We met Dr. Akram Saleh by chance at the Red Crescent clinic in Gaza City where he works. He overheard us in the hallway talking about okra and leapt in to proffer his family’s recipe, as well as a stunningly encyclopedic account of traditional farming practices. Originally from Jabaliya in the north of Gaza, Dr. Saleh is a passionate amateur historian and has collected extensive information about his family’s lands since Ottoman times. Here is a small selection of what he told us:
We had about 180 hectares [about 444 acres], spread between what is now Gaza and what is now the Israeli side, near the sea. We planted all kinds of fruit: peaches, apricots, apples, and pears. One hundred years ago, the famous citrus trees of Gaza did not exist; such trees require a lot of water. They were only introduced once people began to use well water for irrigation. Of course, now most of them have been uprooted by the Israelis.
Besides fruit, people mostly grew wheat and barley—all rain-fed crops—and some okra, squash, tomatoes, and melons in the summer. Wheat was planted in October by a plowman specially designated for his good fortune. He said a prayer before planting, requesting that the wheat grow thick enough to feed both the people and the wild birds. By May the wheat was tall, and in June they harvested it. It was threshed and then ground between stones and stored in bins under the floors of the houses. The making of bread was such a revered art that there are poems about it.
The vegetables—okra, eggplants, and tomatoes—were salted and sun-dried for winter use, or else they were pickled. Dairy products were also preserved.... Back then people lived only on what they grew in their fields and from the animals in their barns.
But in these modern times—and I am not just talking about Gaza, but all over the world—the population has grown and crops are genetically altered to suffice for the needs of the growing population. In the past, tomatoes were left to grow on the ground, but now they are grown in greenhouses. A greenhouse of 1,000 meters must produce 100 tons of tomatoes just to cover expenses, because seeds and pesticides are very expensive.
