Almass

Should be a familiar word to anyone who's spent time in Israel: sabr (aka sabra ) ← The paddles are not edible in Lebanon or Egypt. The correct name for cactus fruits in Lebanon is: Teen el Sebai'r The correct name for cactus fruits in Egypt is: Teen Shawki The fruit is devoid of any thorns as they are strictly on the skin. The way to cut the fruit after washing (hand gloves). You cut out both ends and then make a deep incision the lenght of the fruit and prize open each side of the incision revealing the fruit. You eat the fruit by gently chewing on the pulp and you do not cruch the seeds or bite on them but simply swallow a la Huitres. Very nice and refreshing.

This is all very interesting and I am sure Foodman joins me in welcoming Charles Perry participation in eGullet and on this thread particularly all be it via proxy but I hope he will find the time to post himself to the delight of everybody. As for the "Tari" issue, my concern is, as I have stated previously" that the Arabic author must have been talking about "Fresh Water Fish" and not "Sea Water Fish" and the reason being three folds: 1- The author's book was generated in Baghdad which is landlocked. 2- Only fresh/soft water fish is available. 3- Another recipe Maqluba al Tirrikh by Al Baghdadi speaks specifically of fresh/soft water fish. Maybe Charles Perry would like to: - Confirm that Tirrikh is a soft water fish. - Give us his insight as to whether Al Baghdadi was addressing fresh water or sea water fish or both? - post a picture image of the original recipe?

OK the medieval recipe is called "Samak Tari Mahshi" (Stuffed fresh fish). The stuffing is (approximately). 50 gms of sumac* 20 gms of dry thyme 12.5 gms peeled, finely chopped garlic 25 gms of walnuts mix these Adjust flavour with cassia (USA cinnamon), caraway, mastic, tahini, lemon juice, parsley and mint. Stuff the fish, smear with saffron and bake. * This refers to whole sumac berries, so I think that the amount of ground sumac would have to be adjusted down. It also seems like a lot of garlic compared to walnut meat. ← "Samak Tari Mahshi" (Stuffed fresh fish) Samak is fish Mahshi is stuffed but Tari is not fresh. As matter of fact, Tari means soft and to my knowledge, here the recipe is drawing your attention to soft water fish v sea water fish. My 2ct. ← Let's not debate language again but Tari does mean fresh or tender, depending on where you are from, the context and so on. So if you go to the fishmonger and ask for "samak tari" it means fresh fish, same as "samak taza". In this case it seems that this specific recipe is talking about fresh not tender fish, since tender fish makes no sense. Elie ← We cannot dissociate language from Arabic dish names and for all that matter from any other language. Taking your logical thinking, you are deriving that "Tari" which is soft or tender relates to the freshness of the fish. Big question mark as this recipe dates from 1373 and at this particular time you had only three kinds of fish available: Either fresh fish or salted fish or cooked fish. Now bearing in mind that no refrigeration existed at that time, although ice was available only as a very rare commodity and not available as a refrigeration method. Fish could not be sold in any other way than fresh! And as the writer is drawing attention to the word "Tari" he can only be drawing a comparison between Soft water and Sea water/Salt water. Had the writer wished to underline the freshness of the fish, he would have used many other adjectives. But he chose to draw the reader attention by specifying the type of fish and hence used "Tari". I also would like to add that such recipe is either from al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi, a 13th century cookbook and Medieval Arab Cookery or al-Kitab Wasf al-At'ima al-Mu'tada (The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods. Also I have to draw your attention that the above books are partly based on Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779-839 CE), half-brother of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. And as you should know that when we say Caliph Harun al-Rashid we mean Baghdad. And hence we mean the land between the two rivers and hence we are talking about fish from rivers and not sea water or salt water fish. To drive the point further. I would refer you to this dish: Maqluba al Tirrikh from the same Al Baghdadi book where Tirrikh is a FreshWater fish and not SeaWater. As per my previous post, Hector mentioned the word "samak" as sauce or part of the sauce name. He must have meant "Sumac" as it so happens in the 1373 recipe. We are still to await Hector answer. I also have a question mark on "Tahina" used in the recipe as to whether the writer is speaking of "Tahin" or whether this is proof that "Tahina" existed in that time. I think the proper understanding of a recipe written in it's original language is fascinating and I would be very grateful if the recipe in the original language can be posted for ascertainment, as with all due respect, I have my doubts on any translation performed by a non native speaker and/or a non culinary aware person. Such experts are talking about recipes and translations while we are talking about protecting our gastronomic heritage I assume you agree with me that here at eGullet we are not only looking at having fun but for correct culinary knowledge as well.

