Anny Gaul

The Surprising History of Egypt’s ‘Crazy Tomatoes’ How an ordinary ingredient became a symbol of collective complaint.

As tomatoes became a popular staple in Egypt’s home kitchens, their “crazy” prices became a fixture of Egyptian life. Read an excerpt of @annygaul.bsky.social’s new book, “Nile Nightshade,” here:

Many thanks to all those who helped make it happen (and to @jadaliyya.bsky.social for giving it a home online!); we’ll be updating it periodically so please reach out if you have sources, suggestions, or ideas to add.

photograph of za'tar in a round container from above, against a keffiyah background

I hope the bibliography will serve as a resource to students, journalists, educators, scholars, and anyone else with an interest in understanding and advocating for Palestine through food.

an image of several Palestinian cookbook covers

The list includes scholarship alongside cookbooks and works of art, film, and memoir. Assembled in the face of genocide, famine, attacks on olive trees and seed banks, the works on the list attest to Palestinian steadfastness & rootedness in the land.

Palestinian Foodways Bibliography This bibliography collates the rich body of writing, research, and other forms of documented knowledge (scholarly and otherwise) produced about Palestinian foodways — broadly conceived to include agri...

Introducing the Palestinian Foodways Bibliography: a collaborative effort to collate, document, and honor the myriad writing, research, and other forms of documented knowledge about Palestinian foodways.
www.jadaliyya.com/Details/46984

SNAP benefits feed essential needs while still leaving many hungry for more Journalist and author Adam Chandler explains what so much of the conversation about them gets wrong.

As SNAP hangs in the balance for nearly 42 million people, misinformation is rampant. Myths of laziness and fraud persist when we should be talking about too low wages for workers, income inequality, and our threadbare social safety net.

In this guest post, Adam Chandler sorts fact from fiction:

‘Nile Nightshade’ Review: The Vine of the Valley The tomato was not used in Egyptian cooking until the 19th century—today it is a staple of the cuisine.

Thank you @wsj.com for the great review of NILE NIGHTSHADE: "Chronicl[es] how the tomato gradually came to be a constant presence in Egyptian life. . . . It would be hard to find another writer who brings Ms Gaul’s particular strengths." www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

❤️🍅❤️🍅❤️

A stack of copies of the book Nile Nightshade by Anny Gaul

For every preorder reported in the form linked here between now and the publication date (10/28), I’ll donate $2 each to the Sudan Solidarity Fund and the Gaza Soup Kitchen.

forms.gle/4RAyA4ez5dLC...

Turn up the tomato: a lentil soup for cooler days My book Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato is now available to preorder. For each book ordered and each library request reported here between now and the book’s publi…

It’s soup season and Nile Nightshade’s publication day is almost here! Read on for an Egyptian lentil soup recipe, a preview of the book’s content, and info about an incredible new art installation (featuring tomatoes, of course) by Yasmine El Meleegy.

cookingwithgaul.com/2025/09/21/t...

You made it halfway through the week *and* we still have free shipping? Sounds like the perfect time to treat yourself to a new book and support indie bookstores in the process. 📚

Photo of Nile Nightshade, by Anny Gaul.

Difficult to feel any joy in these times, but this beauty by @annygaul.bsky.social brought it. Coming October 28.

This week,The BS rec’d a letter from MARIO GUEVARA, the only known journalist detained on US soil by ICE.

For wks, we’ve worked w/ his family to obtain Mario’s handwritten letter + the 2 drawings of his cell.

The letter is also available in Spanish. bittersoutherner.com/journalist-m...

Ten car chases. Six crashes. Park Police have new rules in Trump’s D.C. U.S. Park Police have initiated at least 10 car chases in the past three weeks as part of President Donald Trump’s D.C. surge, court records show.

U.S. Park Police officers are pursuing vehicles when D.C. police would not.

They have initiated at least 10 car chases in the past three weeks as part of President Trump’s surge in federal law enforcement in D.C., court records show.

interview w/founder of the press coming soon.

Cover of the book Nile Nightshade with the title and author name (Anny Gaul) against a dark background with at least seven beautifully lusciously red drawn tomatoes with their vines and leaves

Introducing NILE NIGHTSHADE: AN EGYPTIAN CULINARY HISTORY OF THE TOMATO, coming this October from @ucpress.bsky.social. Read on for details about a preorder promotion I'm running to raise money for mutual aid, a zine giveaway, and a preview of the book. 🧵: (1/9)

Allah ybark fik!!!!

Nile Nightshade Preorder Campaign Thank you so much for preordering Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato by Anny Gaul. Note: submitting a patron request to your public or institutional library counts as a preo...

And one more time, find info about the Nile Nightshade preorder campaign here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Weeka: Nile Valley Okra Much of the history of the tomato in Egypt — the subject of Nile Nightshade, my forthcoming book — is oriented north and east. The tomato linked Turkey and Egypt through Ottoman cuisine’s embrace o…

Ch. 6: I've heard about Italian and Turkish influences on Egyptian cuisine; what is an example of how other African food cultures influenced Egypt?

