13-12-2015
Writes Hosam Eldin, egipyan, Ais Milano delegate: "Demonising food, demonising wine is silly. When I visit a producer, he hugs me, takes me to his vines, lets me smell the scent of the earth, then perhaps tells me about a little church a stone’s throw away, or a local legend... He tells me about century-old popular beliefs. Then we sit and we enrich each other with further knowledge. Through wine. It’s a constant discovery"
At two, I ate little and my mother Nazek was worried. She took me to the doctor who told her: “When Hosam doesn’t want to eat, take a teaspoon and pour a drop, just a drop of wine. Give it to him. You’ll see he’ll eat”. My mother followed his advice and from that moment on she had no more problems feeding me, and I never stopped asking for a drop of wine during my meals. After all, I’ve become a sommelier, in 2003, for this reason.
I tell this episode because I believe it was the foundation of my passion, which is now my job. But it also exemplifies how Egypt has changed today. It is now unimaginable that a doctor would prescribe some wine (still, it was really just a drop) to an Egyptian child. At the time, it happened normally. I’m 49, I was born in Aswan in 1966, my family was originally from there, but since I was a child I lived in Alexandria, where I graduated in Chemistry before moving to Italy in 1993.
Hosam Eldin with Fiorenzo Detti, Ais Lombardia president
I’m not a religious person, but I come from a Muslim family. Still, in my family there’s always been a bottle of spirit, perhaps to be offered to guests. When I chose not to embrace faith, to drink wine, eat pork, no one turned up their noses, in fact they supported me. I’m not surprised, it was the spirit of Alexandria that I know and love. A place where hurting a foreigner was unthinkable: where doors were always open for guests, and if you had nothing else you were happy to offer at least a smile.
I don’t know how much my town has changed, in these years. Not too much I’d think. Of course Egypt has changed. I don’t want to speak about politics, I work with wine, I want to speak about food and about tables set with food. I have travelled around the Mediterranean area at length: whether you’re in Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Greece or Turkey, food is a way of sharing. During a meal you can recover common cultural origins, or become acquainted with the differences developed over the centuries.
On the 15th November, the Ais congress had just ended and the Diamond Tower in Milan where it took place turned into the colours of the French flag as Paris had just suffered a terrorist attack
A few days later, my guide wanted me to taste a local beer from Mali, homemade by a woman considered as a bit of a witch, though friendly so. The beer wasn’t that good: it was very light, made with millet, even too sweet... During the night they took me to this lady, while she was preparing her beer: it was a magic moment. The following day I saw her at the local market: people would walk past her with condescension, to show others they didn’t give in to the temptation of that alcoholic beverage, though bland. They then turned round the corner and returned, buying bottles secretly, from the back door.
Hosam Eldin with Alfredo Zini and Gian Arturo Rota at the opening of the walk recently dedicated in Milan to Luigi Veronelli
The wine was served in abundance in the courts of the caliphate, or of the Ottoman sultan. That was Islam too: why is it no longer the case today? The nice thing about wine is it makes people stay together in good company, it builds bridges, helps to socialise. In our days, it is ignorance that creates taboos. Let’s overcome these, with food perhaps. Wouldn’t it be extraordinary?
Stories of men, women and bottles that enrich the galaxy of wine, in Italy and in the world
by
Born in 1966 in Assuan, he graduated in Chemistry from Alexandria University in Egypt. He arrived in Italy in 1993, became a sommelier in 2003 and has been the Ais Milano delegate since 2010. He shares his passion for wine with his wife Marinella