OK the medieval recipe is called "Samak Tari Mahshi" (Stuffed fresh fish). The stuffing is (approximately). 50 gms of sumac* 20 gms of dry thyme 12.5 gms peeled, finely chopped garlic 25 gms of walnuts mix these Adjust flavour with cassia (USA cinnamon), caraway, mastic, tahini, lemon juice, parsley and mint. Stuff the fish, smear with saffron and bake. * This refers to whole sumac berries, so I think that the amount of ground sumac would have to be adjusted down. It also seems like a lot of garlic compared to walnut meat. ← "Samak Tari Mahshi" (Stuffed fresh fish) Samak is fish Mahshi is stuffed but Tari is not fresh. As matter of fact, Tari means soft and to my knowledge, here the recipe is drawing your attention to soft water fish v sea water fish. My 2ct.

There is no spice sauce called "samak," as that word simply means "fish" in Arabic. But who knows what's happening to the dish in Trinidad. Take a look at this recipe http://www.cliffordawright.com/recipes/sam_harra.html. ← Yo archestratus. The man is right, in a way. Although "Samak" is the arabic transliteration and means "Fish". But Hector is talking about spice in a sauce in which case he is talking about Sumac!!! the spice widely used in the Levant and particularly in Lebanon for the Fatoush salad and other. And I suppose his friends made Sumac based sauce which would go well with fish. So it is a Sumac Samak. LoL,

Big Sigh... So we had more of the Heston black jacket and Tshirt and the Bruce Willis cut. There must be something about Chefs wanting to be on TV! Now we have little Jamie Oliver in the Tussauds Museum and probably very soon will have Gordon Ramsay and the guy with hair Georgio Locatelli and of course Heston.B will be there but in the royalty section. And the Chocolat Chantilly derived I presume from the Creme Chantilly which is based on beating cream (refrigerated) to introduce air bubbles thus increase the volume and make it lighter. So Heston B beats the chocolate and calls it Chantilly. WoW, dat is some new culinary delving in the mysteries of the Gods. Nevermind that diluted chocolate with water then re-cooled and chantillyed is completely useless as it is a temporary semi fluid state and cannot be kept in such state for more that few minutes. The taste differential is debatable. But hey, meet Heston.B where Alchemy meets kids at play.

Must be cooking on candle light. and I would'nt trust what Ziyad told your ex anyway. ← I don't have an ex (not exwife anyway) and my wife didn't date Ziyad. ← You never know when luck strikes

Must be cooking on candle light. and I would'nt trust what Ziyad told your ex anyway.

Almass can you elaborate a little please? IS the fish actually stuffed then fried? that does not sound feasible. Also, all the ones I have had are made with walnuts in the stuffing including the ones I've seen in cookbooks and the ones my family makes, not pinenuts. Was your experience different? On another note, Bahamoth's recipe sounds pretty close to what I do and I would think it is a good starting point. Elie ← There is no stuffing involved. Samka Harra Traboulsieh The fish can either be fried dry in oil if size allows or baked dry if large size. Lightly fry the onions till soft and add garlic+fresh coriander+cumin+chilli+Tahina diluted with lemon juice and bring to slow boil and lift and add separately fried pine kernels and fresh coriander. Dress the fish and back for 10mn in the oven but you cannot do the same if the fish is fried.. In Lebanese terminology this can be summarized as: make a "Ta'alieh" and stir in some Taratour. Other recipe is to omit the onions and other recipe is to stir in the diluted Tahina off the pan as lighter or to add parsley as well. I did not come across walnuts or green/red peppers. However the non Tahina version contains tomato concasser. As far as my personal taste is concerned, I would like to have the tahina taste predominant and less of the Ta'alieh.

There are two versions of Samkeh Harra which are equally nice. One version called Samkeh Harra is simply with coriander, garlic, onions, pine kernels and cumin/paprika S/P in fried in oil. The second more important version is called Samkeh Harra Traboulsieh and has Tehina as the differential ingredient. The Tehina is either mixed in with the remaining ingredients or cooked in with the remaining ingredients. So two recipes and should you go to a Lebanese restaurant, you better be specific as to which you want. I go for the Samkeh Harra Traboulsieh any time.

