensive and sustainable development plan that meets human needs to improve the people’s health.
This chapter shows that despite the increase in doctors and medical staff, the number of medical practitioners has not been very beneficial because of high rates of their emigration abroad, and those who remained in the country preferred the private sector. The chapter criticizes the government's spending policy on health, which places health at the bottom of its priorities, which the author contends, arguing the necessity of raising it to the top of the priorities because humans are the real asset.
Chapter eight also discusses the scarcity of medical literature that researchers can refer to regarding the history of medicine and the heritage of Sudan, noting that Sudanese scholars, and doctors in particular, are reluctant to document and record their work and the history of medicine in Sudan which results in a lack of historical, social medical studies. He also notes that teaching in most medical colleges remains disconnected from the practice of medicine in the long history of Sudan and its medical heritage. One reason for this weakness is the scarcity of documented material that assists both teachers and students. The author warns of the prevailing lack of documentation in Sudan and the neglect of documentation resources, taking as example the deterioration of the National Health Laboratory library and the scattering of its books and journals which began to be collected in 1902, as well as the demolition of the photographic museum in 1963-1964, which was opened in 1944. The author emphasizes the necessity of preserving professional records and documenting its heritage.
Chapter nine discusses harmful medical actions in comparison to wise medical practice. The author explains the types of harmful medical actions; what constitutes a harmful medical action, and the likelihood of such actions occurring. Harmful medical actions are seen as the causes of signs and symptoms of the health system's deterioration, indicating defects and gaps in the entire health system. The author suggests that reforming the health system requires an integrated and interconnected effort, qualified leadership at all levels, and advanced awareness of culture. As the author states, Sudan will not be able to diminish the occurrence of harmful medical actions without adopting and following the approach of wise medical practice.
The book emphasizes the connection between the humanities and applied sciences, making it relevant for all medical service providers and students of the humanities, particularly sociology and folklore. It refers to what the scholar Tijani Al-Mahi highlighted regarding the importance of studying the history of medicine, affirming that the humanities play a significant role in understanding health and disease. The knowledge provided by the humanities connects the doctor to the patient and links medical practice to Sudan's social history spanning centuries, forefronting its medical and health heritage. It also connects biological medicine and its sciences to their historical roots and streams. The author does not want medical education in colleges to remain disconnected from the historical context of Sudan or its medical and health heritage, nor from the historical and social roots of its sciences.
The author’s contribution is not limited to this book, he initiated and participated in studies on traditional medicine. In 1982, the Institute for Research in Traditional Medicine at the National Research Council was established through his initiative, aiming to study medical heritage with a scientifically oriented methodology. In recognition and appreciation of this effort, the World Health Organization designated it as a collaborating center in 1984 under the name WHO Collaborating Center for Research in Traditional Medicine. In 2004, he also founded the
Sudanese Foundation for Medical Heritage as a civil organization concerned
with research on medical systems, the history of medicine, preserving health heritage, and monitoring the development of medical services in Sudan. His interest stems from a fact he highlighted in his book: that traditional medicine is widely prevalent in developing countries, including Sudan, due to the high costs of treatment in hospitals and that there is a need to organize the work of traditional practitioners. Ahmed's concern and interest continued as he proposed a documentation project in 2005 called "The Health Trio in Sudan," which includes three parts: the history of medicine and the biographies of pioneers in Sudan, an encyclopedia of Sudanese doctors, and a bibliography of Sudanese medical studies in the twentieth century.
What stands out in this book is the wealth of material upon which it is based. Over the past four decades during which the book was written, Ahmed visited most of the traditional healing centers in Sudan and reviewed all available literature, whether auditory, written, or visual. A total of 35 pages have been dedicated to the sources and references used in the book. The author has precisely documented every piece of information included.
The title of the book, "The Wise Man," was chosen with great care. The term, which the author suggests likely originated from the Egyptians during the era of Turko-Egyptian rule, holds a particular significance. The term was not only applied to graduated physicians, but also to most who engage in healing. This name evokes childhood memories for me, reminding me of "Hassan the Wise," as the medical assistant Hassan was known, who came to treat people from the far north in Nawa to Arbaij in El-Jazeera region. I recall childhood songs: “I am a wise man healing people from fever and headaches”. The book resonates deeply with concepts of health, emphasizing that “whoever swears by health lacks nothing,” and due to its importance, people have tried everything possible for healing, which is explained upon in the book.
The book “El-Hakim” which the author humbly describes as an introduction to the social history of medicine and health in Sudan is encyclopedic and comprehensive in its approach. It represents the culmination of immense and elaborated effort. Congratulations to Dr. Ahmed El-Safi on this immense achievement that has enriched the Sudanese library with a much needed academic reference.
Cover picture: Cover of Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi's digital books © Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi, books can be purchased on Amazon
Presentation of Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi's book: El-Hakim (The Doctor), for doctors with a deeper understanding of their profession, their community’s cultures, and greater awareness of their environment and the conditions of their people. By: Professor Fadwa Abd-El Rahman Ali Taha
The book "El-Hakim" was published in 2013 by Sudan Currency Printing Company Limited, in 594 pages. The book, which took more than four decades to complete, takes you on an exciting historical journey as the author exhibits patience and diligence in his writing; the qualities essential for serious academic researchers. The book is introduced by Professor Abd-Allah Ali Ibrahim with a preface titled “Illness as Treatment and Culture.”
The book includes a preface, an introduction, and nine chapters:
- The Health of Sudan through the Centuries
- The convention Between the Doctor, the Patient, and the Community
- Concepts of Health and Illness
- Causes of Illness and Injury
- Means of Diagnosing Illness and Injury
- Healers, Treatment, Methods, and Prevention
- Remedies and Traditional (Folk) Practices
- The Harvest of Years
- Harmful Medical Actions and Responsible Medicine
The book summary includes a description of its contents and appendices listing the names of Sudanese months/calendar, Sudanese medical informal terms (colloquialisms) and their English equivalents, a glossary of important plants used in traditional medicine, modern drugs with plant origins, foreign doctors who served in Sudan, and the most important health laws in Sudan.
The author begins the book with an engaging discussion about himself, including experiences with customs, traditions, and traditional medicine during his childhood and youth. In the introduction, he discusses types and models of medicine, including biomedical, holistic, and traditional medicine. This first chapter is dedicated to the health of Sudan through the centuries, highlighting what was found in the writings of early travelers, geographers, and explorers, as well as in biographies and writings of some religious leaders, historians, doctors, and members of the Turkish, Egyptian, and English colonial armies, and anthropologists, along with local traditional medicine texts and manuscripts. He presents examples from the writings of travelers and scholars regarding medicine and health, such as John Lewis Burckhard, who described the health and diseases of Sudan, and George Hoskins, the English archaeologist who visited Sudan in 1833.
The author includes extracts from historical books, such as Naoum Shogair's "Geography and History of Sudan," which the author describes as an indispensable source for researchers in the field of Sudanese health in the 19th century..
Chapter two is dedicated to the understanding between the doctor, the patient, and the community, where the author discusses the ethics of the profession, stating that medical ethics is a practical science and a branch of moral philosophy, a branch of medical science, and an essential part of good medical practice. The medical profession is the only profession that has had, since the dawn of history and the beginning of human civilization, a code of ethics for practice which practitioners are committed to before they are allowed to approach patients. This is known as the Hippocratic Oath and emphasizes the necessity of the physician's humanity and the avoidance of the desire for fame.
Chapter three discusses concepts of health and illness, addressing medicine in the minds of the public through language and the concept of illness through popular thought, ritual, and symbols that the physician must be familiar with, as well as how rituals occupy an important space in the constitution of any society.
Chapter four outlines the causes of illness and injury and their connection to environmental factors and people's habits. It discusses the significance of solar eclipses among people, as well as supernatural forces, jinn, demons, zar, its origins, magic, and the evil eye.
Chapter five is dedicated to methods of diagnosing illness and injury, clarifying the difference between modern medical diagnoses which rely on evidence- based methods, and that of the general public who often depend on invoking supernatural forces for assistance in diagnosis. The author included examples of the reading of coffee cups, sand lines, dreams revelations(Ruaya), prayer for guidance, dream interpretation, and astrology.
Chapter Six: Healers, Treatment Methods, and Prevention, emphasizes the list of healers involved with people's health as extensive, highlighting that each ethnic group in Sudan has its own doctor or wise person. Sudanese people have recognized a large number of skilled traditional healers whose help they have sought, such as the fogara, the fakis, the sheikhs (religious leaders), and (the saints). This chapter includes examples of various forms of treatment, such as ruqyah (religious spiritual healing), incense, and herbal remedies. The author also underlined the role of the housewife as a health and social assistant who efficiently manages most family affairs as well as the further roles women played within the family.
Chapter Seven: Traditional Treatments and Practices discusses folk surgery and its risks. This includes exampled of female circumcision in its various forms, cupping, tattooing, bloodletting, and traditional prosthetics. The chapter also references Ali Wad Giyama, a traditional human and veterinary doctor and a fortune teller who practiced wound treatment, anesthesia, pregnancy and delivery. Chapter seven also includes traditional medicine, and folk pharmacy that comprised of various recipes used by people to treat illnesses. It also addresses food and misconceptions that impacted people's health, especially children.
In chapter eight, titled “Harvest of Years,” the author discusses the journey of Sudanese people in caring for their health during the second half of the twentieth century, pointing to Sudan’s failure since independence to implement a comprehensive and sustainable development plan that meets human needs to improve the people’s health.
This chapter shows that despite the increase in doctors and medical staff, the number of medical practitioners has not been very beneficial because of high rates of their emigration abroad, and those who remained in the country preferred the private sector. The chapter criticizes the government's spending policy on health, which places health at the bottom of its priorities, which the author contends, arguing the necessity of raising it to the top of the priorities because humans are the real asset.
Chapter eight also discusses the scarcity of medical literature that researchers can refer to regarding the history of medicine and the heritage of Sudan, noting that Sudanese scholars, and doctors in particular, are reluctant to document and record their work and the history of medicine in Sudan which results in a lack of historical, social medical studies. He also notes that teaching in most medical colleges remains disconnected from the practice of medicine in the long history of Sudan and its medical heritage. One reason for this weakness is the scarcity of documented material that assists both teachers and students. The author warns of the prevailing lack of documentation in Sudan and the neglect of documentation resources, taking as example the deterioration of the National Health Laboratory library and the scattering of its books and journals which began to be collected in 1902, as well as the demolition of the photographic museum in 1963-1964, which was opened in 1944. The author emphasizes the necessity of preserving professional records and documenting its heritage.
Chapter nine discusses harmful medical actions in comparison to wise medical practice. The author explains the types of harmful medical actions; what constitutes a harmful medical action, and the likelihood of such actions occurring. Harmful medical actions are seen as the causes of signs and symptoms of the health system's deterioration, indicating defects and gaps in the entire health system. The author suggests that reforming the health system requires an integrated and interconnected effort, qualified leadership at all levels, and advanced awareness of culture. As the author states, Sudan will not be able to diminish the occurrence of harmful medical actions without adopting and following the approach of wise medical practice.
The book emphasizes the connection between the humanities and applied sciences, making it relevant for all medical service providers and students of the humanities, particularly sociology and folklore. It refers to what the scholar Tijani Al-Mahi highlighted regarding the importance of studying the history of medicine, affirming that the humanities play a significant role in understanding health and disease. The knowledge provided by the humanities connects the doctor to the patient and links medical practice to Sudan's social history spanning centuries, forefronting its medical and health heritage. It also connects biological medicine and its sciences to their historical roots and streams. The author does not want medical education in colleges to remain disconnected from the historical context of Sudan or its medical and health heritage, nor from the historical and social roots of its sciences.
The author’s contribution is not limited to this book, he initiated and participated in studies on traditional medicine. In 1982, the Institute for Research in Traditional Medicine at the National Research Council was established through his initiative, aiming to study medical heritage with a scientifically oriented methodology. In recognition and appreciation of this effort, the World Health Organization designated it as a collaborating center in 1984 under the name WHO Collaborating Center for Research in Traditional Medicine. In 2004, he also founded the
Sudanese Foundation for Medical Heritage as a civil organization concerned
with research on medical systems, the history of medicine, preserving health heritage, and monitoring the development of medical services in Sudan. His interest stems from a fact he highlighted in his book: that traditional medicine is widely prevalent in developing countries, including Sudan, due to the high costs of treatment in hospitals and that there is a need to organize the work of traditional practitioners. Ahmed's concern and interest continued as he proposed a documentation project in 2005 called "The Health Trio in Sudan," which includes three parts: the history of medicine and the biographies of pioneers in Sudan, an encyclopedia of Sudanese doctors, and a bibliography of Sudanese medical studies in the twentieth century.
What stands out in this book is the wealth of material upon which it is based. Over the past four decades during which the book was written, Ahmed visited most of the traditional healing centers in Sudan and reviewed all available literature, whether auditory, written, or visual. A total of 35 pages have been dedicated to the sources and references used in the book. The author has precisely documented every piece of information included.
The title of the book, "The Wise Man," was chosen with great care. The term, which the author suggests likely originated from the Egyptians during the era of Turko-Egyptian rule, holds a particular significance. The term was not only applied to graduated physicians, but also to most who engage in healing. This name evokes childhood memories for me, reminding me of "Hassan the Wise," as the medical assistant Hassan was known, who came to treat people from the far north in Nawa to Arbaij in El-Jazeera region. I recall childhood songs: “I am a wise man healing people from fever and headaches”. The book resonates deeply with concepts of health, emphasizing that “whoever swears by health lacks nothing,” and due to its importance, people have tried everything possible for healing, which is explained upon in the book.
The book “El-Hakim” which the author humbly describes as an introduction to the social history of medicine and health in Sudan is encyclopedic and comprehensive in its approach. It represents the culmination of immense and elaborated effort. Congratulations to Dr. Ahmed El-Safi on this immense achievement that has enriched the Sudanese library with a much needed academic reference.
Cover picture: Cover of Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi's digital books © Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi, books can be purchased on Amazon
Read more
About El-Hakim
Presentation of Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi's book: El-Hakim (The Doctor), for doctors with a deeper understanding of their profession, their community’s cultures, and greater awareness of their environment and the conditions of their people. By: Professor Fadwa Abd-El Rahman Ali Taha
The book "El-Hakim" was published in 2013 by Sudan Currency Printing Company Limited, in 594 pages. The book, which took more than four decades to complete, takes you on an exciting historical journey as the author exhibits patience and diligence in his writing; the qualities essential for serious academic researchers. The book is introduced by Professor Abd-Allah Ali Ibrahim with a preface titled “Illness as Treatment and Culture.”
The book includes a preface, an introduction, and nine chapters:
- The Health of Sudan through the Centuries
- The convention Between the Doctor, the Patient, and the Community
- Concepts of Health and Illness
- Causes of Illness and Injury
- Means of Diagnosing Illness and Injury
- Healers, Treatment, Methods, and Prevention
- Remedies and Traditional (Folk) Practices
- The Harvest of Years
- Harmful Medical Actions and Responsible Medicine
The book summary includes a description of its contents and appendices listing the names of Sudanese months/calendar, Sudanese medical informal terms (colloquialisms) and their English equivalents, a glossary of important plants used in traditional medicine, modern drugs with plant origins, foreign doctors who served in Sudan, and the most important health laws in Sudan.
