As mentioned in the latest number
Twelve,
this series has just been revived from all the way back in 2019. Two days later, here is a new article with five new topics. One is coming
back with a fiery vengeance, it seems. And just like the previous five,
the eclectic mix of food, culture, history, and linguistics was all written sometimes in
the last several years
— including many shared on Facebook. Time to compile the knowledge herein on One Lucky Soul.
One different thing about this article is the Arabic piece at the end about El Safira Aziza, with translation. As mentioned in
Some Egyptian Arabic Expressions With Translations — مصطلحات مصرية و ترجمتها, a decision was taken about writing more in Arabic since most is in English and I have been doing so since then in 2024.
Now Onward Forward.
1. Ground Cherry - Cape Gooseberry - Tomatillo - حرنكش
Let
us see who knows what about a fruit that goes by a variety of different names depending on species, cultures, and geographical locations.
Ground
Cherry, Cape Gooseberry, Tomatillo, “Harankash” ( حرنكش ) in Arabic are some. Also known as Physalis, Mexican Husk Tomato, it is a genus of flowering plants in
the… wait for it…drumroll: Nightshade family — Solanaceae — which grow
in warm temperate and subtropical regions. Most of the species are
indigenous to the Americas, originating in Mexico ever since the
pre-Columbian era, while cultivated species have been introduced
worldwide.
Some
species are called Cape gooseberry and tomatillo. Physalis peruviana,
for instance, is the species of the plant native to Chile and Peru —
where it is regionally called aguaymanto, uvilla or uchuva among other
indigenous names; also known as “Inca berry”.
Physalis angulata, known as Chinese lantern or smooth ground cherry, is a member of the same family, which also includes [Irish] potato, nightshades, jimson weed, hot peppers, petunias, bell peppers, angel trumpets, and garden brugmansias. Physalis alkekengi are equally named Chinese lantern, and are often described as poisonous, but they are edible if fully ripe.
The name in French is “l'amour en cage” — love in a cage — which sounds similar to “harankash” as a reader noted; also called “coqueret”.
The major economic exporters of physalis worldwide are Colombia, Mexico, and India.
We do have them in Egypt and that was how I was first
introduced to “Harankash” as a 5-year-old kid living with maternal
grandparents while parents were away for father’s job.
The
main feature etched on my soul is one of the fruit’s funny nicknames,
as uttered by my own grandfather, Yehia Hassan: “Namouseyet el set” or
“El set fel namouseya” ( ناموسية الست / الست فالناموسية ) — literally
translating into “Mosquito net of the woman” or “the woman in the
mosquito net”.
Another nickname
Mahmoud the Cairo street vendor reminded me of is “El set el
mestakhabeya” ( الست المستخبية ), or the hidden woman.
Linguistically, the
root word “Physalis” originates from Ancient Greek “phusalis”, meaning
“bladder” — due to the shape of the hull containing the fruit
resembling that of a bladder. Ha, ingenious.
Further,
the name of the variant “Alkekenge” comes from old French
“alquequange”, which itself came from Arabic “al-kakang”. The “coqueret”
name used refers to an old name for a rooster, “coq”, due to the bright
red-orange colour of the fruit-containing calyx stands out like a
rooster’s comb.
Some of you may still be wondering what the above drumroll was about: Well,
it’s to convey a rather surprising link, which I only came across after
writing those lines...
First, a quick background for context:
So while
in our mid 20s camping in Sinai, few friends and I ingested a rare, wild, little-known hallucinogenic plant loosely known as “Sakarana”, which literally
translates from Arabic to “drunk”, and totally lost it for few days.
Many years later when researching the plant to write an extensive exposé
about the topic, a pharmacist in Egypt confirmed that Sakarana is
Hyoscyamus muticus L.. Also known as Jusquiame d’Egypt in French, the
plant does belong to the Nightshade family, Solanaceae — the same family of Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), Belladonna, and the
Daturas. As revealed in the exposé [below], Sakarana turned out to be one of the top five most toxic plants on Earth! Something my friends and I only found out after totally dissociating from reality for three full days following ingesting it.
Again, these are absolutely not substances to toy with and ought to be treated with care and reverence. And surviving such cauchemardesque experience was actually some sort of blessing. The same goes for Atropa
belladona and other related species such as Jimson Weed (Datura
stramonium).
Now the final aha-moment resulting from this quick multilingual search, and to follow the drumroll above, is that Harankash (physalis) and Sakarana the devil plant Hyoscyamus muticus [Egyptian henbane] are both from the Nightshade family, Solanaceae, and are thereby cousins. Talk about different effects... and personalities.
