‘Bittersweet’ …. Sudan’s Favorite Drink during Ramadan

Sudan's Ramadan favorite helo-murr is a thirst-quenching amber liquid. (AFP)
Sudan's Ramadan favorite helo-murr is a thirst-quenching amber liquid. (AFP)
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‘Bittersweet’ …. Sudan’s Favorite Drink during Ramadan

Sudan's Ramadan favorite helo-murr is a thirst-quenching amber liquid. (AFP)
Sudan's Ramadan favorite helo-murr is a thirst-quenching amber liquid. (AFP)

As generations of Sudanese have done before her, Wissal Abdel Ghany crouched next to a fire to prepare a traditional drink, a thirst-quenching favorite enjoyed during the fasting month of Ramadan.

In Sudan, the arduously made "helo-murr", which means "bittersweet", is a drink synonymous with the Islamic holy month.

It can be found on almost every table across the northeast African country at the end of the day's fast.

"Without it, our table feels empty," said Abdel Ghany, wearing a bright orange headscarf.

She sat in a small room in the village of Om Eshr, on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum, which teemed with a small force of women busily scraping and spreading a mixture before serving the beverage in clear glasses.

The drink has satisfied thirsty fasters for decades and recipes are "inherited from our mothers and grandmothers," the 43-year-old said.

Corn is harvested and left to dry in the sun before being ground and mixed with spices such as fenugreek, cumin or even hibiscus -- Sudan's other essential Ramadan beverage.

This mixture is then soaked in sugar and water for several days.

Abdel Ghany spread a layer of the thick brown paste over a grill plate above the coals of a wood fire, cooking it into a thin, leather-colored film.

The resulting crepe-like layer is then peeled away and stored -- ready to be soaked in the final step to create the beloved drink.

Served as cold as possible, the drink is one of many ways that fasting Sudanese cool off, a significant challenge in one of the world's hottest countries.

The brew is so identified with Ramadan that even the US embassy took to Twitter to promote its staff making it, with diplomats wielding wooden spoons over embers and sipping the amber liquid.

Abdel Ghany said preparing the drink is a collective effort, bringing "together our sisters and friends".

"We make it together to share among ourselves", she said.

In Sudan's cities, she added, some people don't make it themselves.

"But they still have to offer it for dinner, so they buy it ready-made," she said.

For Abdel Ghany, the preparation of helo-murr and the holy month cannot be separated.

"All it takes is a whiff of the scent coming out of a home to know that Ramadan is here," she said.



Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market said they paid $1.3 million for a tuna on Sunday, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.

Michelin-starred sushi restauranteurs the Onodera Group said they paid 207 million yen for the 276-kilogram (608 pound) bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike.

It is the second highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo's main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999.

The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight -- winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in Japan.

"The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune," Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. "Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year."

The Onodera Group paid 114 million yen for the top tuna last year.

But the highest ever auction price was 333.6 million yen for a 278-kilogram bluefin in 2019, as the fish market was moved from its traditional Tsukiji area to a modern facility in nearby Toyosu.

The record bid was made by self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain.

During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices, as the public were discouraged from dining out and restaurants had limited operations.