The disappearance of bean carts ... Corona deprives Egyptians of the joy of Suhoor in the popular streets

Shaima Abdullah

"A source said, an official said ... The medicine is very advanced, and Dr. Mohsen says that the Egyptian people, especially its own interest, are cracking beans ... as the Egyptian beans in general make the sons of Adam Ghoul."

This is how the late poet Ahmed Fouad Negm spoke about the foul, an authentic part of the Egyptian culture during Ramadan, especially on the suhoor tables, where it keeps the stomach of many able to withstand as long as possible, with the cheapest and saturated meal.

But the matter differed this year due to the Corona pandemic, as the bean carts that were crowded with the streets of Cairo disappeared to offer suhoor meals with various dishes, not only relying on beans, but also adjacent to the delicious and delicious Egyptian dishes such as hot taste tablets, crunchy potato fingers, and dishes Eggplant of all kinds.

The suhoor tables went out onto the streets in the winds of Corona, and the curfew ended the nighttime joy that the Egyptians were accustomed to from the azan of Morocco until the dawn.

Corona Losses
Teacher Abd al-Badi`, for years, used to equip his wooden cart and three pots full of beans. This was the daily count for one of the most famous bean sellers in Al Jamalia neighborhood, who runs Hajj Rifai bean stores.

The three pots were laying their bases in the same place every night from after the Maghrib call to prayer until two o'clock in the morning, in a continuous sale.

Abdul Badi tells Al-Jazeera Net about Ramadan before the time of the epidemic comes. "I used to prepare the three pots and spend the night in a constant sale. I have three helpers, but now I stand alone for one half full, I start working after the noon prayer until six o'clock, and I finish the work Before the ban. "

Al-Rifai stores in Al-Hussein neighborhood used to have another store special for Suhoor tables, as small tables stretched along the narrow street, but this year these tables disappeared and the shop closed .. Why do we open the store ?! Nobody eats flavor, nor potatoes, or eggplant .. Everyone is asking for beans. "

Abd al-Badi` blocked the entrance to the shop with planks of wood that forced the buyer to stand a meter away from the seller. This is the only way he adopted to prevent corona without masks or antiseptics, confirming with certainty "the protector is God, and thank God so far the aesthetic is free from corona."

The ship of the
road to Al-Moez Street was always furnished with bean carts, and the smells of popular dishes rising from the taste, garlic and eggplant, as it was flowing to the saliva of pedestrians from all sides, and no one expected that Al-Moez Street would be empty of its visitors, and that the street would also be empty of all Its delight, on top of which is the Suhoor chariots, except "ship"

In the divide between the streets of Al-Moez and Al-Jamaliah, Muhammad stands a ship on the top of a bean wagon - which he owns father for a grandfather - on the street that is bordered by archaeological monuments in all its aspects .. The ship was a meeting place for tourists and those looking for a unique sahoor in a different Ramadan atmosphere, but the matter changed Now, the atmosphere is no longer the same, and no ship is able to sell bean dishes and its derivatives.

"A ship" had to sell bean bags to students only during daylight hours, but at night the ban prohibits him, as he tells Al-Jazeera Net. "The police informed us of a list of prohibitions that include crowds, suhoor and butterfly tables next to the store, even selling in dishes is forbidden ... only allowed is a bean bag, A meter from the entrance to the shop. "

The annual livelihood season has ended for a ship and fellow sellers of beans in mainland Cairo, but one day the epidemic will end and the beans will return, according to the main schedule of Ramadan tables.