Cairo’s fruit and vegetable vendors, a common sight in the city’s many districts, have begun selling one of their most popular summer fruits, barbary figs, a favourite among millions of Egyptians both rich and poor.
Known by several names worldwide such as prickly pear, cactus pear and also teen shoky, the fruit, which grows on a specific kind of cactus, is native to Mexico, though is also grown in other places around the world, including Egypt and North America.
In Egypt, barbary figs are grown predominantly in and around Minya, a rural province about 300 kilometres south of Cairo, because of its hot, dry weather. The area’s farmers wait for the fig’s harvest season all year, because of the high yield and relatively low maintenance required.
“Every farmer secretly has a crop that he likes more than the rest," says Reda, whose 10 feddans — a unit of area equal to about 0.42 hectares — in Minya’s Samalut suburb yield from 1,500 to 2,000 crates each harvest.
"For me, it’s teen shoky. It’s such an easy crop to get right. It doesn’t require that much work or attention at all and it yields large amounts each year.”
A crate typically holds between 20 and 25 kilograms of barbary figs.
The harvest season is an annual event for many more than Minya’s farmers. When driving through the narrow inner roads of the predominantly agricultural region, one cannot miss the rows of fig crates being sold at the many makeshift fruit stands set up for the short harvest season every year.
While the adults work to harvest the figs from their plantations, most of which are located deep inside the vast expanses of green agricultural land in the area, their children typically run the fruit stands in their absence.
“We have the sweetest figs in all of Minya,” Roqaya Abdo, 10, tells The National. Roqaya’s father owns several small plots of barbary fig cacti in Samalut, a suburb of Minya.
“My brothers and I pick them ourselves each morning but because I am the most responsible, I collect our profits and give them to our father at the end of each day.”
Fruit vendors who sell the figs in Minya and Cairo boast of the fruit’s health benefits, which include promoting good heart and bone health because of the high amounts of potassium and calcium.
Barbary figs are also known for their strong antioxidant properties which come from the fruit's high vitamin C and polyphenol levels.
“They are great for weight loss, it’s because they’re high in fibre which makes you feel full,” says Ramy Gerges, a vendor in the Cairo district of Heliopolis.
Each day, the figs make their way to Cairo and Egypt’s other major cities on large lorries that leave Minya and other provinces such as Qalyubia and unload at various fruit distribution points.
Some of the vendors also conduct private deals with the delivery drivers, who are often their relatives, to bring them the best figs of the haul at reduced prices.
“I am originally from Minya and my family owns some small teen shoky plots down there,” says Ramy. "During the harvest season, my brother brings me crates almost every day, right to where my fruit stand is. I have my fixed clients in the area where I work who have been buying figs from me for years now.”
Barbary figs are made up of a tough outer layer covered in small thorns that can cut the hands of those who are not used to handling them. When removed, the outer layer reveals a soft, watery flesh, which is the edible part of the fig. The outer layer is sometimes repurposed to make vegan leather products.
Because of the fruit’s prickly exterior, Cairo households usually buy them peeled, refrigerate them and serve them cold. Some vendors also have small fridges installed in their fruit stands so they can serve them cold to passers-by, offering a quick snack that can help people stay cool in the summer heat.
Ramy says: “I mostly sell them peeled. The thorns are small and can get under people’s fingernails or into their skin — nasty little pests."
Barbary figs are also full of small seeds which are often swallowed along with the flesh, however, eating around the seeds is somewhat tricky and Ramy says this can discourage some people.
“It takes a certain manoeuvre where the fruit is sucked slowly from around the seeds and then you can either swallow the seeds or spit them out," he says. "It’s always funny watching people eat them for the first time. They look kind of confused.”
Prices of the popular fruit vary greatly season-on-season and will often vary in the provinces and even different neighbourhoods inside Cairo.
At Roqaya’s roadside fruit stands, a crate of figs costs 60 Egyptian pounds ($3.10), which works out at about three pounds per kilo. In Cairo’s poorer neighbourhoods, a kilogram of barbary figs costs about 10 pounds.
“I sell a kilo for 15 or 20 pounds,” Ramy says. His mobile fruit stand is stationed in one of Cairo’s more affluent neighbourhoods.
Though they are mostly eaten fresh, the more avid fans of the fruit freeze batches of it, which they use to make smoothies and juice during the off-season.
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UAE v Gibraltar
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When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
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Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
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TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
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Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
MATCH DETAILS
Manchester United 3
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Partizan Belgrade 0
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