I'm sure that Stash responded to much of this, but I'm confused: what is an "empirical appelation"? There are many systems of naming in various cultures, and only some of them are descriptive of ingredients or methods (if that's what your suggesting, Almass). Others can be metaphorical (ants climb the tree), quasi-descriptive (scrapple), probably even onomatopoeic. But "empirical"? What would that even mean? How is "quiche Lorraine" empirical? ← La cause de la cause de la cause=La recette de la recette de la recette. - Empirical=being based on experience with disregard to science and theory. In this case, based on the evolvement of the dish with disregard to the original recipe. - Appellation=being the designation of a dish in terms of it's ingredients/cooking/presentation and origin. In other word "empirical appelation" is the naming of the dish irrelevant of it's origin and ingrtedients...etc and based on where you experienced the dish or became aware of a recipe related to this dish. Therefore, if you order a Quiche Lorraine and you are not a culinary aware person, then it does not make any difference as to what you will be served as Quiche Lorraine with fish or chicken or Maltesers. If you order Hummus and do not know the dish, you would accept what will be on offer. However, for such well known dishes being it Quiche Lorraine or Hummus, the culinary aware person would expect to be served a dish as close as possible to the original recipe. So he would not expect to have fish in the Quiche Lorraine and he would not expect to have avocado in the Hummus! If I were to offer a Chicken Putanesca which may or may not exist as a dish. However your culinary knowledge will tell you that it is a chicken prepared with a Putanesca inspired sauce which will probably contains anchovies - chillies - capers - tomatoes and olives or at least few of these ingredients if not all. Should the dish come to you with chicken and a cream based sauce with chillis and crab meat will be flying in your face and the "appellation" is utter rubish. So. it is very important to be as true as possible to the name of the dish and serve the dish as the name is. You can vary the dish and have the dish evolve as much as you want but having fish in a Quiche Lorraine and even calling it Quiche Lorraine Mariniere would be simply wrong. Call it Quiche Mariniere would be a better solution. Hummus when printed on the menu without any descriptive will be understood as the world famous Humus Bel Tehina. You want Hummus with meat or with avocado then you have to call it another name whether this include the name Hummus or not depends on the restaurant or on the local or international acceptance of the name. And indeed other names exists for a variety of Hummus based dishes but saying that Hummus evolve as a dish and as a recipe and yet using the same dish name is simply wrong like having fish in a Quiche Lorraine and sticking with the dish name is wrong and a slap in the face of culinary traditions, culinary knowledge and culture. If you ask for Alouettes sans tête, I don't suppose that you would expect to be served headless larks or even sparrows and surely you are not going to get chicken or even a fish based dish on the pre assumption that the dish has "evolved" To conclude, we are addressing two issues: 1- The evolvement of a dish. And here it is generally accepted to have as many variation as you wish. 2- The naming of the dish. Here the proviso is when a dish name is well known and entranched, only a minor departure from the recipe is acceptable and a major departure should be reflected either by a new name for the dish or an amendment to the name in terms of addition or descriptive.

I suppose that this might very well be the case and they are importing unsalted Pistachios for maybe two reasons: 1- Catering trade. 2- Save on freight weight of salt????does it make any commercial sense? Only comment about roasting in the oven without salt is, depending on your oven, would be the introduction of humidity in the Pistachio which is detrimental to the taste and crunshiness. Try roasting on open fire with the addition of some salt , maybe you will see a difference that you will like. Don't forget that the addition of salt in the pan is more to absorb humidity that to coat and salt the Pistachios.

