Fri Apr 26

The Argileh Express

Written by Max Markson

Sydney mum Nahalla Kaled is bringing back an ancient 500 year old tradition and leading the new party trend sweeping Sydney ( and the world) by delivering exotic fruit, food, dessert and cheese platters along with an argileh, nargileh, shisha, hookah or hubbly bubbly through her new business THE ARGILEH EXPRESS!

Nahalla Kaled says “ We are based in Sydney’s western suburbs and deliver 7 days a week all over Sydney, within 30 minutes. We have dozens of Argileh units and make a fabulous party pack.The party pack comes complete with a fully set up Argileh, new hose, mouth tips and charcoal with charcoal holder plus a choice of a dozen or more flavours from pineapple to mango, mint to chocolate and many more accompanied by spectacular gourmet fruit, food, pasta, dessert and cheese platters catering for small and large parties.”

“The most popular flavours are pineapple , mango, apple, orange, lemon , strawberry, peach , chocolate, watermelon, cola, red bull and there are many more available. The food platter business has already seen us make platters for UFC world champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and movie star Steven Seagal on their recent visits to Australia.” Concludes Nahalla.

In and out of fashion amongst older people for hundreds of years the Argileh, also known as the nargileh, shisha, hookah or hubbly bubbly has seen a renaissance worldwide in recent years , amongst the youth market especially, as immigrants from the Middle East and Mediterranean countries settle in other countries around the world.

The Argileh Express is available via Instagram @the.argileh.express

ABOUT THE ARGILEH

The origins of the Argileh dates back almost 500 years ...... it is thought to have originated in the Indian city of Fatehpur Sikri when Roman Catholic missionaries of the Society of Jesus arriving from the southern part of the country introduced tobacco to the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great (1542-1605 AD).

The physician to Akbar, Hakim Aboul Futteh Ghilani, then invented the Argileh in India after smoking tobacco became popular among noblemen. He subsequently envisaged a system that allowed smoke to be passed through water in order to be 'purified'.Following popularity among noblemen, this new device for smoking soon became a status symbol for the Indian aristocracy and gentry that continues to this day all over the world.

Argileh or Argilah is the name most commonly used in Lebanon , Syria , Palestine , Jordan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan Kuwait and Iraq while Nargileh is used in Israel. Nargileh derives from the Persian word Narghile and Sanskrit word Narikela meaning coconut. Indicating early Argilehs were made from coconut shells.

In Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria “ Nagileh “ is used to refer to the pipe while Sisa refers to the Tobacco smoked in it. The flavored tobacco, created by marinating cuts of tobacco in a multitude of flavored molasses, is placed above the water and covered by pierced foil with hot coals placed on top, and the smoke is drawn through cold water to cool and filter it.

In Albania the Argilehis called “lula” or “lulava”. In Romania it is called Nargilea.

Shisha or sheesha (شيشة), from the Persian word shīshe (شیشه), meaning glass, is the common term for the hookah in Egypt, Sudan and countries of the Arab Peninsula (including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Yemen and Saudi Arabia), and in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Somalia