The author begins the book with an engaging discussion about himself, including experiences with customs, traditions, and traditional medicine during his childhood and youth. In the introduction, he discusses types and models of medicine, including biomedical, holistic, and traditional medicine. This first chapter is dedicated to the health of Sudan through the centuries, highlighting what was found in the writings of early travelers, geographers, and explorers, as well as in biographies and writings of some religious leaders, historians, doctors, and members of the Turkish, Egyptian, and English colonial armies, and anthropologists, along with local traditional medicine texts and manuscripts. He presents examples from the writings of travelers and scholars regarding medicine and health, such as John Lewis Burckhard, who described the health and diseases of Sudan, and George Hoskins, the English archaeologist who visited Sudan in 1833.
The author includes extracts from historical books, such as Naoum Shogair's "Geography and History of Sudan," which the author describes as an indispensable source for researchers in the field of Sudanese health in the 19th century..
Chapter two is dedicated to the understanding between the doctor, the patient, and the community, where the author discusses the ethics of the profession, stating that medical ethics is a practical science and a branch of moral philosophy, a branch of medical science, and an essential part of good medical practice. The medical profession is the only profession that has had, since the dawn of history and the beginning of human civilization, a code of ethics for practice which practitioners are committed to before they are allowed to approach patients. This is known as the Hippocratic Oath and emphasizes the necessity of the physician's humanity and the avoidance of the desire for fame.
Chapter three discusses concepts of health and illness, addressing medicine in the minds of the public through language and the concept of illness through popular thought, ritual, and symbols that the physician must be familiar with, as well as how rituals occupy an important space in the constitution of any society.
Chapter four outlines the causes of illness and injury and their connection to environmental factors and people's habits. It discusses the significance of solar eclipses among people, as well as supernatural forces, jinn, demons, zar, its origins, magic, and the evil eye.
Chapter five is dedicated to methods of diagnosing illness and injury, clarifying the difference between modern medical diagnoses which rely on evidence- based methods, and that of the general public who often depend on invoking supernatural forces for assistance in diagnosis. The author included examples of the reading of coffee cups, sand lines, dreams revelations(Ruaya), prayer for guidance, dream interpretation, and astrology.
Chapter Six: Healers, Treatment Methods, and Prevention, emphasizes the list of healers involved with people's health as extensive, highlighting that each ethnic group in Sudan has its own doctor or wise person. Sudanese people have recognized a large number of skilled traditional healers whose help they have sought, such as the fogara, the fakis, the sheikhs (religious leaders), and (the saints). This chapter includes examples of various forms of treatment, such as ruqyah (religious spiritual healing), incense, and herbal remedies. The author also underlined the role of the housewife as a health and social assistant who efficiently manages most family affairs as well as the further roles women played within the family.
Chapter Seven: Traditional Treatments and Practices discusses folk surgery and its risks. This includes exampled of female circumcision in its various forms, cupping, tattooing, bloodletting, and traditional prosthetics. The chapter also references Ali Wad Giyama, a traditional human and veterinary doctor and a fortune teller who practiced wound treatment, anesthesia, pregnancy and delivery. Chapter seven also includes traditional medicine, and folk pharmacy that comprised of various recipes used by people to treat illnesses. It also addresses food and misconceptions that impacted people's health, especially children.
In chapter eight, titled “Harvest of Years,” the author discusses the journey of Sudanese people in caring for their health during the second half of the twentieth century, pointing to Sudan’s failure since independence to implement a comprehensive and sustainable development plan that meets human needs to improve the people’s health.
This chapter shows that despite the increase in doctors and medical staff, the number of medical practitioners has not been very beneficial because of high rates of their emigration abroad, and those who remained in the country preferred the private sector. The chapter criticizes the government's spending policy on health, which places health at the bottom of its priorities, which the author contends, arguing the necessity of raising it to the top of the priorities because humans are the real asset.
Chapter eight also discusses the scarcity of medical literature that researchers can refer to regarding the history of medicine and the heritage of Sudan, noting that Sudanese scholars, and doctors in particular, are reluctant to document and record their work and the history of medicine in Sudan which results in a lack of historical, social medical studies. He also notes that teaching in most medical colleges remains disconnected from the practice of medicine in the long history of Sudan and its medical heritage. One reason for this weakness is the scarcity of documented material that assists both teachers and students. The author warns of the prevailing lack of documentation in Sudan and the neglect of documentation resources, taking as example the deterioration of the National Health Laboratory library and the scattering of its books and journals which began to be collected in 1902, as well as the demolition of the photographic museum in 1963-1964, which was opened in 1944. The author emphasizes the necessity of preserving professional records and documenting its heritage.
Chapter nine discusses harmful medical actions in comparison to wise medical practice. The author explains the types of harmful medical actions; what constitutes a harmful medical action, and the likelihood of such actions occurring. Harmful medical actions are seen as the causes of signs and symptoms of the health system's deterioration, indicating defects and gaps in the entire health system. The author suggests that reforming the health system requires an integrated and interconnected effort, qualified leadership at all levels, and advanced awareness of culture. As the author states, Sudan will not be able to diminish the occurrence of harmful medical actions without adopting and following the approach of wise medical practice.
The book emphasizes the connection between the humanities and applied sciences, making it relevant for all medical service providers and students of the humanities, particularly sociology and folklore. It refers to what the scholar Tijani Al-Mahi highlighted regarding the importance of studying the history of medicine, affirming that the humanities play a significant role in understanding health and disease. The knowledge provided by the humanities connects the doctor to the patient and links medical practice to Sudan's social history spanning centuries, forefronting its medical and health heritage. It also connects biological medicine and its sciences to their historical roots and streams. The author does not want medical education in colleges to remain disconnected from the historical context of Sudan or its medical and health heritage, nor from the historical and social roots of its sciences.
The author’s contribution is not limited to this book, he initiated and participated in studies on traditional medicine. In 1982, the Institute for Research in Traditional Medicine at the National Research Council was established through his initiative, aiming to study medical heritage with a scientifically oriented methodology. In recognition and appreciation of this effort, the World Health Organization designated it as a collaborating center in 1984 under the name WHO Collaborating Center for Research in Traditional Medicine. In 2004, he also founded the
Sudanese Foundation for Medical Heritage as a civil organization concerned
with research on medical systems, the history of medicine, preserving health heritage, and monitoring the development of medical services in Sudan. His interest stems from a fact he highlighted in his book: that traditional medicine is widely prevalent in developing countries, including Sudan, due to the high costs of treatment in hospitals and that there is a need to organize the work of traditional practitioners. Ahmed's concern and interest continued as he proposed a documentation project in 2005 called "The Health Trio in Sudan," which includes three parts: the history of medicine and the biographies of pioneers in Sudan, an encyclopedia of Sudanese doctors, and a bibliography of Sudanese medical studies in the twentieth century.
What stands out in this book is the wealth of material upon which it is based. Over the past four decades during which the book was written, Ahmed visited most of the traditional healing centers in Sudan and reviewed all available literature, whether auditory, written, or visual. A total of 35 pages have been dedicated to the sources and references used in the book. The author has precisely documented every piece of information included.
The title of the book, "The Wise Man," was chosen with great care. The term, which the author suggests likely originated from the Egyptians during the era of Turko-Egyptian rule, holds a particular significance. The term was not only applied to graduated physicians, but also to most who engage in healing. This name evokes childhood memories for me, reminding me of "Hassan the Wise," as the medical assistant Hassan was known, who came to treat people from the far north in Nawa to Arbaij in El-Jazeera region. I recall childhood songs: “I am a wise man healing people from fever and headaches”. The book resonates deeply with concepts of health, emphasizing that “whoever swears by health lacks nothing,” and due to its importance, people have tried everything possible for healing, which is explained upon in the book.
The book “El-Hakim” which the author humbly describes as an introduction to the social history of medicine and health in Sudan is encyclopedic and comprehensive in its approach. It represents the culmination of immense and elaborated effort. Congratulations to Dr. Ahmed El-Safi on this immense achievement that has enriched the Sudanese library with a much needed academic reference.
Cover picture: Cover of Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi's digital books © Dr. Ahmed Al-Safi, books can be purchased on Amazon
exit
We live by food
15/11/2024
Food and drink of the Nubian people
Read more
object
Food and drink of the Nubian people
Food and drink of the people of Batn al-Hajar
Food
People in this area eat wheat and corn but mostly the latter, grown along a narrow strip near the River Nile. Previously, British colonial authorities allowed local people to grow a tobacco called gamsha, which they sold to the north and south making it part of their economy. In addition dates, the people of Batn al-Hajar’s food includes the following:
• Kabid is a famous gorasa, type of Sudanese flatbread, made out of corn dough baked on a traditional hotplate stove. A kabid loaf is flipped constantaly until both sides are equally cooked and then a cross is marked onto its surface as a form of blessing. It is flavoured with idam, or sauce, made of ittir, the two types of cowpea plant leaves, or fish broth, or milk or ghee with sugar, or purslane or any other stew.
•Shiddi is the equivalent of Sudanese kisra (flatbread sheets) and is only made out of corn and eaten with whatever idam is available.
• Sallabiyya is made of wheat which is spread out very thinly on the traditional hotplate stove and is often eaten with milk or any other sauce.
• Turmus or lupin is washed and placed in a sack that is left in the Nile for three days to remove its bitter taste. It is an allround favourite and is considered good for the bones.
• Dates. Each family has its own palm tree grove. The female palm is pollinated by male ambi. Dates are stored in a gussi, a large clay barrel, of which the family may have more than one. It is sealed at the top to prevent any air entering with a hole at the bottom, covered with a cloth, through which the dates can be extracted. Dates stored this way do not get pest infestations.1
• Fish is caught by net or hook whenever required. Fish meat and idam sauce are very good because they are Nile fish.
• Fenti shorba is a date porridge usually made for pregnant women.
In terms of meat, the people of Batn al-Hajar have their distinctive Nubian sheep and Nubian camels.
People here use their camels to travel to the north and south to sell their gamsha tobacco. Everyone has their own camels, sheep and goats which they slaughter occasionaly. Nubian camels have a high tolerance threshold for hunger and thirst, and have good quality meat, and even though they are smaller than other camels, they are able to carry heavier laods and walk faster. When a camel is old, it is killed and its meat is shared out. Camel milk is left for it to feed its young while the people drink sheep and goat milk.
Food for people in this area includes Nile fish, crocodiles, turtles and other reptiles and they hunt rabbits using their own secret methods. The job of youngsters is to catch birds like doves and migrating birds that arrive in the winter.
• Turkin, known by most Sudanese as maloha (or cured fish), is when small fish are layered across the bottom of a large dish and covered with a layer of salt. This is repeated until the dish is filled with layers of fish and salt. The dish is then placed on a fire until the fish disintegrates including any breeding worms that may have been in the fisth, but this is okay. After it is boiled, the fish mixture is constantly stirred over about three days. When preparing an idam sauce, some of the fish is cooked with oil, onions and spices. It is a favourite food eaten with wheat gorasa.2
Beverages
• Dakkai is an alchohol they make and can be used as a marker of a woman’s status for example a young man may refuse to marry a young woman who is not good at making it. To make dakkai, dates are placed in a large clay pot and left to ferment. After about three days, the beverage reaches perfection and a man might ask his friends to come and share it and it is even better if this drinking session coincides with a feast when an animal has been slaughtered!
• Nebit is derived from carefully selected dates that are placed in a large clay pot which is cooked over a very hot fire and then buried in the ground for at least nine days. Nebit is made and consumed during the very cold desert winters and men drink it in the morning to be able to enter the water by the waterwheel as the drink gives off plenty of heat to warm up the body. A man may also invite his friends to come and merrily consume it with him.
Other fermented drinks include aragi (the most common Sudanese alchoholic drink). This is imported from eastern Dongola, where it is professionally made by women in the that region.
Food and drink of the people of Al-Sakkot
Foods
• Turkin, which we saw ealier, is a type of maloha eaten with wheat gorasa flatbreads.
• Koddad is what most Sudanese people know as mulah al-warag made from the leaves of safflower, watercress or the different types of cowpea leaves. One variety of these leaves are placed cooked for a long time over a coal fire with spices, onions and garlic, and it is eaten with kisra.
• Koshen kulub is made from safflower beans which are roasted, ground, sieved, and then cooked over a fire.
• Futti is millet. The grains are ground and used as idam stew, after being cooked over a fire.
• Corn gorasa with fermented milk.
• Belilah is made of wheat, corn, or cowpeas and is cooked with salt and eaten by hand.
• A mixture of seseme and wheat gorasa eaten with any stew.
• Gurub is made of dates with wheat or corn. Date kernels are removed and the dates are cut up into small pieces and added to a mixture of corn or wheat dough and spread on a hotplate to cook. It is eaten by itself.
• Boje is made when a pumpkin is peeled and its soft, sweetish pulp, the boje, is removed. It is then boiled over a fire and eaten with kisra, or gurasa flatbreads made of wheat or corn.
• Green Egyptian favabean balila which is boiled over a fire with salt and eaten by hand.
• Lupine flour gorasa is boiled with with salt and spices, and eaten with molokhia.
• Date syrup is made out of good quality dates such as the gondela and barakawi varieties. These are placed in a large container and boiled for a long period of time. Once cooled, the pulp is strained and boiled for a second time and then strained again to remove any residue from the first straining. It can be eaten with gorasa or any other flatbread.
• Madida is a porridge made of millet or dates and is given to sick people or pregnant women.
• Dates are readily available similarly like they are for the people of Batn al-Hajar, Al-Mahas and Dongola and are eaten whenever they feel like having some.
Beverages
People here make alcohol out of their local crops which they drink when they are not working, especially at night. Different types of alcohol are made each season; nabit in winter, and dakkai in the summer. Both have been described in the beverages of Batn al-Hajar.
Young men sometimes make the alcohol aragi on the banks of the Nile taking advantage of the cool climate along the waterfront. The dates, which will have been fermenting for about three days, are put in a container with a draining tube and placed over a fire. When the mixture reaches boiling point, heat is reduced to bring it down. A special pipe is wrapped around container’s draining tube. Ice or cold water is passed through the pipe to control the density and flow of the liquid which is drained into waiting bottles. Young men get their aragi making equipment made at local ironmongers.
Cover picture: Grinding stone © Darfur museum, Niyala
Food and drink of the people of Batn al-Hajar
Food
People in this area eat wheat and corn but mostly the latter, grown along a narrow strip near the River Nile. Previously, British colonial authorities allowed local people to grow a tobacco called gamsha, which they sold to the north and south making it part of their economy. In addition dates, the people of Batn al-Hajar’s food includes the following:
• Kabid is a famous gorasa, type of Sudanese flatbread, made out of corn dough baked on a traditional hotplate stove. A kabid loaf is flipped constantaly until both sides are equally cooked and then a cross is marked onto its surface as a form of blessing. It is flavoured with idam, or sauce, made of ittir, the two types of cowpea plant leaves, or fish broth, or milk or ghee with sugar, or purslane or any other stew.
