Italians and Egyptians: A Shared Story Across the Mediterranean

  I returned to my family home in Liguria this year to celebrate Easter—a day that, for most Italians, is synonymous with gathering. As dozens of relatives sat around a table laden with colourful vegetables and roasted meats, a scene from a book came to mind and lingered. It unfolds like this. It is Easter in a small town in southern Italy. The grandmothers wake up at dawn, pulling down jar after jar of preserved tomatoes from the pantry, gathering vegetables from the fridge and herbs from the garden, carefully preparing every component of the feast to come. They work through the morning, barely pausing for breath, so that by the time prayers are over, the large wooden table groans under the weight of dishes—enough to feed a small village. The family sits down at one o’clock and will not rise before five, drifting to the living room to lounge on sofas, sip hot coffee and nibble on sweet treats. In the evening, dinnertime will come around, and this beautiful torture will repeat once more. The scene—titled Sittat al-Bahr al-Abyad (Women of the Mediterranean)—comes from a book that is part… This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read.The post Italians and Egyptians: A Shared Story Across the Mediterranean first appeared on Egyptian Streets.