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Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Reveals Shortlists for Sard Al Thahab Award

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
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Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Reveals Shortlists for Sard Al Thahab Award

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has unveiled the shortlists for the second edition of the Sard Al Thahab Award, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Wednesday.

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories: ‘Short Story for Published Stories’, ‘Popular Narratives’, ‘Short Story for Unpublished Stories’, and ‘Illustrated Story,’ WAM said.

In addition to these, the center will announce the winners in the ‘Narrators’ and ‘Emirati Narration’ categories, along with the winners in the four categories, over the coming months.

The shortlist features works from the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The increase in the number of participating countries highlights the award's rapid expansion and its capacity to attract creative talents across its six categories.

The shortlist for the ‘Short Story for Published Stories’ category is: ‘The Two Sisters’ by Ali AlAbdan from the UAE, published in 2023 by the Emirates Writers Union; ‘The Last Storyteller in This Time’ by Abdulrahman Abbas from Sudan, published in 2023 by Rwafead Publishing & Distribution; and ‘The Green Dragon’s Wife and Other Colourful Tales’ by Rawaa Sunbol from Syria, published in 2019 by Alaan Publishers & Distributors.

The shortlist for the ‘Popular Narratives’ category features: ‘Bahraini Folktales: One Thousand and One Tales’ by Dr. Dheya Abdulla Khamis AlKaabi from Bahrain, published in 2018 by the Arab Institute for Research & Publishing; ‘Encyclopedia of Folktales: One Thousand and Eighty Tales from Northern Upper Egypt’ by Dr. Sayed Fares from Egypt, published in 2023 by the Sharjah Institute for Heritage; and ‘The Hidden Heritage: The Sumerian Legend and the Gulf Novel of the Al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah’ by Fathy Abdelsamie from Egypt, published in 2024 by Dar Waad for Publishing and Distribution.

The shortlist for the ‘Short Story for Unpublished Stories’ category has five entries: ‘Rooms with People Running Underneath Them’ by the Iraqi writer Yas AlFahdawi; ‘Biography of a Creature’ by the Moroccan writer Said Alfellak; ‘Suspended Souls’ by the Egyptian writer AbdelHady Ibrahim; ‘Judeilah Weather’ by the Egyptian writer Aida Deraman; and ‘Al Hashashat’ by the Tunisian writer Nasr Sami.

The shortlist for the ‘Illustrated Story’ category has four works: a documentary film titled ‘Tifan’ by Aaesha Alteneiji from the UAE; a photograph titled ‘Grandma’s Stories’ by Nuwair Alhajeri from the UAE; a photograph titled ‘Wife’s Loyalty’ by Issa Mohamed from Bahrain; and a drawing titled ‘Antara and Abla’ by Mahmood Shubbar from Iraq.

The jury selected the nominated works based on their alignment with the award's standards and objectives, reinforcing the award's commitment to excellence and fostering creativity in the literary field.

The Sard Al Thahab Award is an annual initiative launched by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center. Its objectives are inspired by the poetry of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Father of the Nation. The award aims to serve as a platform that merges creativity with intellectual thought, fostering an artistic movement that draws upon Sheikh Zayed’s creative legacy as a foundation for new forms of creativity.

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Culture

A Pastry Brought to Mexico by British Miners Is Still Popular after 200 Years

A basket of Mexican pastes sit on a patron's table before they are eaten for lunch at the 16th International Paste Festival in Mineral del Monte, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)
A basket of Mexican pastes sit on a patron's table before they are eaten for lunch at the 16th International Paste Festival in Mineral del Monte, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)
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A Pastry Brought to Mexico by British Miners Is Still Popular after 200 Years

A basket of Mexican pastes sit on a patron's table before they are eaten for lunch at the 16th International Paste Festival in Mineral del Monte, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)
A basket of Mexican pastes sit on a patron's table before they are eaten for lunch at the 16th International Paste Festival in Mineral del Monte, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)

Isabel Arriaga Lozano carefully fills a small pastry with a savory mix of meat, potatoes and chili pepper. She is crafting a "paste" (pronounced PAH-stay), a beloved Mexican snack with a rich history.

Originating in the mining town of Real del Monte, in the Mexican central state of Hidalgo, the "paste" was introduced by British miners in the 1820s and has since become a local culinary tradition. Each year, food enthusiasts converge on Real del Monte to celebrate the International Paste Festival, honoring its delicious heritage.

Pastes are popular across Mexico, with fillings ranging from spicy Mexican mole to sweeter concoctions like pineapple or blueberry with cheese.

And although many are unaware of their surprising origin, a graveyard at the top of a cobbled hill holds the clue: around 700 graves sit covered in moss and lichen with distinctly English names. These are the graves of the hundreds of miners who traveled to Mexico in 1824 to work in Real del Monte, extracting silver, copper, zinc, gold and mercury.

The miners came from Cornwall, a region on the southwest of England which had a similar strong mining community in the 19th century. They brought with them this iconic snack, known in England as a "Cornish pasty."

Cornish pasties date from the 13th century, when they were the food of nobility and the upper crust. By the 19th century, they became popular with working class Cornish families. A simple shortcrust pastry case was filled with cheap cuts of meat alongside potatoes, rutabaga and onion. The pastry was then crimped at the side, sealing the ingredients and giving the eater something to hold onto.

The crimped side would serve as a sort of handle, meaning that the miners could hold onto their lunch without getting the rest of the pasty dirtied with mud and grime from working in the mines.

Arriaga said she has made pastes for 30 years. She married into a paste-making family and took over the business when her husband passed away. Pastes, she said, have become a crucial part of life in the "magical town" of Real del Monte. "I think around 50% of us here make a living from this," she said, highlighting a very special ingredient that goes into every snack. "It’s, above all, the love we put into every paste that makes it a good product."

She said pastes have persisted thanks to the "mexicanization" of the ingredients. Compared to Cornish pasties, she said, "in Mexico (...) we always look for that spicy flavor ... we add pepper, we add parsley."

Pastes are such an iconic snack in Real del Monte that they have their own museum.

"The paste arrived in the year 1824, with the English miners from Cornwall who came to Real del Monte to start working in the mines," said Epifanio Garcés Torres, director of the town's Paste Museum. "The first Englishwoman to bake (one) here in Real del Monte was Mary Jenkins in 1824."

Visitors at this year's paste festival tried an array of treats. Where pastes in the UK have adopted fillings such as "full English breakfast" or "lamb and mint," the Mexican influence on the pastry here is clear: Frijoles (beans); spiced mole sauce or Mexican style tuna — with the obligatory chili pepper — are on the menu.

"They’re delicious," said one festival goer.

The festival featured colorful banners and signs displaying the Mexican, British and Cornish flags, highlighting a unique connection between Mexico and Britain that goes back 200 years — and linking the towns of Real del Monte and Cornwall, which sit more than 5,300 miles (8,530 kilometers) apart.