•Shiddi is the equivalent of Sudanese kisra (flatbread sheets) and is only made out of corn and eaten with whatever idam is available.
• Sallabiyya is made of wheat which is spread out very thinly on the traditional hotplate stove and is often eaten with milk or any other sauce.
• Turmus or lupin is washed and placed in a sack that is left in the Nile for three days to remove its bitter taste. It is an allround favourite and is considered good for the bones.
• Dates. Each family has its own palm tree grove. The female palm is pollinated by male ambi. Dates are stored in a gussi, a large clay barrel, of which the family may have more than one. It is sealed at the top to prevent any air entering with a hole at the bottom, covered with a cloth, through which the dates can be extracted. Dates stored this way do not get pest infestations.1
• Fish is caught by net or hook whenever required. Fish meat and idam sauce are very good because they are Nile fish.
• Fenti shorba is a date porridge usually made for pregnant women.
In terms of meat, the people of Batn al-Hajar have their distinctive Nubian sheep and Nubian camels.
People here use their camels to travel to the north and south to sell their gamsha tobacco. Everyone has their own camels, sheep and goats which they slaughter occasionaly. Nubian camels have a high tolerance threshold for hunger and thirst, and have good quality meat, and even though they are smaller than other camels, they are able to carry heavier laods and walk faster. When a camel is old, it is killed and its meat is shared out. Camel milk is left for it to feed its young while the people drink sheep and goat milk.
Food for people in this area includes Nile fish, crocodiles, turtles and other reptiles and they hunt rabbits using their own secret methods. The job of youngsters is to catch birds like doves and migrating birds that arrive in the winter.
• Turkin, known by most Sudanese as maloha (or cured fish), is when small fish are layered across the bottom of a large dish and covered with a layer of salt. This is repeated until the dish is filled with layers of fish and salt. The dish is then placed on a fire until the fish disintegrates including any breeding worms that may have been in the fisth, but this is okay. After it is boiled, the fish mixture is constantly stirred over about three days. When preparing an idam sauce, some of the fish is cooked with oil, onions and spices. It is a favourite food eaten with wheat gorasa.2
Beverages
• Dakkai is an alchohol they make and can be used as a marker of a woman’s status for example a young man may refuse to marry a young woman who is not good at making it. To make dakkai, dates are placed in a large clay pot and left to ferment. After about three days, the beverage reaches perfection and a man might ask his friends to come and share it and it is even better if this drinking session coincides with a feast when an animal has been slaughtered!
• Nebit is derived from carefully selected dates that are placed in a large clay pot which is cooked over a very hot fire and then buried in the ground for at least nine days. Nebit is made and consumed during the very cold desert winters and men drink it in the morning to be able to enter the water by the waterwheel as the drink gives off plenty of heat to warm up the body. A man may also invite his friends to come and merrily consume it with him.
Other fermented drinks include aragi (the most common Sudanese alchoholic drink). This is imported from eastern Dongola, where it is professionally made by women in the that region.
Food and drink of the people of Al-Sakkot
Foods
• Turkin, which we saw ealier, is a type of maloha eaten with wheat gorasa flatbreads.
• Koddad is what most Sudanese people know as mulah al-warag made from the leaves of safflower, watercress or the different types of cowpea leaves. One variety of these leaves are placed cooked for a long time over a coal fire with spices, onions and garlic, and it is eaten with kisra.
• Koshen kulub is made from safflower beans which are roasted, ground, sieved, and then cooked over a fire.
• Futti is millet. The grains are ground and used as idam stew, after being cooked over a fire.
• Corn gorasa with fermented milk.
• Belilah is made of wheat, corn, or cowpeas and is cooked with salt and eaten by hand.
• A mixture of seseme and wheat gorasa eaten with any stew.
• Gurub is made of dates with wheat or corn. Date kernels are removed and the dates are cut up into small pieces and added to a mixture of corn or wheat dough and spread on a hotplate to cook. It is eaten by itself.
• Boje is made when a pumpkin is peeled and its soft, sweetish pulp, the boje, is removed. It is then boiled over a fire and eaten with kisra, or gurasa flatbreads made of wheat or corn.
• Green Egyptian favabean balila which is boiled over a fire with salt and eaten by hand.
• Lupine flour gorasa is boiled with with salt and spices, and eaten with molokhia.
• Date syrup is made out of good quality dates such as the gondela and barakawi varieties. These are placed in a large container and boiled for a long period of time. Once cooled, the pulp is strained and boiled for a second time and then strained again to remove any residue from the first straining. It can be eaten with gorasa or any other flatbread.
• Madida is a porridge made of millet or dates and is given to sick people or pregnant women.
• Dates are readily available similarly like they are for the people of Batn al-Hajar, Al-Mahas and Dongola and are eaten whenever they feel like having some.
Beverages
People here make alcohol out of their local crops which they drink when they are not working, especially at night. Different types of alcohol are made each season; nabit in winter, and dakkai in the summer. Both have been described in the beverages of Batn al-Hajar.
Young men sometimes make the alcohol aragi on the banks of the Nile taking advantage of the cool climate along the waterfront. The dates, which will have been fermenting for about three days, are put in a container with a draining tube and placed over a fire. When the mixture reaches boiling point, heat is reduced to bring it down. A special pipe is wrapped around container’s draining tube. Ice or cold water is passed through the pipe to control the density and flow of the liquid which is drained into waiting bottles. Young men get their aragi making equipment made at local ironmongers.
Cover picture: Grinding stone © Darfur museum, Niyala
Read more
Food and drink of the Nubian people
Food and drink of the people of Batn al-Hajar
Food
People in this area eat wheat and corn but mostly the latter, grown along a narrow strip near the River Nile. Previously, British colonial authorities allowed local people to grow a tobacco called gamsha, which they sold to the north and south making it part of their economy. In addition dates, the people of Batn al-Hajar’s food includes the following:
• Kabid is a famous gorasa, type of Sudanese flatbread, made out of corn dough baked on a traditional hotplate stove. A kabid loaf is flipped constantaly until both sides are equally cooked and then a cross is marked onto its surface as a form of blessing. It is flavoured with idam, or sauce, made of ittir, the two types of cowpea plant leaves, or fish broth, or milk or ghee with sugar, or purslane or any other stew.
•Shiddi is the equivalent of Sudanese kisra (flatbread sheets) and is only made out of corn and eaten with whatever idam is available.
• Sallabiyya is made of wheat which is spread out very thinly on the traditional hotplate stove and is often eaten with milk or any other sauce.
• Turmus or lupin is washed and placed in a sack that is left in the Nile for three days to remove its bitter taste. It is an allround favourite and is considered good for the bones.
• Dates. Each family has its own palm tree grove. The female palm is pollinated by male ambi. Dates are stored in a gussi, a large clay barrel, of which the family may have more than one. It is sealed at the top to prevent any air entering with a hole at the bottom, covered with a cloth, through which the dates can be extracted. Dates stored this way do not get pest infestations.1
• Fish is caught by net or hook whenever required. Fish meat and idam sauce are very good because they are Nile fish.
• Fenti shorba is a date porridge usually made for pregnant women.
In terms of meat, the people of Batn al-Hajar have their distinctive Nubian sheep and Nubian camels.
People here use their camels to travel to the north and south to sell their gamsha tobacco. Everyone has their own camels, sheep and goats which they slaughter occasionaly. Nubian camels have a high tolerance threshold for hunger and thirst, and have good quality meat, and even though they are smaller than other camels, they are able to carry heavier laods and walk faster. When a camel is old, it is killed and its meat is shared out. Camel milk is left for it to feed its young while the people drink sheep and goat milk.
Food for people in this area includes Nile fish, crocodiles, turtles and other reptiles and they hunt rabbits using their own secret methods. The job of youngsters is to catch birds like doves and migrating birds that arrive in the winter.
• Turkin, known by most Sudanese as maloha (or cured fish), is when small fish are layered across the bottom of a large dish and covered with a layer of salt. This is repeated until the dish is filled with layers of fish and salt. The dish is then placed on a fire until the fish disintegrates including any breeding worms that may have been in the fisth, but this is okay. After it is boiled, the fish mixture is constantly stirred over about three days. When preparing an idam sauce, some of the fish is cooked with oil, onions and spices. It is a favourite food eaten with wheat gorasa.2
Beverages
• Dakkai is an alchohol they make and can be used as a marker of a woman’s status for example a young man may refuse to marry a young woman who is not good at making it. To make dakkai, dates are placed in a large clay pot and left to ferment. After about three days, the beverage reaches perfection and a man might ask his friends to come and share it and it is even better if this drinking session coincides with a feast when an animal has been slaughtered!
• Nebit is derived from carefully selected dates that are placed in a large clay pot which is cooked over a very hot fire and then buried in the ground for at least nine days. Nebit is made and consumed during the very cold desert winters and men drink it in the morning to be able to enter the water by the waterwheel as the drink gives off plenty of heat to warm up the body. A man may also invite his friends to come and merrily consume it with him.
Other fermented drinks include aragi (the most common Sudanese alchoholic drink). This is imported from eastern Dongola, where it is professionally made by women in the that region.
Food and drink of the people of Al-Sakkot
Foods
• Turkin, which we saw ealier, is a type of maloha eaten with wheat gorasa flatbreads.
• Koddad is what most Sudanese people know as mulah al-warag made from the leaves of safflower, watercress or the different types of cowpea leaves. One variety of these leaves are placed cooked for a long time over a coal fire with spices, onions and garlic, and it is eaten with kisra.
• Koshen kulub is made from safflower beans which are roasted, ground, sieved, and then cooked over a fire.
• Futti is millet. The grains are ground and used as idam stew, after being cooked over a fire.
• Corn gorasa with fermented milk.
• Belilah is made of wheat, corn, or cowpeas and is cooked with salt and eaten by hand.
• A mixture of seseme and wheat gorasa eaten with any stew.
• Gurub is made of dates with wheat or corn. Date kernels are removed and the dates are cut up into small pieces and added to a mixture of corn or wheat dough and spread on a hotplate to cook. It is eaten by itself.
• Boje is made when a pumpkin is peeled and its soft, sweetish pulp, the boje, is removed. It is then boiled over a fire and eaten with kisra, or gurasa flatbreads made of wheat or corn.
• Green Egyptian favabean balila which is boiled over a fire with salt and eaten by hand.
• Lupine flour gorasa is boiled with with salt and spices, and eaten with molokhia.
• Date syrup is made out of good quality dates such as the gondela and barakawi varieties. These are placed in a large container and boiled for a long period of time. Once cooled, the pulp is strained and boiled for a second time and then strained again to remove any residue from the first straining. It can be eaten with gorasa or any other flatbread.
• Madida is a porridge made of millet or dates and is given to sick people or pregnant women.
• Dates are readily available similarly like they are for the people of Batn al-Hajar, Al-Mahas and Dongola and are eaten whenever they feel like having some.
Beverages
People here make alcohol out of their local crops which they drink when they are not working, especially at night. Different types of alcohol are made each season; nabit in winter, and dakkai in the summer. Both have been described in the beverages of Batn al-Hajar.
Young men sometimes make the alcohol aragi on the banks of the Nile taking advantage of the cool climate along the waterfront. The dates, which will have been fermenting for about three days, are put in a container with a draining tube and placed over a fire. When the mixture reaches boiling point, heat is reduced to bring it down. A special pipe is wrapped around container’s draining tube. Ice or cold water is passed through the pipe to control the density and flow of the liquid which is drained into waiting bottles. Young men get their aragi making equipment made at local ironmongers.
Cover picture: Grinding stone © Darfur museum, Niyala
exit
We live by food
15/11/2024
Food and drink of the Fur
Read more
object
Food and drink of the Fur
In this study, I make a distinction between the ‘tribes’ and ‘peoples’ of Sudan. Historically, the word ‘tribe’ applied only to Arabs with the word ‘peoples’ being applied to non-Arabs as different ways of describing the duality of Sudan’s African, Arab identity. Consequently, the Fur are one of the peoples of Sudan originating in the south-west of the country.
I learned about the Fur people after the migration of the Nubians to the Butana plain. The New Halfa Agricultural Project was established around 1963 and many people, including the Fur, migrated from western Sudan to work and live on the project first as labourers, then as renters of agricultural plots known as hawashat.1 A hawasha is a plot of land measuring 3 fedans allocated to one farmer for consecutive agricultural seasons over one year. The Fur came to our homes and we went to theirs and we got to know each other well, sharing company, food and drink.
Using a variety of methods, the Fur would catch the large rats which found themselves good homes in the cracks in the earth of the hawashat. There were so many rats, everyone would catch a considerable number of them every day. Once caught the rat would be skinned and then suspended by its ears from a rope tied to their roof of their rakoba,2 hut like shelter, to dry. Once they were dry, the rats were ground in a pestle and a stored as a useful source of nutrition.
The Fur’s preferred grain is corn from which they make the porridge-like bread asida. To make , asida, corn flour is kneaded and put in a pot over a fire. The woman stirs it until it thickens, then adds powdered rat meat and bones or ‘pigeons of the cracks’ as they call the rats, with a bit of salt to make food like no other, anywhere.
Molasses are considered by the Fur to be both a food and a beverage. When a man goes out to work on the hawasha, his wife provides him with a large bowl of corn molasses. The researcher Zaki Abdul Hamid Ahmad talks about making molasses but mistakenly describes the process of making the alcoholic drink marisa3 instead. Zaki said either dates or flour are soaked in water and stirred until the solid matter is dissolved and then it is strained. However, this is the way they make molasses not marisa which I’ll describe later on.
All the Fur went out to work on the hawasha, men, women, boys and girls just as is their custom when tending to the plots of land in their hometowns known as jubrakat4 or vegetable allotments. Molasses here are all the food and drink they consume throughout their working day. The Nubians and Arabs in New Halfa claim that rarely do they receive Fur patients at their hospital, because, according to them, their diet is made up of corn, millet and asida with the delicious powdered ‘pigeon of the cracks’.
The previous account was only about the Fur on the Halfa al-Jadida project where I lived.
Another account about the food of the Fur is by the early 19th century historian and traveller Muhammad bin Omar al-Tunisi detailed in his biography titled Travels of an Arab Merchant in Soudan. In his book, Al-Tunisi approached the topic in such a way as to make me hesitate for he describes their livelihood as being of an extremely low standard to the extent that ‘if anyone from our country,’ meaning Tunisia, were to try some of the Fur’s foods they would instantly feel fatigued and lose their vitality. He said this was because most of the Fur’s food was either bitter or rotten, even though they thought it was the most desirable cuisine.5
Al-Tunisi was close to the Sultan of Darfur, but he disliked what the people of Darfur ate, especially the weka (dried okra). He was like the wise, pious Arab stranger who is honoured by the people of the country he is visiting, however, for him to vocalize his dislike of their food is not religious in any way. In fact, his hosts were offering him foods that they themselves hardly ate.6 Thus, Al-Tunisi talks of weka, which is dried okra that is pound in a pestle and sieved and later added as a sauce to go with asida. In his book, Al-Tunisi mentions other types of weka including the Heglig weka and the Dodari weka. The first is made from the soft, fresh leaves or fruit of the Heglig (Balanites aegyptiaca) tree. The leaf is pound down and placed in a pot over a fire and stirred constantly until it combines with the water and fat it is cooking in. If the weka is made of the Heglig fruit, these are soaked in water and then strained into a pot and meat is added. It is made into a sauce for asida.