As usual, people publish recipes on their website or in print without having the faintest idea of how the dish should taste like or its ingredients. In this case the recipe that is provided on the Lebanese website is simply laughable. It is not even a variant. Clearly from the name of the dish Masbahet which is Rosary, there is a reason to call it thus and the reason is the "rangement" lining of the dish which led kids to call it cops and robbers. Also note that this dish is not Lebanese but Syrian in origin and I do not even accept that the recipe on the Lebanese site is a variant because they stray too far from the original recipe which uses lamb and not beef to start with. To further discredit this web site, I had a look at typical Lebanese dishes: - Batata Har-rah (Spicy Potatoes) They have Ketchup as one of the ingredient?!??!?! for crying out loud....Ketchup in this famous dish? - Dawoud Basha. Oooops they forgot to add the Pine Kernels - Baked Kibbeh. With Parsley and Mint. Oh sacrilege - Halewit El Jibin. With Mozarella....terrible I think you understand what I am driving at. I don't mind people posting or publishing variations of a dish as long as they indicate that it is a variation of the dish. Someone might ask what constitute and establishes that a particular recipe is the original and authentic recipe? Very simply it is a recipe where a selection of at least three "culinary aware" people who could be Chefs, cooks, housewives or bon viveur originating from the area where the dish was born, to concur on the same recipe. ANd not a mishmash of Lebanese students who do not even live in the country and try to post erroneous recipes with total disregard to the consequences and to the protection of the culinary heritage of the nation. You know, what I would like to have would be a Repository of recipes where the authentic and variants are posted and corrected and updated continuously. This can be broken down by country or area and even the variants can be across countries like you have mentioned that you know of a similar Maghrebi dish. Oh well, God save us from the self appointed food experts and we will save ourselves from the would be Chefs. ← From what I've seen, nowhere on the site do they specifically make the proclamation that the dishes that appear on the site are "authentic". Hummus is still hummus regardless of whether it's roasted red pepper hummus, hummus with avocado and roasted garlic, or low-fat hummus. Just because a dish contains ketchup doesn't make it any less genuine fwiw to some people. Food, like language, evolves over time and across vast stretches of humanity. Far better to go along with the tide adapting as you will than to act as an immovable object against an irresistible force. ← Of course Hummus is still Hummus and is indeed available in many recipes but should you refer to the dish as simply Hummus then it is implicitly implied that it is Hummus bil Tahinah which is a very specific recipe. You have Hummus bil Awarma (meat), Hummus Hab(kernels), Hummus Traboulsi(extra garlic), Hummus bil Sanawbar(pine kernels), Hummus Balila(kernels and spices) and so on and they are well known recipes. Should you wish to have Hummus with Avocado then the dish name should be related and called something like Hummus Avocado!!!!. However according to what you are saying, you can simply put corned beef with Hummus and hey presto it's an "evolved" Hummus. Wait a minute, I wish to put Baklawa with Hummus then it is still a variant according to you and it is still an evolved Hummus! You also mention that they are not indicating that the dishes are authentic. But hey, is it not that this is what you should indicate when the dishes are NOT authentic as people normal assumption in front of a recipe is that this is the authentic recipe or at least as close to authenticity as possible. The web site in question is naming the dish Batata Har-rah (Spicy Potatoes) with the generic name and the recipe should normally reflect that. Now maybe you know or maybe you don't but Batata Har-rah (Spicy Potatoes) is a very well known dish on the Lebanese Mezza table and if you order Batata Har-rah (Spicy Potatoes) then you expect to be served the original dish. Dishes evolve and adapt ad eternum but the dish name must reflect a departure from what the original dish is. Also there is a big difference as to the extent of evolvement of the dish as if you stray too far then the dish is a completely new dish sharing maybe only one or two ingredients with the original one. A Quiche Lorraine can either be with cheese in which case it is a Quiche Alsaciene or without cheese and correctly called Quiche Lorraine. Now some people, and it seems that you are of the same advocate, would think that it is empirical appelations and some other culinary aware people would like precision in dish naming and preparing. So to conclude, are you telling us that as a dish evolves and departs from the original recipe, it should still keep the original dish name? I don't think many people will agree to that!

Are these entrepreneurs calling North African food 'maghrebi'? If so, they most likely come from the Middle East, perhaps even Lebanon. Doesn't Maghrebi mean the land to the west? ← One has to look slightly deeper in the meaning of Maghreb which you might find of interest. We have to take into account two words: Maghreb and Mashreq Both in fact have been given to an area which spans the Islamic world at the time of the Fatimid with Egypt being the centre and the Nile being the demarcation line. Therefore we are not talking about Norh/East/West...etc but we are talking about the sun rising and setting over the Islamic map which is the Maghreb west of the Nile and Mashreq east of the Nile. In the strict etymological Arabic translation of West would be Gharb or The West would be Al Gharb. However Maghreb or Al Maghreb is both the time of day for sunset and Salat el Maghreb would be the prayers at sunset and same apply for Sharq - Al Sharq and Mashreq which is sunrise. So Maghreb is the west of the Nile where the sun sets on the Umma.