On the same note, and speaking of psychoactive drugs, the American state of Louisiana erroneously classified Physalis subglabrata (smooth groundcherry) as a hallucinogenic plant, while its cultivation for other than ornamental purposes became outlawed under State Act 159 of 2005. Pff. True story, Dude. So much for prohibition.
Queerly, the Nightshade family likewise include more peaceful plants like potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, aubergines, chili peppers, bell peppers, and now groundcherry harankash as well. A reason why another common name for Solanaceae is the “Potato Family”.
The psychonautic exposé
Surviving the Madness of Sakarana — Hyoscyamus muticus (aka Deadly Nightshade)
tells the whole tale of our intoxication and its aftermath along with the thorough research that followed later.
2. Imam Bayildi
I
was introduced to Imam Bayildi soon after first arriving to L.A in 2014 when I resided at my aunt’s place for a while. This eggplant
(aubergine) appetiser was a favourite to her 80-something year-old
husband who, like myself, has Turkish blood.
Imam
Bayildi in Turkish literally translates into: “The Imam fainted”.
Multiple fun anecdotes about the origin of the name are found online.
According to a photo on Wikipedia, in Turkey the stuffed roasted
eggplant dish is sometimes served with yogurt and rice among other ways —
taken from a restaurant in Selçuk, Turkey.
However,
a cousin I am connected with online kindly wrote me from Istanbul after
reading the post, sharing that they never ate it with rice or yoghurt;
and that it may be an Anatolian thing.
She
wrote: “The deep fried aubergines are slit and filled with caramelized
onions, fresh tomato, a bit garlic and parsley. Sugar is important, as
it has to be sweet and sour. Mint may be added, not a must though. The
onions have to be cooked at extremely low temperature over time. Sweet
green peppers may also be added according to taste.”
While
this yummy pre-prepared ‘Zergüt’ jar isn’t stuffed, when I did try it I
loved it from the first bite. It reminded me of the eggplant we ate at
home in Egypt — the moussaka, which is also found in Greece. Though we
also ate it stuffed with rice, which is called ‘ma7shy’ — simply meaning
‘stuffed’. Notice the ‘ü’ in the word Zergüt as I learned its
importance from another closer cousin Gülsün.
Lots
of Egyptian food has origin in Turkish cuisine from the time of the
Ottoman Empire. There are different local and regional variations of how
the eggplants are made. Known by slightly different names, Imam Bayildi
can be found in Bulgaria, Israel, Greece, Albania, Armenia, and Iran.
The
ingredients of the product pictured here, which is made in Bulgaria,
are: Eggplants, onion, water, tomato, paste, sunflower oil, sugar, salt,
garlic parsley. How I prepared it for my uncle is heating it for a
couple of minutes and serving it with olive oil and diced white onions.
However,
I had it myself either at room-temperature or even cold after being in
the fridge post opening, and I still enjoyed it as a simple light snack.
The few times I overdid it, I kept burping for a few hours afterward. But luckily there was no fainting like the Imams in the tales.
3. Mayak Avocado Fusion
I was recently fortunate to come across a post by a young woman called Sam about her new creative salads here in Dahab, @_flavor_bloom_ . After trying the first and loving it, it became a few-times a week thing. The last salad was called Mayak Avocado Fusion.
For me, this specific mixture is otherworldly: Avocado, beetroot, arugula, almonds are all absolute favourites; also oranges to add some sweet taste to the mix. And then there is a jammy, soft-boiled Korean-style egg — prepared by itself with different ingredients by being soaked in a marinade! Ooohhh, a work of art really. Once I began eating there was no stopping and the entire salad was devoured in mere minutes. It was followed by messaging her to say thank you and to share the fascination. As we met again earlier today, Sam mentioned re-making the Mayak Avocado Fusion soon. Please! Adding that I liked it so much, as soon as it was finished my mind was instinctively already thinking of wanting more — either for dinner that same day or for the following one. True story. Somewhat jokingly, I then said: “Like a drug, it’s an actual high. You wonder if one will start itching and getting withdrawals afterwards.” Haha.Her eyes then lit up before smilingly replying: “You know the Korean name for mayak eggs is “mayak gyeran” (마약계란), which literally translates to ‘drug egg’”. Huh. When later checking online, I found: “Mayak eggs are so addicting that you’ll be left with wanting more and more!” Uhu, how about that! Man, this dude is getting good at finding legal and more available highs, like the actual narcotic
chemical found in cheese, casein, which triggers dopamine production in the
brain and its opioid receptors.Before leaving she then said next time she’ll put two eggs in the salad as a special treat. Yummm. My instant reply was: “Spoken like a true dealer trying to get people hooked so they come back.” And we both laughed and laughed. Mayak Avocado Fusion:Korean marinated eggsBeetrootAvocadoOrangesArugula*AlmondsBasil Served with fresh ginger, orange, lemon, sumak and olive oil.