Meanwhile, the Dodari weka is made out of the bones of sheep, cows and other animals, especially the knee and chest bones. Meat is stripped off the bones which are placed into a jar and sealed for a period of time before they are removed, ground and added to meat. The mixture is made into orange-sized balls which they eat. Sometimes these balls of meat are cooked by soaking them in water to make them soft and then drained and cooked over a fire with onions, ghee, salt and pepper. This type of meal is considered very good food and is eaten by the affluent.
Most Fur food is made from plants that grow in the region. They grow millet, which is the basis of their porridge-like asida. They also grow maize. In their stronghold of Jebel Marra, famous for such a wide variety of fruit, they grow wheat, which they do not eat but export to other markets. Fruit trees in Jebel Marra regenerate with the availability and flow of water. The Fur have names for some of their food ingredients, such as niyalmo, which is the soft leaf of the Heglig tree. Angalo is the green fruit of the Heglig tree. Kawal is a pile of rotten plants, which is buried in the ground for a period of time until it is black and its powder is sprinkled over food as a condiment. Kanbo is an ash that is used in food instead of salt due to its scarcity.
In terms of hunting and fishing, providing meat for themselves and others, the Fur are divided into two categories; regular hunters and professional hunters. Regular hunters are those who go out individually to hunt, relying on their own abilities, courage and knowledge of animals through experience, whether they are wild or not. Meanwhile, professional hunters are those who go out in a group and who are invited to go out every Saturday by the Warnanih, the leader who beats a special drum to gather them.
Muhammad bin Omar al-Tunisi explains how some of the hunters hunt four-legged animals, such as gazelles, zebras, buffaloes, elephants, hyenas, rhinos, rabbits, and abu al-husen (foxes).7 Gazelles and rabbits are hunted with hunting dogs and some people hunt them with the safarug, wooden boomerang.8
In the rich plains of the savannah people hunt these animals in different ways. The elephant is always hunted when it is in herd heading to a watering place. A wide and deep hole is dug out in the elephant’s path and covered with grass and a scattering of earth. At the bottom of the pit, they fix into the ground, a sharpened stick pointing upwards. When the elephant falls into the pit, the people who made the pit come and kill the animal with spears, and then lift it out with ropes, to free it from the sharp stick stuck into its flesh. This is the same way they hunt other beasts like zebras, buffaloes, and rhinos. The flesh of these beasts is cut into narrow strips of sharmoot9 and eaten raw or left to dry and is sold to anyone who wants to buy it.
The Fur also hunt birds most notably the African houbara which some of them are specialised in hunting using worm or insect bait. One of their native birds is the Abu Manzara, which is larger than the houbara. To catch it, they tie a worm or insect into a knot in a length of string or rope. When the bird sees this, it swoops down to catch the bait but also swallows the knotted rope and are thus caught. This bird is one of the Fur’s favourite meats.10
Small birds are caught in nets with sticks pushed up into the corners, making them square or rectangular in shape. The net is raised up and supported by a stick with a rope attached to the top. Grain is then scattered in the shade of the net with the end of the rope held by the hunter at a distance. When the birds gather in the shade of the net to eat the grain, the hunter pulls the rope and the net falls onto the birds catching them. The hunters remove their feathers, then roast them over a fire and eat the delicious, tender meat.
For information about the Fur consuming the meat of elephants, hyenas, lions, rhinos and other wild animals, I asked Mohammed Adam Salih Mohammed, a 57-year old Fur tribesman who had sought refuge from the war in Wadi Halfa and whom I interviewed in late June 2024. I wanted to know whether Al-Tunisi was right in saying that they ate the meat of these animals. His response was that some Fur might eat this type of meat, like the Daramda, giraffe hunters, or the poor. Others he said, use the skins of these animals to make leather whips, shoes or shields which they sell to soldiers or for duwas11, fighting. Al-Fashir, the capital of [north] Darfur, is famous for its markoob shoes made of tiger skins among others.12
For the Fur, marisa is both a food and drink. It is consumed as a beverage in order to get drunk, or when in the company of friends, and as a food for the energy it provides, and is made from corn. The corn seeds are covered with a wet sack and within three days the seeds begin to sprout and are called zirria. The zirria is then dried, ground and placed with some water in large clean container until foam rises as it ferments and is suitable for drinking. An individual will consume one abbar of marisa but for those who want to get drunk, two or more abbar are drunk. For those looking to generate some energy, one abbar is downed quickly leaving the person with a spring in his step. Although it is intoxicating, it is not haram in their view.
Cover picture: Cooking tools © Women museum, Niyala
In this study, I make a distinction between the ‘tribes’ and ‘peoples’ of Sudan. Historically, the word ‘tribe’ applied only to Arabs with the word ‘peoples’ being applied to non-Arabs as different ways of describing the duality of Sudan’s African, Arab identity. Consequently, the Fur are one of the peoples of Sudan originating in the south-west of the country.
I learned about the Fur people after the migration of the Nubians to the Butana plain. The New Halfa Agricultural Project was established around 1963 and many people, including the Fur, migrated from western Sudan to work and live on the project first as labourers, then as renters of agricultural plots known as hawashat.1 A hawasha is a plot of land measuring 3 fedans allocated to one farmer for consecutive agricultural seasons over one year. The Fur came to our homes and we went to theirs and we got to know each other well, sharing company, food and drink.
Using a variety of methods, the Fur would catch the large rats which found themselves good homes in the cracks in the earth of the hawashat. There were so many rats, everyone would catch a considerable number of them every day. Once caught the rat would be skinned and then suspended by its ears from a rope tied to their roof of their rakoba,2 hut like shelter, to dry. Once they were dry, the rats were ground in a pestle and a stored as a useful source of nutrition.
The Fur’s preferred grain is corn from which they make the porridge-like bread asida. To make , asida, corn flour is kneaded and put in a pot over a fire. The woman stirs it until it thickens, then adds powdered rat meat and bones or ‘pigeons of the cracks’ as they call the rats, with a bit of salt to make food like no other, anywhere.
Molasses are considered by the Fur to be both a food and a beverage. When a man goes out to work on the hawasha, his wife provides him with a large bowl of corn molasses. The researcher Zaki Abdul Hamid Ahmad talks about making molasses but mistakenly describes the process of making the alcoholic drink marisa3 instead. Zaki said either dates or flour are soaked in water and stirred until the solid matter is dissolved and then it is strained. However, this is the way they make molasses not marisa which I’ll describe later on.
All the Fur went out to work on the hawasha, men, women, boys and girls just as is their custom when tending to the plots of land in their hometowns known as jubrakat4 or vegetable allotments. Molasses here are all the food and drink they consume throughout their working day. The Nubians and Arabs in New Halfa claim that rarely do they receive Fur patients at their hospital, because, according to them, their diet is made up of corn, millet and asida with the delicious powdered ‘pigeon of the cracks’.
The previous account was only about the Fur on the Halfa al-Jadida project where I lived.
Another account about the food of the Fur is by the early 19th century historian and traveller Muhammad bin Omar al-Tunisi detailed in his biography titled Travels of an Arab Merchant in Soudan. In his book, Al-Tunisi approached the topic in such a way as to make me hesitate for he describes their livelihood as being of an extremely low standard to the extent that ‘if anyone from our country,’ meaning Tunisia, were to try some of the Fur’s foods they would instantly feel fatigued and lose their vitality. He said this was because most of the Fur’s food was either bitter or rotten, even though they thought it was the most desirable cuisine.5
Al-Tunisi was close to the Sultan of Darfur, but he disliked what the people of Darfur ate, especially the weka (dried okra). He was like the wise, pious Arab stranger who is honoured by the people of the country he is visiting, however, for him to vocalize his dislike of their food is not religious in any way. In fact, his hosts were offering him foods that they themselves hardly ate.6 Thus, Al-Tunisi talks of weka, which is dried okra that is pound in a pestle and sieved and later added as a sauce to go with asida. In his book, Al-Tunisi mentions other types of weka including the Heglig weka and the Dodari weka. The first is made from the soft, fresh leaves or fruit of the Heglig (Balanites aegyptiaca) tree. The leaf is pound down and placed in a pot over a fire and stirred constantly until it combines with the water and fat it is cooking in. If the weka is made of the Heglig fruit, these are soaked in water and then strained into a pot and meat is added. It is made into a sauce for asida.
Meanwhile, the Dodari weka is made out of the bones of sheep, cows and other animals, especially the knee and chest bones. Meat is stripped off the bones which are placed into a jar and sealed for a period of time before they are removed, ground and added to meat. The mixture is made into orange-sized balls which they eat. Sometimes these balls of meat are cooked by soaking them in water to make them soft and then drained and cooked over a fire with onions, ghee, salt and pepper. This type of meal is considered very good food and is eaten by the affluent.
Most Fur food is made from plants that grow in the region. They grow millet, which is the basis of their porridge-like asida. They also grow maize. In their stronghold of Jebel Marra, famous for such a wide variety of fruit, they grow wheat, which they do not eat but export to other markets. Fruit trees in Jebel Marra regenerate with the availability and flow of water. The Fur have names for some of their food ingredients, such as niyalmo, which is the soft leaf of the Heglig tree. Angalo is the green fruit of the Heglig tree. Kawal is a pile of rotten plants, which is buried in the ground for a period of time until it is black and its powder is sprinkled over food as a condiment. Kanbo is an ash that is used in food instead of salt due to its scarcity.
In terms of hunting and fishing, providing meat for themselves and others, the Fur are divided into two categories; regular hunters and professional hunters. Regular hunters are those who go out individually to hunt, relying on their own abilities, courage and knowledge of animals through experience, whether they are wild or not. Meanwhile, professional hunters are those who go out in a group and who are invited to go out every Saturday by the Warnanih, the leader who beats a special drum to gather them.
Muhammad bin Omar al-Tunisi explains how some of the hunters hunt four-legged animals, such as gazelles, zebras, buffaloes, elephants, hyenas, rhinos, rabbits, and abu al-husen (foxes).7 Gazelles and rabbits are hunted with hunting dogs and some people hunt them with the safarug, wooden boomerang.8
In the rich plains of the savannah people hunt these animals in different ways. The elephant is always hunted when it is in herd heading to a watering place. A wide and deep hole is dug out in the elephant’s path and covered with grass and a scattering of earth. At the bottom of the pit, they fix into the ground, a sharpened stick pointing upwards. When the elephant falls into the pit, the people who made the pit come and kill the animal with spears, and then lift it out with ropes, to free it from the sharp stick stuck into its flesh. This is the same way they hunt other beasts like zebras, buffaloes, and rhinos. The flesh of these beasts is cut into narrow strips of sharmoot9 and eaten raw or left to dry and is sold to anyone who wants to buy it.
The Fur also hunt birds most notably the African houbara which some of them are specialised in hunting using worm or insect bait. One of their native birds is the Abu Manzara, which is larger than the houbara. To catch it, they tie a worm or insect into a knot in a length of string or rope. When the bird sees this, it swoops down to catch the bait but also swallows the knotted rope and are thus caught. This bird is one of the Fur’s favourite meats.10
Small birds are caught in nets with sticks pushed up into the corners, making them square or rectangular in shape. The net is raised up and supported by a stick with a rope attached to the top. Grain is then scattered in the shade of the net with the end of the rope held by the hunter at a distance. When the birds gather in the shade of the net to eat the grain, the hunter pulls the rope and the net falls onto the birds catching them. The hunters remove their feathers, then roast them over a fire and eat the delicious, tender meat.
For information about the Fur consuming the meat of elephants, hyenas, lions, rhinos and other wild animals, I asked Mohammed Adam Salih Mohammed, a 57-year old Fur tribesman who had sought refuge from the war in Wadi Halfa and whom I interviewed in late June 2024. I wanted to know whether Al-Tunisi was right in saying that they ate the meat of these animals. His response was that some Fur might eat this type of meat, like the Daramda, giraffe hunters, or the poor. Others he said, use the skins of these animals to make leather whips, shoes or shields which they sell to soldiers or for duwas11, fighting. Al-Fashir, the capital of [north] Darfur, is famous for its markoob shoes made of tiger skins among others.12
For the Fur, marisa is both a food and drink. It is consumed as a beverage in order to get drunk, or when in the company of friends, and as a food for the energy it provides, and is made from corn. The corn seeds are covered with a wet sack and within three days the seeds begin to sprout and are called zirria. The zirria is then dried, ground and placed with some water in large clean container until foam rises as it ferments and is suitable for drinking. An individual will consume one abbar of marisa but for those who want to get drunk, two or more abbar are drunk. For those looking to generate some energy, one abbar is downed quickly leaving the person with a spring in his step. Although it is intoxicating, it is not haram in their view.
Cover picture: Cooking tools © Women museum, Niyala
Read more
Food and drink of the Fur
In this study, I make a distinction between the ‘tribes’ and ‘peoples’ of Sudan. Historically, the word ‘tribe’ applied only to Arabs with the word ‘peoples’ being applied to non-Arabs as different ways of describing the duality of Sudan’s African, Arab identity. Consequently, the Fur are one of the peoples of Sudan originating in the south-west of the country.
I learned about the Fur people after the migration of the Nubians to the Butana plain. The New Halfa Agricultural Project was established around 1963 and many people, including the Fur, migrated from western Sudan to work and live on the project first as labourers, then as renters of agricultural plots known as hawashat.1 A hawasha is a plot of land measuring 3 fedans allocated to one farmer for consecutive agricultural seasons over one year. The Fur came to our homes and we went to theirs and we got to know each other well, sharing company, food and drink.
Using a variety of methods, the Fur would catch the large rats which found themselves good homes in the cracks in the earth of the hawashat. There were so many rats, everyone would catch a considerable number of them every day. Once caught the rat would be skinned and then suspended by its ears from a rope tied to their roof of their rakoba,2 hut like shelter, to dry. Once they were dry, the rats were ground in a pestle and a stored as a useful source of nutrition.
The Fur’s preferred grain is corn from which they make the porridge-like bread asida. To make , asida, corn flour is kneaded and put in a pot over a fire. The woman stirs it until it thickens, then adds powdered rat meat and bones or ‘pigeons of the cracks’ as they call the rats, with a bit of salt to make food like no other, anywhere.
Molasses are considered by the Fur to be both a food and a beverage. When a man goes out to work on the hawasha, his wife provides him with a large bowl of corn molasses. The researcher Zaki Abdul Hamid Ahmad talks about making molasses but mistakenly describes the process of making the alcoholic drink marisa3 instead. Zaki said either dates or flour are soaked in water and stirred until the solid matter is dissolved and then it is strained. However, this is the way they make molasses not marisa which I’ll describe later on.
All the Fur went out to work on the hawasha, men, women, boys and girls just as is their custom when tending to the plots of land in their hometowns known as jubrakat4 or vegetable allotments. Molasses here are all the food and drink they consume throughout their working day. The Nubians and Arabs in New Halfa claim that rarely do they receive Fur patients at their hospital, because, according to them, their diet is made up of corn, millet and asida with the delicious powdered ‘pigeon of the cracks’.
