The Day of Tombac

The big day I've been preparing for - and it came sooner than expected.  Day One of Egypt and we had already set up an opportunity to smoke the elusive Tombac.  Apparently, only six cafes in Egypt serve Tombac in its classic fashion and I've been fired up about trying it for a while now.

So we met up with a buddy, Magdy, and smoked with him for a bit at the hacienda before heading out to the cafe.  He built the shisha and explained to me the importance of keeping the water in the base at just the right levels and how the specially made Tombac bowls are necessary for a great burn.  He built up the bowl and I got my first try of this highly potent stuff.

To explain, Tombac is, as Magdy says, shisha for men.  The tobacco is shipped from Yemen and the leaves are kept whole.  The leaves have to stay at about 15% humidity, so the leaves are moistened daily and allowed to dry.  This keeps mold and mildew from appearing on the leaves.  This tedious process is followed by cutting and preparing the tobacco with more moistening with water and packing fairly tight in the bowl.  Then, a good amount of charcoal is placed directly onto the tobacco.  This makes for a very expensive smoke because instead of adding molasses and glycerin to the tobacco and using indirect heat to vaporize the shisha, this is burned.  Therefore, the Tombac has to be fully replaced periodically.

And this Tombac will put some hair on your chest.  Very strong and commanding, it is not for the faint of heart.

For the big surprise, Magdy also brought some wine that his mother makes. Aged 2 years, it is a very sweet, almost Madeira-ish wine thanks to a healthy addition of brown sugar.  Absolutely wonderful and a real treat while sitting outside in the cooling Cairo sunset.

We sat and smoked on the Tombac that Magdy bought, all the while him receiving calls from his buddies at the cafe wondering where he was.  I assumed it was a very tight-knit group and it certainly turned out to be.  Finally after some coaxing we got on the road.  Very difficult to leave this piece of Eden.  Shisha, wine, company - who would want more?  Of course, the best was yet to come.

Driving through Cairo is always an adventure.  The foot and vehicular traffic can be a nightmare, but the scenery is always beautiful.  I had ridden much of this route before and specifically remember passing a group of row-houses that seemed to stretch on forever.  Mostly single storied with a multi-story interspersed here and there, the architecture is obviously very old.  And I don't mean United States old - I mean cradle of civilization old.  You drive through them and the side roads stretch on just as far as the road you are on.  It gives the notion that the Minotaur could come running at you at any minute.

Well as it turns out, they weren't row houses - they were tombs.  Finding that out carried with it an obvious picture, that being that there were no people walking around.  Of course, the striking nature of the buildings turned from awe to utter fascination and I asked if we could stop and take some pictures.  Another time.  Apparently nighttime is not the right time for tomb exploring.

When we arrived at the cafe, we were given a great parking spot right in the front and by the time we sat down, they already had three hookahs ready for us.  Magdy gave his hellos to everyone and introduced us around.  Sure enough - the culture is very tight and everyone knew everyone.  And apparently, this is a pretty exclusive crowd.  Mostly doctors and successful businessmen, Magdy informed us that they all meet up at 7:00 am every morning, smoke some shisha, get to work, and return later to meet.  And if he misses more than a few days, he gets the "are you alright" phone call.  Takes me back to days of being a bar owner and the closeness we felt with our loyal customers.  A splendid thing indeed.

Magdy informed us that this particular cafe had been open since the 1950 as a family business.  He has been coming here for 15 of those years.  Apparently the owner has been offered upwards of 6 million Egyptian Pounds for the business,  but will not give it up as it's history is too rich for him.  He allowed me to take a photograph, that is him above the picture of the coals.  A very nice and cheerful fella.  

Then came the Turkish coffee, then an unreal hibiscus juice, followed by a mint tea.  I asked for a mango and Magdy promised that we'd stop by a place that serves the best mango juice in town.

But for now, it was the Tombac.  The service of Tombac is very different from that of the shisha service I'm accustom to.  Where the coals get replaced every now and then with the molasses/glycerine blend, the entire "stone" is replaced periodically with the Tombac.  You can imagine the labor that goes into it and the job of keeping a ton of bowls packed and ready to go at all times.  Add to that the heat that you have to endure pulling entire bowls of hot coals and trying to balance them on a mound of tobacco.  More than once I saw these hot colas fall on our server's hands and not once did he flinch.  Them are some tough hands.

We were able to take some great shots with the staff and I was pleasantly amused when they all gave the Legendary Thumbs Up. Of course I believe they were the ones being amused at my goofy expression of affirmation, but what the heck.

Overall ,the Tombac was a magnificent treat.  Certainly not an everyday smoker for moi, as I still can only handle the "for girls" version as an everyday smoker.  However, I definitely want to bring the experience back to the States and share with some good folks at home.  Until then, please stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure at the Khan El Khalili.  Cheers!