Aleppo Soap! The real thing!!!

[neeners]

Ok, so this is really the only place where I can share this and not feel like a total crazy person....

I was at the farmers market today, and there's a specialty salt/product stall there. I happen to look, and they had Aleppo soap, FROM SYRIA! of course I had to get one. It smells heavenly (that handmade, scent free, old kind of smell that's just amazing). It's hard as a rock. And because I didn't want to use the whole soap yet (it'll probably be kicking around for a few years), I chipped off a sliver and tested the lather. SOO creamy! and not that OO soap kind of slime. No clue how long it was cured (the girl there wasn't too knowledgable...she's just a sales girl not the usual guy who knows everything about the products).

Anyway, though I'd share to all you soap fans out there.

 

[OliveOil2]

Lucky you! Thank you for sharing the photo, just a few months ago my sister gave me some Aleppo pepper which is difficult to find now, and very delicious; your vender probably has it too. Anyway what an amazing chunk of soap, so natural & great lather.

 

[seven]

i want one! i've never had the opportunity to see and feel a real aleppo. lucky you!

 

[IrishLass]

Sweet! :-o


IrishLass

 

[Ellacho]

Nice! Thank you for sharing!

 

[CanaDawn]

Is it green inside??

 

[neeners]

i knew you guys would understand. my bf smiled when i bought it, and was asking about it. it's just so rare for us over here to find. I'm coveting it like gold! next time I'm in the market and i see the guy, I'm going to have to ask him how he's obtained it. i will report back!

i love the smell. i want to shower with it, but i don't at the same time. lol


ETA: CanaDawn, i didn't cut into it. i just chipped a piece off. doesn't look like it would be green on the inside.

 

[CanaDawn]

Should be. Starts out green and then the surface portion ages to gold. http://www.alepp.com/images/aleppo_soap_traditional_1_1.jpg

 

[seven]

oh my, that green inside is amazing!

 

[Ellacho]

I just read about Aleppeo soap history. Very interesting...

Now I want to make this soap!

Where can I buy reputable laurel oil in U.S.? I only can find bay laurel essential oil.

Thanks!

 

[neeners]

CaraDawn, here's the article I read. if it's super green, it means less laurel oil, and cheaper ingredients.
http://hildablue.com/2013/04/26/aleppo-soap/

and again, I haven't cut into the soap.

here's another Aleppo soap history write up. http://www.historische-aleppo-seife.de/engl_story.html

 

[CanaDawn]

Various levels of laurel oil are part of the soap "options". Is olive oil cheaper than laurel oil? I'm guessing so...therefore cheaper doesn't mean lower quality, it could just mean "different proportion of expensive ingredient to less expensive ingredient". It'll all be green to some degree in the middle.

 

[neeners]

well, guess unless someone here goes to Syria or someone with in depth, first hand knowledge about Aleppo soap can speak on whether or not it's supposed to be green, one can only speculate by all the articles on the internet (any of which can be true or false). for now, I will enjoy having found a bar in my local shop.

 

[CanaDawn]

well, guess unless someone here goes to Syria or someone with in depth, first hand knowledge about Aleppo soap can speak on whether or not it's supposed to be green, one can only speculate by all the articles on the internet (any of which can be true or false). for now, I will enjoy having found a bar in my local shop.

Would you like me to ask my Syrian friends? :-? I don't understand why this is hard to believe...

This was an interesting, although sad, story http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22541698
Another great article here: https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201004/soaping.up.htm

youtube of the process. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYR6c2MOc2g[/ame] at about the 7 minute mark, you can see that when they are shredding the golden coloured bars, they get green shreds.

You *could* cut the bar yourself....when you do, (and it's green), you will have the information for yourself.

 

[Ellacho]

Canadawn, thank you for sharing the link and youtube ! Very interesting!

 

[CanaDawn]

The process of pouring, cutting and marking the bars is quite amazing, and yet utterly efficient for the volume of soap produced (and that's just ONE soap producer!), isn't it?

 

[KristaY]

In doing a bit of research into the recipe for Aleppo soap, it looks like the laurel oil can be anywhere from 2-30%, the rest olive oil. Wikipedia says this about laurus nobilis:

Laurus nobilis is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is one of the plants used for bay leaf seasoning in cooking. It is known as bay laurel, sweet bay, bay tree (esp. United Kingdom), true laurel, Grecian laurel,[1] laurel tree or simply laurel. Laurus nobilis figures prominently in classical Greek, Roman, and Biblical culture.

Since it's ONE of the plants used for bay leaf seasoning, I wonder if it would work to do an oil infusion? When I browsed around for "laurel oil" I came up with the EO which is anywhere from $8-$28 for 5-10 mils. When I did the math for a 1 lb batch of soap it would require anywhere from 9.6 to 144 mils of laurel oil (for 2-30%). It would be pretty costly to make it with only the EO so would an infusion of bay leaves from the grocery spice aisle work?

 

[CanaDawn]

I think not. I think you need the oil from the seed.
http://www.laurelseedoil.com/?islem=2
http://www.atragarden.com/en-US/products/traditional-laurel-berry-oil
A few possible suppliers??

eta atragarden is a poster here and has discussed aleppo soap a few times recently.

 

[KristaY]

I think not. I think you need the oil from the seed.
http://www.laurelseedoil.com/?islem=2
http://www.atragarden.com/en-US/products/traditional-laurel-berry-oil
A few possible suppliers??

eta atragarden is a poster here and has discussed aleppo soap a few times recently.

Thanks CanaDawn, I'll check these out! :grin: I'm intrigued by Aleppo and want to try it out. The cure time is going to be a lesson in patience though, lol.

 

[Ellacho]

Krista, yes! I had the same thought as you . Last year, I infused bay leaves in olive oil but nothing smells like bay even after 6 months. Actually, it did not smell like bay at all.

So, I have purchased 1/2 oz Bay EO from Rose Mountain Herbs. It has such strong & deep scent which I love. A little goes a long way though. I only used 1/2 teaspoon of bay EO along with other EOs in 2 pound batch of soap but all I can smell is bay EO. The scent holds well even after 6 months in my soap rack so far. It's definitely pricy for me but it might be a worth to add in a special soap recipe - like Aleppo soap.