The previous account was only about the Fur on the Halfa al-Jadida project where I lived.
Another account about the food of the Fur is by the early 19th century historian and traveller Muhammad bin Omar al-Tunisi detailed in his biography titled Travels of an Arab Merchant in Soudan. In his book, Al-Tunisi approached the topic in such a way as to make me hesitate for he describes their livelihood as being of an extremely low standard to the extent that ‘if anyone from our country,’ meaning Tunisia, were to try some of the Fur’s foods they would instantly feel fatigued and lose their vitality. He said this was because most of the Fur’s food was either bitter or rotten, even though they thought it was the most desirable cuisine.5
Al-Tunisi was close to the Sultan of Darfur, but he disliked what the people of Darfur ate, especially the weka (dried okra). He was like the wise, pious Arab stranger who is honoured by the people of the country he is visiting, however, for him to vocalize his dislike of their food is not religious in any way. In fact, his hosts were offering him foods that they themselves hardly ate.6 Thus, Al-Tunisi talks of weka, which is dried okra that is pound in a pestle and sieved and later added as a sauce to go with asida. In his book, Al-Tunisi mentions other types of weka including the Heglig weka and the Dodari weka. The first is made from the soft, fresh leaves or fruit of the Heglig (Balanites aegyptiaca) tree. The leaf is pound down and placed in a pot over a fire and stirred constantly until it combines with the water and fat it is cooking in. If the weka is made of the Heglig fruit, these are soaked in water and then strained into a pot and meat is added. It is made into a sauce for asida.
Meanwhile, the Dodari weka is made out of the bones of sheep, cows and other animals, especially the knee and chest bones. Meat is stripped off the bones which are placed into a jar and sealed for a period of time before they are removed, ground and added to meat. The mixture is made into orange-sized balls which they eat. Sometimes these balls of meat are cooked by soaking them in water to make them soft and then drained and cooked over a fire with onions, ghee, salt and pepper. This type of meal is considered very good food and is eaten by the affluent.
Most Fur food is made from plants that grow in the region. They grow millet, which is the basis of their porridge-like asida. They also grow maize. In their stronghold of Jebel Marra, famous for such a wide variety of fruit, they grow wheat, which they do not eat but export to other markets. Fruit trees in Jebel Marra regenerate with the availability and flow of water. The Fur have names for some of their food ingredients, such as niyalmo, which is the soft leaf of the Heglig tree. Angalo is the green fruit of the Heglig tree. Kawal is a pile of rotten plants, which is buried in the ground for a period of time until it is black and its powder is sprinkled over food as a condiment. Kanbo is an ash that is used in food instead of salt due to its scarcity.
In terms of hunting and fishing, providing meat for themselves and others, the Fur are divided into two categories; regular hunters and professional hunters. Regular hunters are those who go out individually to hunt, relying on their own abilities, courage and knowledge of animals through experience, whether they are wild or not. Meanwhile, professional hunters are those who go out in a group and who are invited to go out every Saturday by the Warnanih, the leader who beats a special drum to gather them.
Muhammad bin Omar al-Tunisi explains how some of the hunters hunt four-legged animals, such as gazelles, zebras, buffaloes, elephants, hyenas, rhinos, rabbits, and abu al-husen (foxes).7 Gazelles and rabbits are hunted with hunting dogs and some people hunt them with the safarug, wooden boomerang.8
In the rich plains of the savannah people hunt these animals in different ways. The elephant is always hunted when it is in herd heading to a watering place. A wide and deep hole is dug out in the elephant’s path and covered with grass and a scattering of earth. At the bottom of the pit, they fix into the ground, a sharpened stick pointing upwards. When the elephant falls into the pit, the people who made the pit come and kill the animal with spears, and then lift it out with ropes, to free it from the sharp stick stuck into its flesh. This is the same way they hunt other beasts like zebras, buffaloes, and rhinos. The flesh of these beasts is cut into narrow strips of sharmoot9 and eaten raw or left to dry and is sold to anyone who wants to buy it.
The Fur also hunt birds most notably the African houbara which some of them are specialised in hunting using worm or insect bait. One of their native birds is the Abu Manzara, which is larger than the houbara. To catch it, they tie a worm or insect into a knot in a length of string or rope. When the bird sees this, it swoops down to catch the bait but also swallows the knotted rope and are thus caught. This bird is one of the Fur’s favourite meats.10
Small birds are caught in nets with sticks pushed up into the corners, making them square or rectangular in shape. The net is raised up and supported by a stick with a rope attached to the top. Grain is then scattered in the shade of the net with the end of the rope held by the hunter at a distance. When the birds gather in the shade of the net to eat the grain, the hunter pulls the rope and the net falls onto the birds catching them. The hunters remove their feathers, then roast them over a fire and eat the delicious, tender meat.
For information about the Fur consuming the meat of elephants, hyenas, lions, rhinos and other wild animals, I asked Mohammed Adam Salih Mohammed, a 57-year old Fur tribesman who had sought refuge from the war in Wadi Halfa and whom I interviewed in late June 2024. I wanted to know whether Al-Tunisi was right in saying that they ate the meat of these animals. His response was that some Fur might eat this type of meat, like the Daramda, giraffe hunters, or the poor. Others he said, use the skins of these animals to make leather whips, shoes or shields which they sell to soldiers or for duwas11, fighting. Al-Fashir, the capital of [north] Darfur, is famous for its markoob shoes made of tiger skins among others.12
For the Fur, marisa is both a food and drink. It is consumed as a beverage in order to get drunk, or when in the company of friends, and as a food for the energy it provides, and is made from corn. The corn seeds are covered with a wet sack and within three days the seeds begin to sprout and are called zirria. The zirria is then dried, ground and placed with some water in large clean container until foam rises as it ferments and is suitable for drinking. An individual will consume one abbar of marisa but for those who want to get drunk, two or more abbar are drunk. For those looking to generate some energy, one abbar is downed quickly leaving the person with a spring in his step. Although it is intoxicating, it is not haram in their view.
Cover picture: Cooking tools © Women museum, Niyala
exit
We live by food
14/11/2024
On the Wheat Trap
Read more
object
On the Wheat Trap
The documentary film, Wheat Trap, directed by Mohamed Fawi and produced by Al Araby TV, follows the lives of several farmers and their families in Al-Komor Al-Jaaliyin village, part of the Gezira agricultural scheme in central Sudan. The film was shot against the backdrop of worsening economic conditions compounded by fuel and bread shortages and political instability. Also depicted in the film are the anti-government protests culminating in the 2019 revolution that deposed Omar al-Bashir, sparked by a protest in Atbara over increasing bread prices.
Wheat Trap’s central theme is to question how and why the Sudanese have turned away from traditional foods such as kisra and asida made from sorghum and millet, to bread loaves made of wheat. References are often made to the importance of traditional foods in the past. It is peppered with anecdotes such as how young women in the past were only deemed eligible for marriage when they were able to make a large stack of good quality kisra and today, only the older women of the village continue the custom. ‘I wake up early in the morning, even if it is at 6 am to make kisra and I tell him if you don’t eat, I won’t let you go out’ says one woman about her husband as she sits near a the hot saj plate pouring a ladle of kisra batter over it.
Over lunch and a freshly made stack of kisra and steaming stew, the men discuss the reasons why they think people have increasingly turned away from the ‘simple’ life of the past in favour of wheat and bread. One farmer says free grants of wheat and other basic commodities by the US AID department in the late 1950s, sent ‘as a token of friendship’, meant the appetite for bread loaves made of wheat spread to rural areas. This social transformation of society’s preference towards wheat, is a tool of ‘modern colonisation’ the farmer affirms. The trap in the film’s title describes the habit of consumption that developed as a result of the free wheat and the loss of appetite for traditional grains such as sorghum and millet.
Another farmer explains how changing lifestyles, with girls and women choosing to continue their education and have careers, means they no longer have the time to prepare and make kisra and asida for every meal. Instead, it is much easier to buy ready-made bread from bakeries while new products such as pizzas and pastries, made of wheat, are also very popular. Farmers themselves it is explained, turned to cash-crops with the example of the yield for two acres of onions being more lucrative than planting the unpopular sorghum.
Since the free imports of the past, commercial imports of wheat have been constantly rising particularly as Sudan’s climate is less suitable to wheat growing as it is for sorghum. Sudanese governments have therefore always found themselves in a position of trying to maintain affordable prices through ever-increasing subsidies. In the film, farmers on the Gezira project are gradually turning to growing wheat as a more lucrative product but Sudan still imports around sixty percent of its wheat needs.
Threads running through the film are concluded in the final scenes. While the wheat harvest has been generous and has allowed one farmer to finally marry his fiancé, protesters at the sit-in site at the army HQ during the revolution refuse to accept donations offered by foreign countries to support the encampment. A closing shot states that the first form of aid supplied by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to the military council, which took over after Al-Bashir was deposed, consisted of wheat.
The gallery show's stills from the film Wheat Trap, all rights reserved for Mohamed Fawi
The documentary film, Wheat Trap, directed by Mohamed Fawi and produced by Al Araby TV, follows the lives of several farmers and their families in Al-Komor Al-Jaaliyin village, part of the Gezira agricultural scheme in central Sudan. The film was shot against the backdrop of worsening economic conditions compounded by fuel and bread shortages and political instability. Also depicted in the film are the anti-government protests culminating in the 2019 revolution that deposed Omar al-Bashir, sparked by a protest in Atbara over increasing bread prices.
Wheat Trap’s central theme is to question how and why the Sudanese have turned away from traditional foods such as kisra and asida made from sorghum and millet, to bread loaves made of wheat. References are often made to the importance of traditional foods in the past. It is peppered with anecdotes such as how young women in the past were only deemed eligible for marriage when they were able to make a large stack of good quality kisra and today, only the older women of the village continue the custom. ‘I wake up early in the morning, even if it is at 6 am to make kisra and I tell him if you don’t eat, I won’t let you go out’ says one woman about her husband as she sits near a the hot saj plate pouring a ladle of kisra batter over it.
Over lunch and a freshly made stack of kisra and steaming stew, the men discuss the reasons why they think people have increasingly turned away from the ‘simple’ life of the past in favour of wheat and bread. One farmer says free grants of wheat and other basic commodities by the US AID department in the late 1950s, sent ‘as a token of friendship’, meant the appetite for bread loaves made of wheat spread to rural areas. This social transformation of society’s preference towards wheat, is a tool of ‘modern colonisation’ the farmer affirms. The trap in the film’s title describes the habit of consumption that developed as a result of the free wheat and the loss of appetite for traditional grains such as sorghum and millet.
Another farmer explains how changing lifestyles, with girls and women choosing to continue their education and have careers, means they no longer have the time to prepare and make kisra and asida for every meal. Instead, it is much easier to buy ready-made bread from bakeries while new products such as pizzas and pastries, made of wheat, are also very popular. Farmers themselves it is explained, turned to cash-crops with the example of the yield for two acres of onions being more lucrative than planting the unpopular sorghum.
Since the free imports of the past, commercial imports of wheat have been constantly rising particularly as Sudan’s climate is less suitable to wheat growing as it is for sorghum. Sudanese governments have therefore always found themselves in a position of trying to maintain affordable prices through ever-increasing subsidies. In the film, farmers on the Gezira project are gradually turning to growing wheat as a more lucrative product but Sudan still imports around sixty percent of its wheat needs.
Threads running through the film are concluded in the final scenes. While the wheat harvest has been generous and has allowed one farmer to finally marry his fiancé, protesters at the sit-in site at the army HQ during the revolution refuse to accept donations offered by foreign countries to support the encampment. A closing shot states that the first form of aid supplied by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to the military council, which took over after Al-Bashir was deposed, consisted of wheat.
The gallery show's stills from the film Wheat Trap, all rights reserved for Mohamed Fawi
Read more
On the Wheat Trap
The documentary film, Wheat Trap, directed by Mohamed Fawi and produced by Al Araby TV, follows the lives of several farmers and their families in Al-Komor Al-Jaaliyin village, part of the Gezira agricultural scheme in central Sudan. The film was shot against the backdrop of worsening economic conditions compounded by fuel and bread shortages and political instability. Also depicted in the film are the anti-government protests culminating in the 2019 revolution that deposed Omar al-Bashir, sparked by a protest in Atbara over increasing bread prices.
Wheat Trap’s central theme is to question how and why the Sudanese have turned away from traditional foods such as kisra and asida made from sorghum and millet, to bread loaves made of wheat. References are often made to the importance of traditional foods in the past. It is peppered with anecdotes such as how young women in the past were only deemed eligible for marriage when they were able to make a large stack of good quality kisra and today, only the older women of the village continue the custom. ‘I wake up early in the morning, even if it is at 6 am to make kisra and I tell him if you don’t eat, I won’t let you go out’ says one woman about her husband as she sits near a the hot saj plate pouring a ladle of kisra batter over it.
Over lunch and a freshly made stack of kisra and steaming stew, the men discuss the reasons why they think people have increasingly turned away from the ‘simple’ life of the past in favour of wheat and bread. One farmer says free grants of wheat and other basic commodities by the US AID department in the late 1950s, sent ‘as a token of friendship’, meant the appetite for bread loaves made of wheat spread to rural areas. This social transformation of society’s preference towards wheat, is a tool of ‘modern colonisation’ the farmer affirms. The trap in the film’s title describes the habit of consumption that developed as a result of the free wheat and the loss of appetite for traditional grains such as sorghum and millet.
Another farmer explains how changing lifestyles, with girls and women choosing to continue their education and have careers, means they no longer have the time to prepare and make kisra and asida for every meal. Instead, it is much easier to buy ready-made bread from bakeries while new products such as pizzas and pastries, made of wheat, are also very popular. Farmers themselves it is explained, turned to cash-crops with the example of the yield for two acres of onions being more lucrative than planting the unpopular sorghum.
Since the free imports of the past, commercial imports of wheat have been constantly rising particularly as Sudan’s climate is less suitable to wheat growing as it is for sorghum. Sudanese governments have therefore always found themselves in a position of trying to maintain affordable prices through ever-increasing subsidies. In the film, farmers on the Gezira project are gradually turning to growing wheat as a more lucrative product but Sudan still imports around sixty percent of its wheat needs.
Threads running through the film are concluded in the final scenes. While the wheat harvest has been generous and has allowed one farmer to finally marry his fiancé, protesters at the sit-in site at the army HQ during the revolution refuse to accept donations offered by foreign countries to support the encampment. A closing shot states that the first form of aid supplied by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to the military council, which took over after Al-Bashir was deposed, consisted of wheat.
The gallery show's stills from the film Wheat Trap, all rights reserved for Mohamed Fawi
exit
We live by food
26/11/2024
Can you guess the tool?
Read more
object
Can you guess the tool?
Read more
Can you guess the tool?
exit
Food connects us
30/10/2024
The Khalifa's Gadah
Read more
object
The Khalifa's Gadah
This gadah (serving bowl) is made out of one piece of wood with four small ring-handles around the edge used to transport it and to minimise contact with the bowl and the food. It was used daily to serve food to the Emirs in the courtyard by the front gate of the Khalifa House. Wood with metal handles. A similar but larger bowl, with twelve rings on it, originally belonged to Wad Zaid of the Debenia and was taken from him by the Khalifa.
