- Title: Bombed-out Aleppo soapmaker revives age-old tradition in Paris
- Date: 30th December 2016
- Summary: SANTENY, FRANCE (DECEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SCIENTIST, SOAP MAKER HASSAN HARASTANI, MIXING SOAP INGREDIENTS IN VAT IN HIGH TEMPERATURE SOAP MIXTURE IN VAT HARASTANI TAKING MIXTURE VARIOUS OF MELTED SOAP BEING POURED IN VAT HARASTANI GOING DOWN STEPS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SCIENTIST AND SOAP MAKER HASSAN HARASTANI, SAYING: "Aleppo soap or we call it laurel soap - it's part of the heritage of Aleppo. In Aleppo, this type of soap was manufactured maybe three thousand years ago and it is manufactured the same way, but with different techniques. But the main ingredients are the same: the olive oil, laurel oil, sodium hydroxide and water." VARIOUS OF SOAP MIXTURE BEING POURED IN CONTAINER HARASTANI MIXING SOAP IN CONTAINER HARASTANI REMOVING CONTAINER SOAP MIXTURE BEING POURED IN TRAY, HARASTANI MIXING IT WITH SPOON MIXTURE BEING SMOOTHED OVER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SCIENTIST AND SOAP MAKER HASSAN HARASTANI, SAYING: "Soap, for example in Syria, is considered like food. If you want, if someone for example - this is not a joke but this a real thing. If one for example wants to go to Aleppo, they ask him to bring him as a gift soap and zatar - zatar that is the thyme." SOAP MIXTURE BEING POURED IN TUB, FLATTENED HARASTANI LEAVING EMPLOYEE, FREDERICK OULMA TAKING TUB OF DRY SOAP, PUTTING IT UNDER SLICING MACHINE VARIOUS OF SOAP BEING SLICED SOAP BEING STAMPED VARIOUS OF OULMA CLASSIFYING YELLOW SOAP SOAP BEING CHECKED FACTORY FOUNDER, SAMIR CONSTANTINI, CHECKING SOAP (SOUNDBITE) (French) FACTORY FOUNDER, SAMIR CONSTANTINI, SAYING: "Abroad, products 'made in France' have an excellent reputation, and I didn't know that. Whenever you're offering cosmetics made in France, it is a badge of very good quality. The best cosmetics in the world are the ones made in France." VARIOUS OF PILES OF GREEN SOAP (SOUNDBITE) (French) FACTORY FOUNDER, SAMIR CONSTANTINI, SAYING: "It is true that Aleppo is stricken, people are left outside in the streets, they don't have homes. Here, we are making Aleppo soap according to the tradition and it is a way for us to continue to perpetuate this tradition of our dear Aleppo, our dear Syria." BOX OF ALEPPO SOAP WITH LABEL, READING: (French/English) "Made in Syria" CARTON CONTAINING VARIOUS ALEPIA PRODUCTS BOX OF ALEPPO SOAP, READING (French/English): "Made in France" CARTONS BEING TAKEN FROM SHELVES CARTONS BEING LOADED CARTONS CONTAINING ALEPPO SOAP 16% FROM THE BRAND ALEPIA FACTORY STOCK EXTERIOR OF FACTORY
- Embargoed: 14th January 2017 10:14
- Keywords: Aleppo soap Syria war factory France
- Location: SANTENY, FRANCE
- City: SANTENY, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0015F2RQDJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A REFILE OF A STORY ORIGINALLY FILED ON DECEMBER 26, 2016 FOR MIDDLE EAST REPORT UNDER THE NUMBER 1020-SYRIA-FRANCE/ALEPPO-SOAP
The scent of laurel wafts over the entrance of a soap factory in Santeny, southeast of Paris.
Aleppo's most famous beauty product has become collateral damage in the civil war, and found refuge in this suburb.
Scientist Hassan Harastani was working in a factory in Aleppo but fled the war and the city in 2012.
He first sought refuge in Lebanon, and then he came to France in September 2014, taking with him the secret soap recipe.
In Santeny, he went on to establish a soap-making laboratory, mixing ingredients in large vats and slicing the soap into cubes.
"Aleppo soap or we call it laurel soap - it's part of the heritage of Aleppo. In Aleppo, this type of soap was manufactured maybe three thousand years ago and it is manufactured the same way, but with different techniques. But the main ingredients are the same: the olive oil, laurel oil, sodium hydroxide and water," said Harastani, who inherited the know-how from his father.
He said he keeps the soaps 100 percent natural - without colouring, preservatives or chemical fragrances.
The process is painstaking.
It involves three days of mixing ingredients and cooking the soap to eliminate acidity, drying the soap in trays for at least 12 hours, slicing and stamping, and then six months of additional drying.
"Soap, for example in Syria, is considered like food. If you want, if someone for example - this is not a joke but this a real thing. If one for example wants to go to Aleppo, they ask him to bring him as a gift soap."
The scientist-soap maker was invited to France by Franco-Syrian doctor Samir Constantini, who was already importing soap from the Syrian factory where Harastani worked.
Constantini was peddling Aleppo soap door-to door in pharmacies 15 years ago, but it was not in high demand then.
Today, the products are distributed in a shop in Angers in western France, in pharmacies, organic stores and over the Internet.
The soap, branded as Alepia, has gained a following. For Constantini, the 'made-in-france' stamp also helps.
"Abroad, products 'made in France' have an excellent reputation, and I didn't know that. Whenever you're offering cosmetics made in France, it is a badge of very good quality. The best cosmetics in the world are the ones made in France," Constantini said.
Harastani, who studied public health, has created other products for the company, such as facial cream, shampoo and oils.
Despite the war, Constantini says he still manages to import some boxes of soap made in northern Syria.
Sales of Alepia and two other brands have reached 2.7 million euros in 2015, with their inventory struggling to meet demand.
"Aleppo is stricken, people are left outside in the streets, they don't have homes. Here, we are making Aleppo soap according to the tradition and it is a way for us to continue to perpetuate this tradition of our dear Aleppo, our dear Syria," Constantini said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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