Kahk is a traditional Egyptian cookie made especially for Eid celebrations

By Dina Rashed, IOL Chicago correspondent

CHIGAGO, December 4 (IslamOnline) - Nahed Shatat is an Egyptian immigrant living in Chicago, and during the festivities of Ramadan and Eid her name is probably one of the most mentioned names within Egyptian and Arab social gatherings.

She is not a Muslim activist nor a political figure, but what she does brings sweet and warm memories of the Eid to many Egyptian immigrant families in Chicago, Illinois.

They call her the “Kahk Lady”.

Kahk is an Arabic name for the famous traditional Egyptian cookies which are part of the first day of Eid celebration. Kahk is a cookie filled with either a date paste, nuts, a honey and sesame seed mix, or other fillings.

Some historians date the origin of such cookies back to the Fatimids Dynasty almost a thousand years ago, when the Shiite Fatimids ruled Egypt.

“People of different backgrounds order my homemade Kahk, but the majority of my customers are Egyptians, about 90%.” says Nahed.

Of the Arab communities, the Syrians and Palestinians enjoy her cookies the most, and some order the Kahk to give as gifts even to their American neighbors and friends.

Egyptian families, which are scattered all over the “windy city” and its suburbs, place their orders for the kahk, ghorayiba, and other traditional biscuits of the season as early as the beginning of Ramadan to guarantee that their orders are delivered and available by the first day of Eid.

Um Rehab is the name dearest to Nahed’s heart. Following another traditional Arab custom, she loves to be called “mother of Rehab”, her eldest child.

She and her husband got U.S. permanent residence in September 1991 and came leaving their three kids with close family relatives in Egypt. The parents hoped that they would bring the kids as soon as they could arrange for their new life in the US.

But immigration rules and the children’s ages prevented the family’s reunion, and the rules mandated that they reapply for their kids again.

For almost five years Um Rehab went back and forth between Chicago and the Al-Haram suburb of Cairo, spending the sunny winter of Cairo next to her daughter and two sons during the school year, and joining her husband in Chicago only in the summer.

It was only in 1998, a few months after the kids came to the U.S., when she discovered that there could be a market for her cooking skills.

She became very famous for the traditional Egyptian dishes that she make, which are labor and time-consuming, a luxury many families in the American society can not afford.

In addition to the kahk, she also sells the traditional Egyptian “feteer meshaltet”, a delicious heavy-dough, high-fat pie, and a specialty of rural Egyptian villages. Unlike the kahk, the feteer is a year-round dish sought by Egyptians and other Arab immigrants. Because of its intensive manufacturing process, it is rarely made by the average Egyptian family.   

During the Ramadan season, orders of the kahk cookies are no less than 300 lbs. But the nostalgic community enjoys the cookies during other occasions too.

“My Kahk is always their in Egyptian wedding and engagement parties here in Chicago,” says Um Rehab, “and especially in the gatherings of the wedding showers.”

In the past two years, her talents are crossing the boundaries of the state of Illinois; with a reputation for good quality, word of mouth is serving her right.

She is now getting more customers from Georgia, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

Two to three days after the order is made, her kahk, feteer and other traditional dishes well sealed in plastic containers and sent via UPS arrive to their destination.

Her products are also available through some grocery stories. Cleopatra Store on Kidzie Avenue in the south side of Chicago is a permanent outlet to her homemade traditional products.

If you go to the Eid prayers in an Islamic center where there is a sizeable Egyptian majority, chances are very high that the after-prayer coffee and tea will be served next to Um Rehab’s kahk.  

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