Presented by the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Cromer.
Mahdiyya Period (1885-1898)
Museum object:KHM-00045
This gadah (serving bowl) is made out of one piece of wood with four small ring-handles around the edge used to transport it and to minimise contact with the bowl and the food. It was used daily to serve food to the Emirs in the courtyard by the front gate of the Khalifa House. Wood with metal handles. A similar but larger bowl, with twelve rings on it, originally belonged to Wad Zaid of the Debenia and was taken from him by the Khalifa.
Presented by the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Cromer.
Mahdiyya Period (1885-1898)
Museum object:KHM-00045
Read more
The Khalifa's Gadah
This gadah (serving bowl) is made out of one piece of wood with four small ring-handles around the edge used to transport it and to minimise contact with the bowl and the food. It was used daily to serve food to the Emirs in the courtyard by the front gate of the Khalifa House. Wood with metal handles. A similar but larger bowl, with twelve rings on it, originally belonged to Wad Zaid of the Debenia and was taken from him by the Khalifa.
Presented by the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Cromer.
Mahdiyya Period (1885-1898)
Museum object:KHM-00045
exit
Food connects us
30/10/2024
Asida
Read more
object
Asida
Asha Ali Mohamed Nour prepares Asida in Darfur, a traditional Sudanese dish.
Asida or Lugma is a firm, porridge-like staple food people around Sudan eat with various types of Mulah or stews.
This film was made by Mark Watmore and Yoho media.
Ingredients:
Asida
Water
Flour - sorghum or millet
Khammar (fermented dough)
Ghee
Mulah Alroub (dairy-based stew)
Chopped onions
Ground dried beef meat (Sharmout)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Water
Sour yoghurt (Rawb)
Tomato paste
Garlic
Sudanese spice mix
Dried Okra (Waika)
Mulah Tagaliya (meat-based stew)
Chopped onions
Ground-dried beef meat (Sharmout)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Water and Tomato paste or fresh tomatoes blended
Garlic
Sudanese spice mix
Dried Okra (Waika)
⎯
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Asha Ali Mohamed Nour prepares Asida in Darfur, a traditional Sudanese dish.
Asida or Lugma is a firm, porridge-like staple food people around Sudan eat with various types of Mulah or stews.
This film was made by Mark Watmore and Yoho media.
Ingredients:
Asida
Water
Flour - sorghum or millet
Khammar (fermented dough)
Ghee
Mulah Alroub (dairy-based stew)
Chopped onions
Ground dried beef meat (Sharmout)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Water
Sour yoghurt (Rawb)
Tomato paste
Garlic
Sudanese spice mix
Dried Okra (Waika)
Mulah Tagaliya (meat-based stew)
Chopped onions
Ground-dried beef meat (Sharmout)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Water and Tomato paste or fresh tomatoes blended
Garlic
Sudanese spice mix
Dried Okra (Waika)
⎯
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Read more
Asida
Asha Ali Mohamed Nour prepares Asida in Darfur, a traditional Sudanese dish.
Asida or Lugma is a firm, porridge-like staple food people around Sudan eat with various types of Mulah or stews.
This film was made by Mark Watmore and Yoho media.
Ingredients:
Asida
Water
Flour - sorghum or millet
Khammar (fermented dough)
Ghee
Mulah Alroub (dairy-based stew)
Chopped onions
Ground dried beef meat (Sharmout)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Water
Sour yoghurt (Rawb)
Tomato paste
Garlic
Sudanese spice mix
Dried Okra (Waika)
Mulah Tagaliya (meat-based stew)
Chopped onions
Ground-dried beef meat (Sharmout)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Water and Tomato paste or fresh tomatoes blended
Garlic
Sudanese spice mix
Dried Okra (Waika)
⎯
Cover picture © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
exit
Food connects us
30/10/2024
The train menu
Read more
object
The train menu
Food-on-the-move is an interesting concept that may be considered from a variety of angles. Traditionally, preserved food has been a key component of cooking in Sudan, to keep from being spoiled by the hot temperature and the lengthy periods of time between harvests. In this way, food was made to last longer. Being on the move is also an important part of many Sudanese cultures, for example for the traders criss-crossing the country or for nomadic tribes who regularly move from one location to another but also for those who were formerly nomads but have now settled. These settled groups have developed new methods of preserving food such as fermentation which is not common among the nomadic tribes who consider this type of food to be processed or industrialized.
In Sudan there are specific dishes that are associated with travel, such as gurasat al-balah known mostly in northern Sudan and which is a flat, bread-like loaf made out of dates and is easy to pack with the date sugar providing much needed energy and sustenance. In western Sudan, another energy-packed food for travel is damasoro or khamis tawiera, which combines sesame seeds, peanuts, ghee and kisra or sorghum flatbread, dried dates and spices. The mixture is then made into a coarse powder which is consumed dry or with milk or water.
Milk products such as sour milk or roub is a travel food known more among nomads and garis is when different herbs, such as nigella seeds, are added to preserve it. Ghubasha and fursa are other variations of milk drinks. In Sudan, meat is processed in three different ways in order for it to be taken on a journey: lahma nashfa or dried meat, is a meat that is slowly cooked over a long period of time until it dries out, a similar process is carried out with fat and rind and is known as rabeet. Meat can also be dried naturally in the sun and can be either small strips of meat called sharmout, which is later pound into a powder format and used to make stews, or shugag, a specific joint of meat from smaller or wild animals, cut lengthwise into four, six or eight parts and dried together. Finally, meat can also be salted.
A recent method of transporting food, now that travel is faster and safer, is to prepare sandwiches, especially of ful or fava beans, boiled eggs and tamia or falafel. This trio of favourites is very popular in everyday settings and can sometimes even be mashed together in one dish. During times when trains were fully operational in Sudan, food-on-the-move was associated with restaurant carriages, serving mainly western menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea. They were also known for having their own packaged items for consumption such as flavored lemonade. A menu of food offered on the El-Obeid line when it was opened was recently shared on social media platforms. Written in French, the list contained dishes such as caviar and needless to say, this was not meant for everyone!
Service consisted of the famous white porcelain dishes with a green rim which, for first and second class passengers, would be delivered to your room or in the restaurant carriage. Today, the few trains that do operate do not offer catering and the simple sandwich has taken its place and can be bought in bustling stations amongst the hubbub of shouting vendors and cries of those coming say goodbye to their loved ones.
Header picture and Gallery pictures © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Food-on-the-move is an interesting concept that may be considered from a variety of angles. Traditionally, preserved food has been a key component of cooking in Sudan, to keep from being spoiled by the hot temperature and the lengthy periods of time between harvests. In this way, food was made to last longer. Being on the move is also an important part of many Sudanese cultures, for example for the traders criss-crossing the country or for nomadic tribes who regularly move from one location to another but also for those who were formerly nomads but have now settled. These settled groups have developed new methods of preserving food such as fermentation which is not common among the nomadic tribes who consider this type of food to be processed or industrialized.
In Sudan there are specific dishes that are associated with travel, such as gurasat al-balah known mostly in northern Sudan and which is a flat, bread-like loaf made out of dates and is easy to pack with the date sugar providing much needed energy and sustenance. In western Sudan, another energy-packed food for travel is damasoro or khamis tawiera, which combines sesame seeds, peanuts, ghee and kisra or sorghum flatbread, dried dates and spices. The mixture is then made into a coarse powder which is consumed dry or with milk or water.
Milk products such as sour milk or roub is a travel food known more among nomads and garis is when different herbs, such as nigella seeds, are added to preserve it. Ghubasha and fursa are other variations of milk drinks. In Sudan, meat is processed in three different ways in order for it to be taken on a journey: lahma nashfa or dried meat, is a meat that is slowly cooked over a long period of time until it dries out, a similar process is carried out with fat and rind and is known as rabeet. Meat can also be dried naturally in the sun and can be either small strips of meat called sharmout, which is later pound into a powder format and used to make stews, or shugag, a specific joint of meat from smaller or wild animals, cut lengthwise into four, six or eight parts and dried together. Finally, meat can also be salted.
A recent method of transporting food, now that travel is faster and safer, is to prepare sandwiches, especially of ful or fava beans, boiled eggs and tamia or falafel. This trio of favourites is very popular in everyday settings and can sometimes even be mashed together in one dish. During times when trains were fully operational in Sudan, food-on-the-move was associated with restaurant carriages, serving mainly western menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea. They were also known for having their own packaged items for consumption such as flavored lemonade. A menu of food offered on the El-Obeid line when it was opened was recently shared on social media platforms. Written in French, the list contained dishes such as caviar and needless to say, this was not meant for everyone!
Service consisted of the famous white porcelain dishes with a green rim which, for first and second class passengers, would be delivered to your room or in the restaurant carriage. Today, the few trains that do operate do not offer catering and the simple sandwich has taken its place and can be bought in bustling stations amongst the hubbub of shouting vendors and cries of those coming say goodbye to their loved ones.
Header picture and Gallery pictures © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
Read more
The train menu
Food-on-the-move is an interesting concept that may be considered from a variety of angles. Traditionally, preserved food has been a key component of cooking in Sudan, to keep from being spoiled by the hot temperature and the lengthy periods of time between harvests. In this way, food was made to last longer. Being on the move is also an important part of many Sudanese cultures, for example for the traders criss-crossing the country or for nomadic tribes who regularly move from one location to another but also for those who were formerly nomads but have now settled. These settled groups have developed new methods of preserving food such as fermentation which is not common among the nomadic tribes who consider this type of food to be processed or industrialized.
In Sudan there are specific dishes that are associated with travel, such as gurasat al-balah known mostly in northern Sudan and which is a flat, bread-like loaf made out of dates and is easy to pack with the date sugar providing much needed energy and sustenance. In western Sudan, another energy-packed food for travel is damasoro or khamis tawiera, which combines sesame seeds, peanuts, ghee and kisra or sorghum flatbread, dried dates and spices. The mixture is then made into a coarse powder which is consumed dry or with milk or water.
Milk products such as sour milk or roub is a travel food known more among nomads and garis is when different herbs, such as nigella seeds, are added to preserve it. Ghubasha and fursa are other variations of milk drinks. In Sudan, meat is processed in three different ways in order for it to be taken on a journey: lahma nashfa or dried meat, is a meat that is slowly cooked over a long period of time until it dries out, a similar process is carried out with fat and rind and is known as rabeet. Meat can also be dried naturally in the sun and can be either small strips of meat called sharmout, which is later pound into a powder format and used to make stews, or shugag, a specific joint of meat from smaller or wild animals, cut lengthwise into four, six or eight parts and dried together. Finally, meat can also be salted.
A recent method of transporting food, now that travel is faster and safer, is to prepare sandwiches, especially of ful or fava beans, boiled eggs and tamia or falafel. This trio of favourites is very popular in everyday settings and can sometimes even be mashed together in one dish. During times when trains were fully operational in Sudan, food-on-the-move was associated with restaurant carriages, serving mainly western menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea. They were also known for having their own packaged items for consumption such as flavored lemonade. A menu of food offered on the El-Obeid line when it was opened was recently shared on social media platforms. Written in French, the list contained dishes such as caviar and needless to say, this was not meant for everyone!
Service consisted of the famous white porcelain dishes with a green rim which, for first and second class passengers, would be delivered to your room or in the restaurant carriage. Today, the few trains that do operate do not offer catering and the simple sandwich has taken its place and can be bought in bustling stations amongst the hubbub of shouting vendors and cries of those coming say goodbye to their loved ones.
Header picture and Gallery pictures © Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez
exit
Food connects us
30/10/2024
Khartoum Market
Read more
object
Khartoum Market
Dr. Zain Haider Obaid, a graduate of the Faculty of Geography, Damascus University, conducted a study titled “The Experience of Removing the Old Khartoum Market” as part of her diploma in urban planning at the Development Studies and Research Institute of Khartoum University. In an interview with Studio Urban, Dr. Zain talks about the old Khartoum Market which was built in 1903 to cater for the needs of the city’s residents and which played an important role in distributing the state's agricultural products. Dr. Zain also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the old market and the consequences of its removal and recalls her childhood memories at the old market, where she used to go with her father to buy family supplies.
Dr. Zain’s research talks in detail about the old market and its social and economic value to central Khartoum and describes how the market used to be made up of eight sectors, some of which were tourist attractions. She also describes the reasons why the market was removed, such as to make way for traffic junctions, pollution, and promises to upgrade the urban space.
Dr. Zain’s research explains that the decision to remove the market was not necessarily a bad one, however troubles with implementation, and the fact that most of the promised solutions were not fulfilled, was problematic. The research lists all the regulations and policies that stipulated the inclusion of the merchants of the Khartoum Market in the new development and ensured that the markets were located fairly and logically. In her interview thirty years after the market was removed, Dr. Zain reflects on the promises that were made, such as developing the urban public space in Khartoum, allocating offices for government use, and finding solutions to the problem of traffic. She points to the “five-star,” up-market Al-Waha Mall, as an example of a broken promise and the use of the land, where part of the old market stood, to construct an outlet which targeted the rich and pushed away those from lower economic backgrounds who had frequented the old market.
Finally, the study reviews the alternative neighborhood markets that were built all around Khartoum and how most of them failed as a result of their initial design and their placement in open public spaces, but also how they did not have the social and cultural impact the Khartoum Market had as they were isolated and only functioned for a few hours everyday. Nevertheless, Dr. Zain gives an example of one successful case of a neighborhood market in western Khartoum. She says the demographic of the area, their consumption culture and large number of population as well as the lack of access to food markets in the region and proximity to public transport, contributed to its thriving.
Accompanying this interview are some image extracts from the original document.
The interview was conducted by Studio Urban in an attempt to “Document Spatial Narratives” in Khartoum as part of a range of interviews with a diverse group of Khartoum residents, each sharing their memories and insights about Khartoum's famous places.
About a Space podcast is a sub-series to the Khartoum Podcast.
Header picture © Azza Mohamed, Studio Urban
Gallery pictures © Dr. Zain Haider Obaid, extracts from thesis titled The Experience of Removing the Old Khartoum Market
Dr. Zain Haider Obaid, a graduate of the Faculty of Geography, Damascus University, conducted a study titled “The Experience of Removing the Old Khartoum Market” as part of her diploma in urban planning at the Development Studies and Research Institute of Khartoum University. In an interview with Studio Urban, Dr. Zain talks about the old Khartoum Market which was built in 1903 to cater for the needs of the city’s residents and which played an important role in distributing the state's agricultural products. Dr. Zain also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the old market and the consequences of its removal and recalls her childhood memories at the old market, where she used to go with her father to buy family supplies.
Dr. Zain’s research talks in detail about the old market and its social and economic value to central Khartoum and describes how the market used to be made up of eight sectors, some of which were tourist attractions. She also describes the reasons why the market was removed, such as to make way for traffic junctions, pollution, and promises to upgrade the urban space.