Bamiya! Okra's history attests to longstanding culinary exchanges between present-day Egypt and Sudan: cookingwithgaul.com/2025/07/27/w... (9/9)

Image of a stack of grocery store shelves completely full of tomato products in bottles and jars, from an Egyptian grocery store

Ch. 5: How did the practice of cooking vegetables in tomato sauce become so widespread in Egypt?

Intergenerational culinary education, perennial irrigation, a local food processing industry, the tomato's unique flavor compounds, a versatile cooking technique, and more! (8/9)

Huda Shaʿrawi's sepia portrait on the dedication page of a cookbook written by Basima Zaki Ibrahim ca. 1940

Ch. 4: What did Huda Shaʿrawi have to do with Egyptian cookbooks?

So much that it won't fit in a single post; you'll have to read the chapter to find out! Don't worry there are tomatoes involved (Image: Shaʿrawi's portrait on the dedication page of a cookbook by Basima Zaki Ibrahim, ca. 1940) (7/9)

Magnuna ya quta is written in Arabic script against a backdrop of three cans of tomato sauce pouring sauce out of cans into bowls and a line chart depicting tomato prices soaring and plunging

Ch. 3: Why are Egyptian tomato prices so volatile?

Egyptian tomato production in the 20th century was a perfect storm: delicate fruits, hands-off production & pricing policies, and racketeering merchants. No wonder the street cry vendors use to sell them is MAGNUNA YA QUTA (crazy tomatoes)... (6/9)

A black and white image of a baladi tomato from Egypt seen from above with distinctive lobes and ridges

Ch. 2: Why do Egyptians call tomatoes “quta”?

It’s an older word that referred to another red nightshade, Solanum aethiopicum, first. Early print cookbooks, agricultural manuals, and everyday speech help explain how & why the word came to mean “tomatoes” instead. (5/9)

A dish of koshari seen from above, with pasta, rice, and lentils on the bottom topped with tomato sauce and fried onions. It is in a blue bowl against a red and orange backdrop.

Ch. 1: How did the tomato get to Egypt?

Fragmentary evidence suggests that the tomato might have traveled from Mexico to Egypt via the Mediterranean AND the Red Seas; the trajectories of shakshuka and koshari offer some clues. (4/9)

Nile Nightshade Preorder Campaign Thank you so much for preordering Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato by Anny Gaul. Note: submitting a patron request to your public or institutional library counts as a preo...

Report your preorder or library request here: forms.gle/nfEdvtfuUG2x...

The first 15 folks to fill out the form will also be eligible to receive a zine of tomato recipes & cooking tips 🍅 What exactly is the book about, you ask? Keep reading for a preview...(3/9)

Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato Volume 87 An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato Volume 87

For every book preorder or library patron request reported between now and pub date (form link in next post in this thread) I'll donate $2 each to @sdnsolidarity.bsky.social and @gazasoupkitchen.bsky.social. You can order here:

bookshop.org/p/books/nile... (2/9)

Cover of the book Nile Nightshade with the title and author name (Anny Gaul) against a dark background with at least seven beautifully lusciously red drawn tomatoes with their vines and leaves

Introducing NILE NIGHTSHADE: AN EGYPTIAN CULINARY HISTORY OF THE TOMATO, coming this October from @ucpress.bsky.social. Read on for details about a preorder promotion I'm running to raise money for mutual aid, a zine giveaway, and a preview of the book. 🧵: (1/9)

Israel wanted to punish a Palestinian village. So it destroyed 10,000 of its olive trees. Israel uprooted 10,000 olive trees in al-Mughayyir during a three-day siege of the West Bank Palestinian village. The Israeli army stated that uprooting the trees was intended to “deter” village…

Israel uprooted 10,000 olive trees in al-Mughayyir during a three-day siege of the West Bank Palestinian village. The Israeli army stated that uprooting the trees was intended to “deter” village residents and make them “pay a heavy price.” mondoweiss.net/2025/08/isra...

Screenshot of a news article that says “In an update August 21 the joint information center at the dc armory gave a fully list of the metro stations members are patrolling: eastern market, foggy bottom, gallery place-Chinatown, l’enfant plaza, McPherson square, metro center, NoMA-Gallaudet university, Smithsonian, stadium armory, and waterfront

Reminder of the ten metro stations the National Guard is patrolling. They have also been spotted on foot patrol on streets around these stops, not just inside the station.

Gaza Strip: 98.5 percent of cropland unavailable for cultivation as famine looms Food production cannot be reactivated without a significant shift in accessibility, safety, investments and support for local communities and livelihoods

Gaza Strip: 98.5% of cropland unavailable for cultivation as famine looms

Food production cannot be reactivated without a significant shift in accessibility, safety, investments and support for local communities and livelihoods

www.fao.org/newsroom/det...