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The nargile (NAHR-gee-leh),
or Turkish water pipe,
is an old way of smoking Turkish
tobacco.
Sometimes called a hookah or hubble-bubble by
English speakers, and sheesha in
the Arab world, the nargile was very
popular during the Ottoman
Empire from the 17th to the 19th
centuries, but saw a fall-off in demand
in the Turkish
Republic as tobacco-lovers switched
to cigarettes. After
World War II, it was mostly old men
who smoked nargiles.
In the late 1990s a revived
interest in all things Ottoman revived
the nargile as well, and now it seems
that younger men—and
even some women—are
enjoying its calming vapors.
You can buy them easily in Turkey,
but if you don't want to bother to
transport it home (risking breakage),
you can order one from Tulumba:
Tulumba ships stuff anywhere in the world.
Use Promotional Code HNE6408 when you
order for a chance at special discounts.
The nargile consists of a glass
bottle (sise, SHEE-sheh)
into which a metal pipe device is
placed. The bottle is half filled
with water, and
a long flexible hose (marpuç) is
attached to the pipe. Atop the pipe
are a small metal tray to catch cinders
and above it a small cup-shaped bowl (lüle, LUR-leh)
to hold the tobacco.
Cool-dude modern smokers sometimes
drop a glow-stick into
the bowl when smoking at night, to
give a soft mellow light to the bubbling
water.
A specially-formed plug of
tobacco (tumbak or tömbeki) is
placed in the lüle, and
a glowing coal mangir) is
placed atop the tobacco, igniting
it. (The coal is of a special type
chosen for its long-smouldering life.)
The smoker attaches a mouthpiece (sipsi,
SEEP-see, or agizlik, ah-UHZZ-luhk)
to the flexible hose, sucks on it,
and draws tobacco smoke down through
the pipe device, through the
cooling water, along the flexible
hose and into the mouth.
The tumbak or tömbeki is
a special dark, strong,very
high-nicotine tobacco grown
near Antakya and Konya.
Don't puff strongly as on a cigarette.
Rather, suck the smoke gently and
don't inhale deeply. The sucking should
generate pleasant bubbling
sounds in the water, which
is part of the fun.
Okay, those are the basics. But "nargile
culture" goes well
beyond them. Like most smoking implements,
nargiles became art objects:
— the bottle might
be made of colored glass blown
into graceful shapes,
then etched or painted or
otherwise decorated
— the flexible hose might
be embellished with embroidery or beadwork or
other woven handicraft art
— the mouthpiece might
be of fine porcelain or—most
popularly—precious amber,
and might even be inset with
gems
Antique nargiles are
much sought after and priced accordingly.
(Read the story of one in an excerpt
from Bright Sun, Strong Tea.)
The down-at-heels old-men nargile
cafe is being joined by the chic set
as trendy Istanbul cafes add
nargile service to go with their espressos
and lattes.
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