Dr. Zain’s research explains that the decision to remove the market was not necessarily a bad one, however troubles with implementation, and the fact that most of the promised solutions were not fulfilled, was problematic. The research lists all the regulations and policies that stipulated the inclusion of the merchants of the Khartoum Market in the new development and ensured that the markets were located fairly and logically. In her interview thirty years after the market was removed, Dr. Zain reflects on the promises that were made, such as developing the urban public space in Khartoum, allocating offices for government use, and finding solutions to the problem of traffic. She points to the “five-star,” up-market Al-Waha Mall, as an example of a broken promise and the use of the land, where part of the old market stood, to construct an outlet which targeted the rich and pushed away those from lower economic backgrounds who had frequented the old market.
Finally, the study reviews the alternative neighborhood markets that were built all around Khartoum and how most of them failed as a result of their initial design and their placement in open public spaces, but also how they did not have the social and cultural impact the Khartoum Market had as they were isolated and only functioned for a few hours everyday. Nevertheless, Dr. Zain gives an example of one successful case of a neighborhood market in western Khartoum. She says the demographic of the area, their consumption culture and large number of population as well as the lack of access to food markets in the region and proximity to public transport, contributed to its thriving.
Accompanying this interview are some image extracts from the original document.
The interview was conducted by Studio Urban in an attempt to “Document Spatial Narratives” in Khartoum as part of a range of interviews with a diverse group of Khartoum residents, each sharing their memories and insights about Khartoum's famous places.
About a Space podcast is a sub-series to the Khartoum Podcast.
Header picture © Azza Mohamed, Studio Urban
Gallery pictures © Dr. Zain Haider Obaid, extracts from thesis titled The Experience of Removing the Old Khartoum Market
Read more
Khartoum Market
Dr. Zain Haider Obaid, a graduate of the Faculty of Geography, Damascus University, conducted a study titled “The Experience of Removing the Old Khartoum Market” as part of her diploma in urban planning at the Development Studies and Research Institute of Khartoum University. In an interview with Studio Urban, Dr. Zain talks about the old Khartoum Market which was built in 1903 to cater for the needs of the city’s residents and which played an important role in distributing the state's agricultural products. Dr. Zain also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the old market and the consequences of its removal and recalls her childhood memories at the old market, where she used to go with her father to buy family supplies.
Dr. Zain’s research talks in detail about the old market and its social and economic value to central Khartoum and describes how the market used to be made up of eight sectors, some of which were tourist attractions. She also describes the reasons why the market was removed, such as to make way for traffic junctions, pollution, and promises to upgrade the urban space.
Dr. Zain’s research explains that the decision to remove the market was not necessarily a bad one, however troubles with implementation, and the fact that most of the promised solutions were not fulfilled, was problematic. The research lists all the regulations and policies that stipulated the inclusion of the merchants of the Khartoum Market in the new development and ensured that the markets were located fairly and logically. In her interview thirty years after the market was removed, Dr. Zain reflects on the promises that were made, such as developing the urban public space in Khartoum, allocating offices for government use, and finding solutions to the problem of traffic. She points to the “five-star,” up-market Al-Waha Mall, as an example of a broken promise and the use of the land, where part of the old market stood, to construct an outlet which targeted the rich and pushed away those from lower economic backgrounds who had frequented the old market.
Finally, the study reviews the alternative neighborhood markets that were built all around Khartoum and how most of them failed as a result of their initial design and their placement in open public spaces, but also how they did not have the social and cultural impact the Khartoum Market had as they were isolated and only functioned for a few hours everyday. Nevertheless, Dr. Zain gives an example of one successful case of a neighborhood market in western Khartoum. She says the demographic of the area, their consumption culture and large number of population as well as the lack of access to food markets in the region and proximity to public transport, contributed to its thriving.
Accompanying this interview are some image extracts from the original document.
The interview was conducted by Studio Urban in an attempt to “Document Spatial Narratives” in Khartoum as part of a range of interviews with a diverse group of Khartoum residents, each sharing their memories and insights about Khartoum's famous places.
About a Space podcast is a sub-series to the Khartoum Podcast.
Header picture © Azza Mohamed, Studio Urban
Gallery pictures © Dr. Zain Haider Obaid, extracts from thesis titled The Experience of Removing the Old Khartoum Market
exit
Food connects us
30/10/2024
Storing culture
Read more
object
Storing culture
Recipes can hold within them a magnitude of cultural traits and values. You recognize this when you taste food made with a specific recipe, or when you try to replicate your mother’s dish or find ingredients in a new country or when a specific occasion comes around and you crave the food your grandmother used to make to celebrate this same day.
What we eat, how we cook it and with whom we eat it, are all pathways to activating cultural activities with all the old crafts, knowledge, practices and rituals that are involved.
If food stores culture then where is food stored?
The answer to this question is multidimensional, because of course it is stored in cooking, in eating, in practicing and in teaching. However, a more pragmatic answer would be that it is stored in cookbooks and other archiving methods. One such method is the online space which has become a key tool for preserving and storing archives, especially relating to music and living culture, even though many platforms were not created with the intention of archiving, they now serve that purpose. This is where many Sudanese people turn with the ongoing displacement crisis and increasing difficulties in cooking the authentic recipes they grew up eating.
Other than for survival, the quality of food is important for our health, both mentally and physically. Access to food is a human right that is why community kitchens, takaya, around Sudan are now playing a significant role in providing food to war-affected communities. By offering meals through this unique method of local support and sharing this life-saving aid also bestows dignity on those who receive it.
Now, going back to the online space, there are a remarkable number of food bloggers who specialize in cooking Sudanese food and also in showing variations and alternatives to ingredients so that recipes can be cooked abroad or to match dietary restrictions. One prime example is Simsimia’s Kitchen, one of the first of its kind which gained a lot of popularity, especially the rice flour and yogurt asida, which was a quick and accessible method of making the staple dish. Simsimia established her food blog in 2008 after she was encouraged on various forums that were popular at the time, to create a platform to recreate recipes by her late mother and help younger women access these recipes.
Another change to the online culture was the advent of social media, especially Facebook groups which still remains the most popular platform for Sudanese users. One of the largest groups is The Sudan Contemporary and Traditional Kitchen, a group that was started in May 2015 by Sudanese chefs and which gained popularity among mothers and now has over 1.5 million members. The platform is considered the largest Sudanese cookery platform, as members are encouraged to share recipes with details of all the steps and ingredients. The platform has a positive, supportive culture and all comments deemed degrading to skill or culture is prohibited. Even for my own work on this blog theme, this platform has been one of the key resources that I have used to learn about recipes but much importantly about culture. The discussion format allows many members to explain the cultural norms associated with the dish, the name they use for a specific dish and many aspects that spark discussion between the different members of the group about the recipe or dish.
Recently, even more social media influencers have started sharing food videos and content online using various platforms and in differing formats. For example, the account Habi Makes on Instagram, where the focus is on food photography which the owner started posting in 2017 and which developed into content showing recipes presented in an artistic way. Other content creators on TickTok or YouTube have also gained popularity for sharing short and easy to follow recipes, such as Ahmed Abdin, who has over 250k followers on TickTok alone. His short format videos of food content, which he started posting in early 2020, gained popularity very fast. In terms of the cultural aspect of food, platforms such as the Sudanese Kitchen page and website, have also started to appear and in terms of Sudanese Kitchen the owner is in the process of collecting all his materials in order to produce a book.
Finally an other resource is Mazaq khas magazine, a food focused online magazine.
Header picture © Yousif Alshikh, Khartoum، 2022
Recipes can hold within them a magnitude of cultural traits and values. You recognize this when you taste food made with a specific recipe, or when you try to replicate your mother’s dish or find ingredients in a new country or when a specific occasion comes around and you crave the food your grandmother used to make to celebrate this same day.
What we eat, how we cook it and with whom we eat it, are all pathways to activating cultural activities with all the old crafts, knowledge, practices and rituals that are involved.
If food stores culture then where is food stored?
The answer to this question is multidimensional, because of course it is stored in cooking, in eating, in practicing and in teaching. However, a more pragmatic answer would be that it is stored in cookbooks and other archiving methods. One such method is the online space which has become a key tool for preserving and storing archives, especially relating to music and living culture, even though many platforms were not created with the intention of archiving, they now serve that purpose. This is where many Sudanese people turn with the ongoing displacement crisis and increasing difficulties in cooking the authentic recipes they grew up eating.
Other than for survival, the quality of food is important for our health, both mentally and physically. Access to food is a human right that is why community kitchens, takaya, around Sudan are now playing a significant role in providing food to war-affected communities. By offering meals through this unique method of local support and sharing this life-saving aid also bestows dignity on those who receive it.
Now, going back to the online space, there are a remarkable number of food bloggers who specialize in cooking Sudanese food and also in showing variations and alternatives to ingredients so that recipes can be cooked abroad or to match dietary restrictions. One prime example is Simsimia’s Kitchen, one of the first of its kind which gained a lot of popularity, especially the rice flour and yogurt asida, which was a quick and accessible method of making the staple dish. Simsimia established her food blog in 2008 after she was encouraged on various forums that were popular at the time, to create a platform to recreate recipes by her late mother and help younger women access these recipes.
Another change to the online culture was the advent of social media, especially Facebook groups which still remains the most popular platform for Sudanese users. One of the largest groups is The Sudan Contemporary and Traditional Kitchen, a group that was started in May 2015 by Sudanese chefs and which gained popularity among mothers and now has over 1.5 million members. The platform is considered the largest Sudanese cookery platform, as members are encouraged to share recipes with details of all the steps and ingredients. The platform has a positive, supportive culture and all comments deemed degrading to skill or culture is prohibited. Even for my own work on this blog theme, this platform has been one of the key resources that I have used to learn about recipes but much importantly about culture. The discussion format allows many members to explain the cultural norms associated with the dish, the name they use for a specific dish and many aspects that spark discussion between the different members of the group about the recipe or dish.
Recently, even more social media influencers have started sharing food videos and content online using various platforms and in differing formats. For example, the account Habi Makes on Instagram, where the focus is on food photography which the owner started posting in 2017 and which developed into content showing recipes presented in an artistic way. Other content creators on TickTok or YouTube have also gained popularity for sharing short and easy to follow recipes, such as Ahmed Abdin, who has over 250k followers on TickTok alone. His short format videos of food content, which he started posting in early 2020, gained popularity very fast. In terms of the cultural aspect of food, platforms such as the Sudanese Kitchen page and website, have also started to appear and in terms of Sudanese Kitchen the owner is in the process of collecting all his materials in order to produce a book.
Finally an other resource is Mazaq khas magazine, a food focused online magazine.
Header picture © Yousif Alshikh, Khartoum، 2022
Read more
Storing culture
Recipes can hold within them a magnitude of cultural traits and values. You recognize this when you taste food made with a specific recipe, or when you try to replicate your mother’s dish or find ingredients in a new country or when a specific occasion comes around and you crave the food your grandmother used to make to celebrate this same day.
What we eat, how we cook it and with whom we eat it, are all pathways to activating cultural activities with all the old crafts, knowledge, practices and rituals that are involved.
If food stores culture then where is food stored?
The answer to this question is multidimensional, because of course it is stored in cooking, in eating, in practicing and in teaching. However, a more pragmatic answer would be that it is stored in cookbooks and other archiving methods. One such method is the online space which has become a key tool for preserving and storing archives, especially relating to music and living culture, even though many platforms were not created with the intention of archiving, they now serve that purpose. This is where many Sudanese people turn with the ongoing displacement crisis and increasing difficulties in cooking the authentic recipes they grew up eating.
Other than for survival, the quality of food is important for our health, both mentally and physically. Access to food is a human right that is why community kitchens, takaya, around Sudan are now playing a significant role in providing food to war-affected communities. By offering meals through this unique method of local support and sharing this life-saving aid also bestows dignity on those who receive it.
Now, going back to the online space, there are a remarkable number of food bloggers who specialize in cooking Sudanese food and also in showing variations and alternatives to ingredients so that recipes can be cooked abroad or to match dietary restrictions. One prime example is Simsimia’s Kitchen, one of the first of its kind which gained a lot of popularity, especially the rice flour and yogurt asida, which was a quick and accessible method of making the staple dish. Simsimia established her food blog in 2008 after she was encouraged on various forums that were popular at the time, to create a platform to recreate recipes by her late mother and help younger women access these recipes.
Another change to the online culture was the advent of social media, especially Facebook groups which still remains the most popular platform for Sudanese users. One of the largest groups is The Sudan Contemporary and Traditional Kitchen, a group that was started in May 2015 by Sudanese chefs and which gained popularity among mothers and now has over 1.5 million members. The platform is considered the largest Sudanese cookery platform, as members are encouraged to share recipes with details of all the steps and ingredients. The platform has a positive, supportive culture and all comments deemed degrading to skill or culture is prohibited. Even for my own work on this blog theme, this platform has been one of the key resources that I have used to learn about recipes but much importantly about culture. The discussion format allows many members to explain the cultural norms associated with the dish, the name they use for a specific dish and many aspects that spark discussion between the different members of the group about the recipe or dish.
Recently, even more social media influencers have started sharing food videos and content online using various platforms and in differing formats. For example, the account Habi Makes on Instagram, where the focus is on food photography which the owner started posting in 2017 and which developed into content showing recipes presented in an artistic way. Other content creators on TickTok or YouTube have also gained popularity for sharing short and easy to follow recipes, such as Ahmed Abdin, who has over 250k followers on TickTok alone. His short format videos of food content, which he started posting in early 2020, gained popularity very fast. In terms of the cultural aspect of food, platforms such as the Sudanese Kitchen page and website, have also started to appear and in terms of Sudanese Kitchen the owner is in the process of collecting all his materials in order to produce a book.
Finally an other resource is Mazaq khas magazine, a food focused online magazine.
Header picture © Yousif Alshikh, Khartoum، 2022
exit
Food connects us
15/11/2024
Al Fattah
Read more
object
Al Fattah
Panel and header illustrated by Shirouq Idris
Fattah is a communal dish where food is shared in order to increase the meal size and feed more people. It is made up of several components with the main element usually being a type of bread, or similar staples, that are broken or mashed up into smaller pieces. Making fattah is an affordable way for everyone to share what food they have, adding it to the contents of one bowl and eating it with a cheap and tasty chili condiment.
Bread loaves in Sudan vary according to the type of crops grown in the region, whether the dough is fermented and the method used to cook them whether in an oven or on a hot plate over a coal fire.
Wheat products
Wheat is mainly grown in northern and central Sudan, so we find most types of bread is made of wheat in these regions. Varieties include Nubian Bread such as the Argo, Dongola and Basawla bread which are loaves made in large disc shapes and baked in local ovens. The loaves are usually firm on the outside and soft on the inside, and have a lot of pulp due to the use of a type of yeast called Badra Aish. Local Bread, known as Baladi or Aish Tabouna is the most common type of bread in Sudan. It is also baked in large commercial ovens or at home. It is made of wholemeal, unhusked wheat flour. Fino Bread is a modern type of bread loaf that only recently became popular in Sudan. It is made of white flour or husked flour using modern machinery and commercial ovens.
Fattah of boiled flour, wad luba or dan waki (one by one) are balls of wheat flour dough, thrown into boiling water to cook and then eaten with a vegetarian food similar to sakhina described below..
