Hook•ah [hoo k-uh] noun A tobacco pipe of near Eastern origin with a long, flexible tube by which the smoke is drawn through a jar of water and thus cooled.

Before delving any further I must confess that since my residence in Israel (and the few weeks pre-arrival) it would appear that all my blog posts have been related to Israeli/Sephardic food. Being surrounded by this refreshingly foreign cuisine has left me with no choice but to write about it. Apologies to those who miss the ol’ Ashkenazi, European Jewish cuisine – it will be returning soon…watch this space.

And now back to what I was originally talking about.

Otherwise known as nargileh (נרגילה) by the Israelies, sheesha (شيشة‎) if you’re Egyptian and kalian for anyone that comes from Persia. And just for the hell of it, here a bunch of other names for it: chillim, borry, arhile, galyan, gudugudaa and my favourite – hubble bubble.

It may not be technically considered a food or a beverage, but it certainly is treated like it. Whether it accompanies a solo antiquated Sabra or a group of young Israeli teenagers, it is hard to miss this symbolic waterpipe making an appearance in the streets, bars, parks and beaches of Israel. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of the device  but it still manages to fascinate me.

A little bit of history…

The origins of the Nargileh traces all the way back to Pakistan, India. The word “Nargileh” is derived from the Persian word nārghile, meaning coconut, possibly because early hookahs were made from coconut shells. In fact, these ancient hookahs hardly compare to the elaborate ones you see today (of course I know this because I was around a few 100 years ago). Their original use was mainly for smoking opium and hashish. Once the hookah rocked up in Turkey it became extremely popular amongst the upper class and intellectuals. Its design became more complex and beautiful. Hookah started to enter coffee shops where the waiter who prepared the hookah required a lot of skill. People also started to use them to smoke “tombeik” – a dark type of tobacco, and rules were developed around nargile etiquette. The tobacco (sheesha) is generally soaked in honey to make it moist and sticky.

In today’s’ world, while there is a range of different hookah etiquettes, it has managed to spread all over the world and is essentially a social activity.

A spot of Nutrition…

One of the most common questions people tend to ask about nargileh in terms of health, is whether or not it is comparable to smoking.

So.

Is it?

Good question.

One thing is for sure – smoking tobacco through a hookah pipe definitely ain’t safe. A lot of people think that the water used in the pipe captures the toxins from the tobacco, preventing the smoker from being exposed to them. What actually happens, is that the water cools the smoke down, making it feel less harsh. But cool smoke doesn’t really equal healthy or safe smoke.

Here’s another fact. In one smoking session, the average hookah smoker inhales the equivalent of roughly 100 cigarettes. There is a whole plethora of negative aspects to the hookah pipe (full of toxins, leads to addiction, linked to oral cancer, spreads infectious disease, dangers with secondhand smoke, blablabla – refer to this: http://www.who.int/tobacco/global_interaction/tobreg/Waterpipe%20recommendation_Final.pdf

 If you are interested)... however, as I continuously ask in this blog – is there anything beneficial, or “nutritious” (even though I wouldn't necessarily dub a nargileh pipe as nutrition).

Herbal Hookah is an option you could go for if you want to avoid the nicotine. They’re infused with natural flavour like peach, mint, raspberry, apple and blackberry. No tobacco. Just the experience. Simply divine. Apparently some herbal varieties can be used to treat certain illnesses. At the same time, the exposure to tars, charcoal and carcinogens still remains.

Bottom line? It probably isn’t very good for you. I’m guessing that wasn’t something you didn’t know..