*
Arugula: The Healthy Ancient Aphrodisiac.
*[ لو عرفوا فايدة الجرجير لزرعوه تحت السرير ] 4. 
Today’s Linguistic Investigation
I
was talking to a Bedouin friend named Turki/Torki when a lit light bulb
shaped as a question marked magically appeared out of thin air right
above my head. “Turki/Torki” means Turkish or from Turkey. Used as a
surname — sometimes with Al- — as well as a name, you wonder why it is
so widespread among Arabs.
In
fact, I remember from the hotel days the name being so common between
visiting guests; also written in so many different ways [plus the al and
el / al- and el- options], which used to confuse the system. But
funnily, the unique meaning of the word had never come to mind before
today.
The following is a summary of the findings from the AI Arabic answer in addition to the Quora answers in English.
Do
note that recently a line has been added underneath all AI answers in
all languages, stating that they may include mistakes. Well, honestly is
a step in the right direction. Kudos.
Alright,
now let us see. Here are the main proposed reasons why the surname [and
first name] Turki is found among many different Arabs:
Historically,
it is a remnant of when Ottomans ruled the region. It was the time when
the Islamic nation was spread over a wide area of the globe from India
to Spain. At that time it was part of the culture to identify people by
their origins and professions among other affiliations. As such,
Al-Turki meant from Turkey or “The Tukish”; just as Al-Masry and
Al-Seoudi.
Under the Ottoman
rule most leaders and soldiers were Turkish. The name Turki then came to
be borrowed by certain Arabs in those countries.
Due
to associating Ottomans with strength and bravery, it became socially
common for a number of Arabs to call their sons Turki as a first name —
while dropping the definitive article “Al” since it was no longer an
affiliation to Turkish people or Ottomans.
Another
association is religious in nature. As Ottomans were seen by some at
the time as a representation of the best the Islamic world had to offer.
So possibly the name Turki came to express their religious affiliation.
Also during the Ottoman rule,
some soldiers remained in the countries that were under their control.
Thereby starting their own mixed families while keeping the surname. One
man named Turki answering on Quora is from Tunisia, so it seems it is
not just widespread in the Arabian Peninsula or Sinai but in North
Africa as well.
Interestingly,
my mother and aunt added something found in one of the answers: The fact
that back then throughout the region people with lighter skin where
given the name Turki — like a some sort of physical description. Ha.
Being of Turkish [Kavala] origin I guess I fall under that skin tone.
A
last less direct association is another fact about Arab men, especially
rich ones, marrying Turkish women mainly for their known beauty —
similar for Iranian women. It is something my parents came across by
living in Saudi Arabia for two years where they met lots of Sheikhs with
said wives who were often royalties and hotel owners. Having a Turkish
wife/mother, perhaps those families are more likely to call their sons
Turki.
And that wraps it up. As always, you are most welcome to add anything you fancy.
— Omar Cherif “El Masry” “El Torki” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
٥. من هي السفيرة عزيزة؟
كنت
قاعد مع امي وخالتي في اواخر أيام ليهم فالقرية الديبلوماسية بالساحل
السنة دي ولقيت نفسي بدون سابق إنذار بسأل: هي مين السفيرة عزيزة؟
”ده كان فيلم قديم،“ خالتي ردت. بتاع شكري سرحان والسندريلا سعاد حسني إنتاج ١٩٦١.
أيوا،
انما هل الاسم له قصة حقيقية؟ علشان مصطلح أو المثل ”هتعملي فيها/فاكرة
نفسك السفيرة عزيزة!“ — كناية عن الاهمية أو الترفع — كان بتتسمع في أفلام
تانية كتير.
لما الرد لم يأتي من
بنات سعادة السفير قلت لازم الواحد يدور بنفسه. بابص كدة ألاقي التليفون
جنبي فقمت مدور في جوجل: هم. فعلاً شخصية حقيقية ملهمة.