Unfortunately. I cannot help you as to where you can get Aleppo Pistachio in New York or anywhere else in the US. As for the difference between Iranian Pistachios and Aleppo Pistachio. This is a taste, texture, shape and color difference. As an analogy, we are talking about Foie Gras d'Oie and Foie Gras de Canard. It is generally accepted that the Aleppo Pistachio are indeed better. How would you recognize Aleppo Pistachio v Iranian Pistachio? The Aleppo Pistachio are more elongated and not as open as the others, they are more green on the inside and are very crisp and crunchy, but it is really the taste that differentiate them. To be able to appreciate and recognize the real taste of pistachios, you have to eat Green Pistachio. Direct from the tree, you peel out the soft red skin and prize open the shell to get to the nut. It is a rare delicacy and will allow you to appreciate the fresh unaldurated taste of Pistachio. These Pistachios are available around August and the way to prepare is to put them in jute canvas bags and get the kids walk over the bags to dissociate the red skin from the hulk. The bag are open and the skins discarded and the Pistachios are washed in water and then transferred to a salt bath to soak. The saltiness of the water is dependant on the taste of whomever is preparing but a 50/50 is generally acceptable. Coarse salt should be used as Aleppian Pistachio when salted have these salt cristals attached to the nut and reflect nicely under the light and provide the sharp taste of salt and the sweetness of the fruit. The Pistachio are lifted from the salted water and spread under the August sun on clean bed sheets out in the open whether on houses roofs or patio gardens. Eating the wet Pistachio in salted water is another intermediate step for this delicacy which can only be tried at preparation stage and can never be sold commercially. When the hot dry sun would have dried the Pistachios, they are collected and placed in glass bottles to limit exposure to air and they are corked. And this is the way to prepare and enjoy Aleppo Pistachios. The Iranian/Turkish/US Pistachios are way too over salted to guarantee a longer shelf life and of course result in affecting and hiding the taste of Pistachios. You want to enjoy Pistachios bought from your friendly shop, this is what you do if you cannot find the taste or if they are too salty. Wash your Pistachios under cold water, put in a canvas/cotton/laundry bag and make sure the bag is very tight around the Pistachio. Now don't laugh but go to the garden and hold the bag from one end and use your arm as a propeller to shake excess water, alternatively, you can place in your washing machine on short spin cycle. Take the Pistachios out of the bag and place in a big hot pan, sprinkle salt very lightly again and toast the Pistachios untill the smell and aroma fills the kitchen. The hard shell will be charred and black in certain areas. Lift and let the Pistachios cool. Open, eat and enjoy Next post we talk about green wet walnuts.

Hummm, You have "Fistook Halabi" which is refered to in agriculture as Red Aleppo. "Fistook Irani" or "Fistook Ajami" is the name for Iranian Pistachios. According to FAO statistics Syria is classified as the fourth Pistachio nut producing country in the world after Iran, U.S.A. and Turkey. Pistachio nut has been grown in Syria for centuries. There are some trees aging more than 500 years in Ain-El-Thainah. Traditionally, Aleppo which is in the northern part of Syria, is the main pistachio growing area. They are different from the Iranian variety and they are thought to be much better in texture and taste. Incidentally, in few weeks it will be time to eat the Green Aleppian Pistachios which in fact are red on the outer skin. A rare delicacy.

For the record, "Fistook Halabi" are definitely not from Iran but simply from Aleppo in Syria and of course they are the best.

Milagai I've posted about this before. Traditionally Magrhebis eat with our hands, sometimes from communal platters. Of course there is nothing wrong with it. But people who aren't used to don't get nor do they always understand it. And eating with one's hands as you know has it's own etiquette, which someone who is dining at a restaurant probably doesn't want to be taught on the spot. My point is the utensils are available in North African restaurants. ← Funny this hand eating statement. Do you know that the largest percentage of people on this planet eat in fact with their hands! And wait a minute, are you not supposed to eat a Hamburger with the hands and what about a Pizza, did I mention Hot Dogs or Spare Ribs, BBQ anybody? Anyone heard of a Sandwich?

