CAIRO - Millions of Muslim Egyptians will next month celebrate the three-day feast of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Egyptians have met their obligations to the fourth pillar of the Muslim faith by fasting the whole month. But the Eid festivity may be dented for wheat shortage. Ordinary local families usually celebrate the feast with elaborate banquets of food as well as eating huge amounts of seasonal cookies known as kahk el-Eid, which dates back to the times of the Ekhshidis, who ruled Egypt from 935 to 969AD. But this year's Eid, which is expected to begin on September 10 depending on sighting the new moon, these mouth-watering delicacies may disappear from many Egyptian households for the first time due to high prices of flour and the high cost of ingredients that are used to make kahk, including butter, sugar, turkish delight, chocolate powder, dry fruits, food colours, nuts and date paste. The high prices of these materials have deterred many bakery owners to make kahk this Eid as one tonne of flour has soared to LE5,000 against LE2,100 in recent months. “Last year, one kilo of plain kahk sold for LE34 ($6), whereas a kilo of cookies filled with date paste, or turkish delight cost between LE45 and LE50, Mohammed Ali,” owner of a Cairo-based bakery, said. "This year's kahk prices are expected to double as a result. And I do not think the families will be able to afford these new prices. Therefore, I have decided not to make kahk cookies and biscuits all together this feast," Ali added. He said that many sweets shops and bakeries had agreed not to make the festive delights for the first time in many years. "The traditional smell of hot kahk will not waft out from the ovens. There is an acute shortage of flour, whose prices are already high," Ali said, adding that his customers already complained of their pitifully small incomes. However, Mohamed Abdul Fadeel, a member of the Cairo-based Chambers of Commerce, refutes Ali's claims, saying that the flour shortage was artificial. "Bakers collude with corrupt inspectors to sell their subsidised sacks of flour on the black market for handsome profits," he said. Eid al-Fitr is a three-day festival. On the first day, Egyptians gather early in the morning in outdoor locations or mosques to perform the Eid prayer. This consists of a sermon followed by a short congregational prayer. Afterwards, people usually visit various family and friends, give money gifts, especially to children, and celebrate the feast by eating the kahk, whose presence this Eid on Egyptian tables is doubtful.