من صفحتها على ويكيبيديا ومصادر أخري:
”عزيزة
سيد شكرى هى (السفيره عزيزه) اللى اتكتر ضرب المثل بيها. ولدت سنه ١٩١٩ فى
مدينة ميت غمر، وكان والدها الدكتور سيد شكرى هو معلمها الاول فى العطاء
بلا حدود لما وفر كل سبل الراحه لوالدتها المريضه التى لم تقدر رعايه
اولادها الخمسه، بدات عزيزة وهى بنت العشر سنين فى رعايه اخواتها الصغار مع
والدها .وفى سنه ١٩٣٨ اصر الوالد على استكملها دراستها ودخولها الجامعه
الامريكيه ،بالرغم من ان المجتمع كان يسيطر عليه عدم تعليم المراة ولكنه
كان خير نصير لها.
وبعد تخرجها سنه
١٩٤٢ بدات تهتم بالاعمال الخيريه كمتطوعه ،وفى سنه ١٩٥١ اتجوزت من احمد
حسين باشا ،وبدات هى وزوجها رحله الكفاح الاجتماعى وحاولت هى وزوجها التعرف
على احوال الفلاحين ومشاكلهم ومحاوله حلها.
وقبل
الثورة بساعات سافرت مع زوجها الى جزر الكريبى والمكسيك كخبيرة اجتماعيه
وقامت بالقاء بكثير من المحاضرات كاول محاضرة عربيه ،ولاقت كتير من
الصعوبات .
بعد قيام الثورة رجعت
عزيزة وزوجها الى القاهرة ولنضال زوجها قبل الثورة ووقوفه الى جانب الفلاح
والبسيط من ابناء الشعب المصرى عين وزير للشؤن الاجتماعيه. وفى سنه ١٩٥٤
سافرت عزيزة ضمن وفد مصرى عند الامم المتحده فكانت اول سيدة عربيه تمثل مصر
ولعبت دور كبير هى وزوجها فى تدعيم الدعم الامريكى للشعب المصرى، وقادت
كثير من الحروب الاجتماعيه التى كانت غريبه على الشعب المصرى فى ذاك الوقت
زى تنظيم الاسرة. وايضاً أنشأت حضانه للاطفال فى الريف.“
شفتوا
بقي ازاي أسامي شخصيات مؤثرة ممكن تخلد في تاريخ البشرية عن طريق اللغة...
كرمز. لدرجة السينما تنتج فيلم بإسمها — لكفاحها وعطائها وتفوقها العالمي.
بعد الانتهاء من القراءة بصوت عالي قلت للأختين:
يمكن
بعد ٧٠ سنة بعد ما نروح لما واحد يعمل فيها مجنون ويطول شعره ويركب دقن
ويمكن كمان يكتب شِعْر خزعبلي، صحابه يقولوا له: إيه يا عم إنت هتعمل فيها
عمر شريف! أو مثلاً تجمع عشوائي وفوضوي عالبحر في طبل وزمر — ميغة يعني —
يتقال عليه "فول لوناسي". هاأو. كأنها تريدمارك ذي هوفر، كلينكس،
اسبيرين.“.
*واحد فاكر نفسه السفيرة عزيزة
*Brief Translation:
El Safira Aziza: In the Arabic language, especificaly in Egypt, when someone appears to be acting all high and mighty, they could be somewhat jokingly told: Do you think yourself El Safira Aziza? There is an actual black-and-white movie from 1961 by the same name.
One day last summer I just randomly thought who that person might be in real, if it was an actual woman; it just made sense there was a story behind how a name turned out to be a figure of speech.
A quick Google search showed that
Aziza Sokry Hussein was indeed a noted personality born in 1919 Egypt. Her Arabic Wikipedia page covers her life stiory and achievements
as a social welfare expert and prominent advocate for family planning. She was active in the women's movement. She also had Honorary Doctorates from American University as well the Cairo University.
As a conclusion, I am reminder the redears how the names of certain notable figures can became immortallised inhuman history through language
— for her struggle, her contributions, and her global excellence.
I finally followed it by what I told my mother and aunt who were the first I asked:
Now imagine after 70 years or so after we all depart from this physical existence, when a guy appears crazy, grows his hair and beard, and maybe even writes non-sensical poems, hisi friends would then tell him: Are you making a Omar Cherif?
Or when some people gather on the beach or around the fire to drum and dance it would be called a
Full Lunacy. Ha, like some sort of trademark such as Hoover, Kleenex, Aspirin.
Signed: Someone who thinks himself El Safira Aziza.
 |
Inspired by the artice and because it is the season
some Harankash from Dahab was nom nom nomed |