Fantastic idea Almass, you should do something like that. ← Yes, I assume it would be a good idea. Would you be interested?

Where did you come across the name? Which location? ← I am scratching my brains to try to remember where I came across the "cops/robbers" name and I think it was in the blurb about the dish before they went on to give the recipe. Now whether this was a cooking book or on the web, I am not able to remember except that I made a mental note about the fact that the name was changed to either be more attractive to someone kids or because the name sounded so cheesy and unconvincing? It is a fact that new names are cropping up and sometimes these names are a substitute for ignorance of the original name of the dish or the name of a new created dish on a very local level and which makes it diffcult to acknowledge unless you know who came out with it. Why do you need to know as to where I came across the name of the dish?

As usual, people publish recipes on their website or in print without having the faintest idea of how the dish should taste like or its ingredients. In this case the recipe that is provided on the Lebanese website is simply laughable. It is not even a variant. Clearly from the name of the dish Masbahet which is Rosary, there is a reason to call it thus and the reason is the "rangement" lining of the dish which led kids to call it cops and robbers. Also note that this dish is not Lebanese but Syrian in origin and I do not even accept that the recipe on the Lebanese site is a variant because they stray too far from the original recipe which uses lamb and not beef to start with. To further discredit this web site, I had a look at typical Lebanese dishes: - Batata Har-rah (Spicy Potatoes) They have Ketchup as one of the ingredient?!??!?! for crying out loud....Ketchup in this famous dish? - Dawoud Basha. Oooops they forgot to add the Pine Kernels - Baked Kibbeh. With Parsley and Mint. Oh sacrilege - Halewit El Jibin. With Mozarella....terrible I think you understand what I am driving at. I don't mind people posting or publishing variations of a dish as long as they indicate that it is a variation of the dish. Someone might ask what constitute and establishes that a particular recipe is the original and authentic recipe? Very simply it is a recipe where a selection of at least three "culinary aware" people who could be Chefs, cooks, housewives or bon viveur originating from the area where the dish was born, to concur on the same recipe. ANd not a mishmash of Lebanese students who do not even live in the country and try to post erroneous recipes with total disregard to the consequences and to the protection of the culinary heritage of the nation. You know, what I would like to have would be a Repository of recipes where the authentic and variants are posted and corrected and updated continuously. This can be broken down by country or area and even the variants can be across countries like you have mentioned that you know of a similar Maghrebi dish. Oh well, God save us from the self appointed food experts and we will save ourselves from the would be Chefs.

I doubt whether many people know this dish as it is very localised. The original dish with meat is composed of slices of the slim variety of aubergines cut in rondelles where the black skin is shaved out approx under 1 inch leaving the round cut piece with alternate black and white stripes. The courgette get the same treatment and they are green and white. The dish is assembled with one slice of aubergine standing on it's side next to one slice of courgette and one slice of kofta and placed in a round metal pan (saniyah) and then you move to the next inner circle and so on. You add tomatoe sauce and it goes in the oven. Some lightly fry the aubergines, corgettes and sauteed the kofta. The black aubergines have conotations of cops with the black and white stripes and the courgettes of robbers (for no reason but the convinience of the author) and therefore they are following each other like Assaker wa Haramiyah or in other words cops and robbers going after the meat. But again, I must insist that the real name is Masbahet el Darwish and someone came up with the new name which is not well known maybe to adopt it as a new dish and introduce it as their own??!?!?! or for some other unknown reason.

I came across the name and it seems to be some new localised naming of an existing dish and it is not a well known dish name save for the one who came out with it. This dish is simply a new name for a variant of Masbahet al Darwish but without the meat.

It is Ibrik and not Ibirk and it is simply a water carafe or pitcher. The word Ibrik is Turkish and is used also to mean the coffee pot. The one refered to in Lebanon is originally from clay to keep the water cool. The pitcher comes with a longish neck and a small sprout opening and you are supposed to lift anf tilt in the air and drink the water flowing from the spout. Glass ones are also available but such Ibriks are now turning into tourist curios in view of the health awareness not so much in terms of drinking from the same pitcher but the pitcher open to the outdoor elements.

No problem. Are you a Berber yourself as you are using the "touaregsand" nickname?