You don’t have to be a smoker to appreciate the hookah, an object so fascinating and so rich in history, culture and philosophy that it has become a symbol of togetherness and community.
In Morocco, Egypt and much of the Arab world and the former Ottoman Empire it’s called shisha, and beyond its well-known use, it’s recognized as a tool for meditation. In Italy it’s mostly known as narghilè, while in English it’s often called a hookah.
It’s a kind of large water pipe made up of a glass base in various sizes, shapes and colors, a central stem usually made of steel, a bowl and a flexible hose you inhale through. The shisha is used to vaporize special blends of flavored tobacco: to smoke it, the base is filled three-quarters full with water (usually scented) and the tobacco is heated in the bowl with special charcoal.
The smoke is then drawn into the base, which contains a coil that cools the smoke in the water before it reaches the smoker’s mouth, creating an aromatic vapor that shisha smokers inhale through the hose attached to the ports, the dedicated openings in the base.
Some smaller shisha models have just one hose and are used for smoking alone, while larger ones can take several hoses so people can smoke together. Of course, the more hoses there are, the faster the tobacco burns.
Shisha: history and cultural traditions
But where does the shisha, or hookah, come from? This traditional Moroccan object has very ancient origins. Although its exact date of birth has never been traced, many studies place the appearance of the first hookah in the second half of the 1500s. Some scholars believe it was born in Egypt, because that’s where the earliest types of shisha were found, but this has never been officially confirmed.
What is certain is that it originated in the Middle East and that the use of the shisha spread quickly across the Arab, Persian and Turkish world, especially among the poorest populations. They mostly smoked tobacco molasses and used a coconut as the base, bamboo canes instead of hoses, cheap and less durable materials like copper and brass for the body, and hemp for the seals.
The great merit of the shisha was that the smoke wasn’t inhaled directly: the water diluted the strong taste of the tobacco, making it lighter and more pleasant.
Today the shisha is, par excellence, one of the most iconic and widespread symbols of Middle Eastern peoples and of the native Berbers, a bit like argan oil, henna, kohl, the hammam, harissa and the tagine. These have become cornerstones of a traditional culture I’ve been lucky enough to get to know deeply during the many tours I organize in Morocco, a safe country and one full of charm.
Moroccan shisha: more than just a way to smoke
Smoking the hookah, or shisha, is an ancient yet still very popular ritual, one of the most widespread customs in Moroccan culture, symbolizing unity, friendship and brotherhood among men.
The shisha, in fact, goes beyond the simple idea of a smoking device, because it embodies the essence of Moroccan culture, community and tradition. Smoking shisha in Morocco is a social activity with deep cultural roots, a moment of sharing and togetherness, of conversation and relaxation, and also of meditation, enjoyed in a comfortable, informal and welcoming setting. There’s no home, café, festival, ceremony, religious celebration or any other gathering place where you won’t regularly see groups of friends and family smoking shisha. During Ramadan, just like food and drink, shisha can only be smoked after sunset and before sunrise.
If you’d like to try smoking shisha, just head to one of the many shisha cafés or shisha bars, public venues traditionally devoted to the hookah.
In short, the shisha is a symbol of conviviality for Arab peoples, a sign of respect for different cultural traditions, and an art form thanks to the many modern, detailed designs that make each piece unique and precious. If you want to bring home a souvenir from Morocco, now you know what to buy to decorate your home.
Shisha: what kind of tobacco goes into the hookah
A shisha is used to smoke a blend of tobacco leaves (usually heavily spiced), a bit like those used in a traditional pipe. Unlike a pipe, however, the smoke is drawn through water, so it’s cooler and more filtered than pipe smoke.
Before being heated in its bowl, shisha tobacco is soaked in molasses, a blend of tobacco, sweeteners and liquid glycerin that slows down combustion as much as possible and sweetens the taste of the smoke. The tobacco is then placed under a sheet of foil with lots of small holes, on which the hot charcoal sits. Instead of tobacco, you can use special minerals that absorb the molasses and work as a tobacco alternative, so you can smoke shisha without nicotine.
Lisa