Bread fattah
There are several different ways and recipes for eating baked bread fattah, most notably with meat stew or broth. This type is often eaten on big occasions such as weddings and religious events, and is also distributed as a karama; an offering for blessings. There are several ways to make the stew and sometimes rice and kisra may be added to the dish. Another meat fattah is made with chicken stew or broth. This is a more recent invention but looks similar to the meat fattah with the pieces of meat displayed on top of the pile of stew-soaked bread.
Ful, fava bean fattah or bosh, is a street food that is also a recent addition to the fattah repertoire. The water in which the ful has been boiled is added to the bread pieces and a variety of other things are added on top. These can be tamiya (falafel), white cheese, cooked lentils, salad, yogurt, and mish (a fermented soft cheese) and many others. The idea of fattah is to add what is available and, therefore, considered a cheap meal that is easy to make and share. There are several stories about the origin of the name, the first is that the word bosh means a gathering of people, the second is that the large plate, in which the fattah is made, was originally called bosh, while another story is that it was named after former US president George Bush senior.
Sakhina stew varies from one region to another and is made of vegetables, but mostly onions and tomatoes which are fried and to which water and large quantities of dakwa, or peanut butter, are added
Fattat Adas is made with lentil soup. This is by far the most popular type of fattah mostly because of its low cost but also because of the variety of other foods and condiments that can be added to it to make it tastier.
Uwasa
This is the process of making flat wheat-flour bread with the thickness varying from one place to another. In northern Sudan, it is usually spread, or flattened, over a hot plate and is made at home typically using wholemeal wheat flour but sometimes white flour is added to the dough mixture to help spread it on the hot plate particularly when making the thinner varieties.
Gurasa is also known as kabid or kabida, and it is the most well-known, and thickest type of flatbread produced in this way. The uwasa, baking, of gurasa is simple because the dough is easy to spread and it can be baked quickly. It is usually eaten with a basic stew made up of either tomato and meat, called mulah ahmar (red stew) or mulah akhdar (green stew), which is based on broth mixed with powdered dried okra or weka. Gurasa can also be eaten as a dessert with sugar and ghee, or yoghurt.
Gurasa recipes for fattah include kurdtad, a fattah of chickpeas or beans and jakasurid, a fattah of onions and oil.
Thinner types of gurasa include tabtab, sanasen, al-fateer, salab or salabiyya, and idweer. Methods and sizes of these loaves depend on where you are in northern Sudan but it is often mostly eaten with savoury dishes or stews that are denser in consistency. Stews eaten when making fattah with this type of gurasa include meat stews which are similar to those used in bread fattah. Fattah is eaten with stew on big occasions. Fattah with milk, or yogurt is usually consumed as a lighter meal at dinner. Mukhbaza is made from wheat bread that resembles gurasa and is often stuffed with bananas, or cut into small pieces and bananas and the rest of the ingredients are added to it.
Sorghum products
Sorghum is a rain-fed crop that is grown in many places in Sudan and as such, is the traditional food for many communities. Bread made with wheat flour only became popular when eating habits started to change around the mid-twentieth century. As sorghum does not contain gluten, it is cooked by spreading it onto a hotplate or made into porridge.
Thin sorghum flatbreads, also known as kisra, vary according to the amount of husk left in the flour and include the wad akr or fetarita varieties. White kisra is made out of sorghum that has had all the husk removed and is eaten more in areas of central Sudan. Kisra fetarita, where the husk is left in the sorghum flour, is mostly eaten in western Sudan. Another variety is the millet or red kisra. Kisra is eaten with different types of foods, such as the customary mulah and tabikh meat, chicken or vegetable stews depending on what is popular in each region. Fattah recipes with kisra include sakhina which is similar to that eaten with the bread fattah. Kisra with water is a light, cheap meal made up of kisra mashed up with spices and water or yoghurt.
Millet products
Millet is usually eaten whole or in the form of porridge. Sometimes flat breads are made from it in the form of kisra or gurasa and these can be cut into balls of dough that are boiled and eaten with milk or sugar in a similar way to fattah. Varieties include karako which is made of millet flour and eaten with milk or yogurt and sugar. Gadugaddu and gougar is made from husked millet flour, and is served as a drink or a meal.
Panel and header illustrated by Shirouq Idris
Fattah is a communal dish where food is shared in order to increase the meal size and feed more people. It is made up of several components with the main element usually being a type of bread, or similar staples, that are broken or mashed up into smaller pieces. Making fattah is an affordable way for everyone to share what food they have, adding it to the contents of one bowl and eating it with a cheap and tasty chili condiment.
Bread loaves in Sudan vary according to the type of crops grown in the region, whether the dough is fermented and the method used to cook them whether in an oven or on a hot plate over a coal fire.
Wheat products
Wheat is mainly grown in northern and central Sudan, so we find most types of bread is made of wheat in these regions. Varieties include Nubian Bread such as the Argo, Dongola and Basawla bread which are loaves made in large disc shapes and baked in local ovens. The loaves are usually firm on the outside and soft on the inside, and have a lot of pulp due to the use of a type of yeast called Badra Aish. Local Bread, known as Baladi or Aish Tabouna is the most common type of bread in Sudan. It is also baked in large commercial ovens or at home. It is made of wholemeal, unhusked wheat flour. Fino Bread is a modern type of bread loaf that only recently became popular in Sudan. It is made of white flour or husked flour using modern machinery and commercial ovens.
Fattah of boiled flour, wad luba or dan waki (one by one) are balls of wheat flour dough, thrown into boiling water to cook and then eaten with a vegetarian food similar to sakhina described below..
Bread fattah
There are several different ways and recipes for eating baked bread fattah, most notably with meat stew or broth. This type is often eaten on big occasions such as weddings and religious events, and is also distributed as a karama; an offering for blessings. There are several ways to make the stew and sometimes rice and kisra may be added to the dish. Another meat fattah is made with chicken stew or broth. This is a more recent invention but looks similar to the meat fattah with the pieces of meat displayed on top of the pile of stew-soaked bread.
Ful, fava bean fattah or bosh, is a street food that is also a recent addition to the fattah repertoire. The water in which the ful has been boiled is added to the bread pieces and a variety of other things are added on top. These can be tamiya (falafel), white cheese, cooked lentils, salad, yogurt, and mish (a fermented soft cheese) and many others. The idea of fattah is to add what is available and, therefore, considered a cheap meal that is easy to make and share. There are several stories about the origin of the name, the first is that the word bosh means a gathering of people, the second is that the large plate, in which the fattah is made, was originally called bosh, while another story is that it was named after former US president George Bush senior.
Sakhina stew varies from one region to another and is made of vegetables, but mostly onions and tomatoes which are fried and to which water and large quantities of dakwa, or peanut butter, are added
Fattat Adas is made with lentil soup. This is by far the most popular type of fattah mostly because of its low cost but also because of the variety of other foods and condiments that can be added to it to make it tastier.
Uwasa
This is the process of making flat wheat-flour bread with the thickness varying from one place to another. In northern Sudan, it is usually spread, or flattened, over a hot plate and is made at home typically using wholemeal wheat flour but sometimes white flour is added to the dough mixture to help spread it on the hot plate particularly when making the thinner varieties.
Gurasa is also known as kabid or kabida, and it is the most well-known, and thickest type of flatbread produced in this way. The uwasa, baking, of gurasa is simple because the dough is easy to spread and it can be baked quickly. It is usually eaten with a basic stew made up of either tomato and meat, called mulah ahmar (red stew) or mulah akhdar (green stew), which is based on broth mixed with powdered dried okra or weka. Gurasa can also be eaten as a dessert with sugar and ghee, or yoghurt.
Gurasa recipes for fattah include kurdtad, a fattah of chickpeas or beans and jakasurid, a fattah of onions and oil.
Thinner types of gurasa include tabtab, sanasen, al-fateer, salab or salabiyya, and idweer. Methods and sizes of these loaves depend on where you are in northern Sudan but it is often mostly eaten with savoury dishes or stews that are denser in consistency. Stews eaten when making fattah with this type of gurasa include meat stews which are similar to those used in bread fattah. Fattah is eaten with stew on big occasions. Fattah with milk, or yogurt is usually consumed as a lighter meal at dinner. Mukhbaza is made from wheat bread that resembles gurasa and is often stuffed with bananas, or cut into small pieces and bananas and the rest of the ingredients are added to it.
Sorghum products
Sorghum is a rain-fed crop that is grown in many places in Sudan and as such, is the traditional food for many communities. Bread made with wheat flour only became popular when eating habits started to change around the mid-twentieth century. As sorghum does not contain gluten, it is cooked by spreading it onto a hotplate or made into porridge.
Thin sorghum flatbreads, also known as kisra, vary according to the amount of husk left in the flour and include the wad akr or fetarita varieties. White kisra is made out of sorghum that has had all the husk removed and is eaten more in areas of central Sudan. Kisra fetarita, where the husk is left in the sorghum flour, is mostly eaten in western Sudan. Another variety is the millet or red kisra. Kisra is eaten with different types of foods, such as the customary mulah and tabikh meat, chicken or vegetable stews depending on what is popular in each region. Fattah recipes with kisra include sakhina which is similar to that eaten with the bread fattah. Kisra with water is a light, cheap meal made up of kisra mashed up with spices and water or yoghurt.
Millet products
Millet is usually eaten whole or in the form of porridge. Sometimes flat breads are made from it in the form of kisra or gurasa and these can be cut into balls of dough that are boiled and eaten with milk or sugar in a similar way to fattah. Varieties include karako which is made of millet flour and eaten with milk or yogurt and sugar. Gadugaddu and gougar is made from husked millet flour, and is served as a drink or a meal.
Read more
Al Fattah
Panel and header illustrated by Shirouq Idris
Fattah is a communal dish where food is shared in order to increase the meal size and feed more people. It is made up of several components with the main element usually being a type of bread, or similar staples, that are broken or mashed up into smaller pieces. Making fattah is an affordable way for everyone to share what food they have, adding it to the contents of one bowl and eating it with a cheap and tasty chili condiment.
Bread loaves in Sudan vary according to the type of crops grown in the region, whether the dough is fermented and the method used to cook them whether in an oven or on a hot plate over a coal fire.
Wheat products
Wheat is mainly grown in northern and central Sudan, so we find most types of bread is made of wheat in these regions. Varieties include Nubian Bread such as the Argo, Dongola and Basawla bread which are loaves made in large disc shapes and baked in local ovens. The loaves are usually firm on the outside and soft on the inside, and have a lot of pulp due to the use of a type of yeast called Badra Aish. Local Bread, known as Baladi or Aish Tabouna is the most common type of bread in Sudan. It is also baked in large commercial ovens or at home. It is made of wholemeal, unhusked wheat flour. Fino Bread is a modern type of bread loaf that only recently became popular in Sudan. It is made of white flour or husked flour using modern machinery and commercial ovens.
Fattah of boiled flour, wad luba or dan waki (one by one) are balls of wheat flour dough, thrown into boiling water to cook and then eaten with a vegetarian food similar to sakhina described below..
Bread fattah
There are several different ways and recipes for eating baked bread fattah, most notably with meat stew or broth. This type is often eaten on big occasions such as weddings and religious events, and is also distributed as a karama; an offering for blessings. There are several ways to make the stew and sometimes rice and kisra may be added to the dish. Another meat fattah is made with chicken stew or broth. This is a more recent invention but looks similar to the meat fattah with the pieces of meat displayed on top of the pile of stew-soaked bread.
Ful, fava bean fattah or bosh, is a street food that is also a recent addition to the fattah repertoire. The water in which the ful has been boiled is added to the bread pieces and a variety of other things are added on top. These can be tamiya (falafel), white cheese, cooked lentils, salad, yogurt, and mish (a fermented soft cheese) and many others. The idea of fattah is to add what is available and, therefore, considered a cheap meal that is easy to make and share. There are several stories about the origin of the name, the first is that the word bosh means a gathering of people, the second is that the large plate, in which the fattah is made, was originally called bosh, while another story is that it was named after former US president George Bush senior.
Sakhina stew varies from one region to another and is made of vegetables, but mostly onions and tomatoes which are fried and to which water and large quantities of dakwa, or peanut butter, are added
Fattat Adas is made with lentil soup. This is by far the most popular type of fattah mostly because of its low cost but also because of the variety of other foods and condiments that can be added to it to make it tastier.
Uwasa
This is the process of making flat wheat-flour bread with the thickness varying from one place to another. In northern Sudan, it is usually spread, or flattened, over a hot plate and is made at home typically using wholemeal wheat flour but sometimes white flour is added to the dough mixture to help spread it on the hot plate particularly when making the thinner varieties.
Gurasa is also known as kabid or kabida, and it is the most well-known, and thickest type of flatbread produced in this way. The uwasa, baking, of gurasa is simple because the dough is easy to spread and it can be baked quickly. It is usually eaten with a basic stew made up of either tomato and meat, called mulah ahmar (red stew) or mulah akhdar (green stew), which is based on broth mixed with powdered dried okra or weka. Gurasa can also be eaten as a dessert with sugar and ghee, or yoghurt.
Gurasa recipes for fattah include kurdtad, a fattah of chickpeas or beans and jakasurid, a fattah of onions and oil.
Thinner types of gurasa include tabtab, sanasen, al-fateer, salab or salabiyya, and idweer. Methods and sizes of these loaves depend on where you are in northern Sudan but it is often mostly eaten with savoury dishes or stews that are denser in consistency. Stews eaten when making fattah with this type of gurasa include meat stews which are similar to those used in bread fattah. Fattah is eaten with stew on big occasions. Fattah with milk, or yogurt is usually consumed as a lighter meal at dinner. Mukhbaza is made from wheat bread that resembles gurasa and is often stuffed with bananas, or cut into small pieces and bananas and the rest of the ingredients are added to it.
Sorghum products
Sorghum is a rain-fed crop that is grown in many places in Sudan and as such, is the traditional food for many communities. Bread made with wheat flour only became popular when eating habits started to change around the mid-twentieth century. As sorghum does not contain gluten, it is cooked by spreading it onto a hotplate or made into porridge.
Thin sorghum flatbreads, also known as kisra, vary according to the amount of husk left in the flour and include the wad akr or fetarita varieties. White kisra is made out of sorghum that has had all the husk removed and is eaten more in areas of central Sudan. Kisra fetarita, where the husk is left in the sorghum flour, is mostly eaten in western Sudan. Another variety is the millet or red kisra. Kisra is eaten with different types of foods, such as the customary mulah and tabikh meat, chicken or vegetable stews depending on what is popular in each region. Fattah recipes with kisra include sakhina which is similar to that eaten with the bread fattah. Kisra with water is a light, cheap meal made up of kisra mashed up with spices and water or yoghurt.
Millet products
Millet is usually eaten whole or in the form of porridge. Sometimes flat breads are made from it in the form of kisra or gurasa and these can be cut into balls of dough that are boiled and eaten with milk or sugar in a similar way to fattah. Varieties include karako which is made of millet flour and eaten with milk or yogurt and sugar. Gadugaddu and gougar is made from husked millet flour, and is served as a drink or a meal.
exit
Food connects us