KUWAIT: In the good old days, Al-Safafir market was the destination of Kuwaitis willing to buy household wares with signs of their heritage. Located in Sharq, a neighborhood at the heart of Kuwait City, the market still maintains a taste of the past where people bought pots, trays, jugs, boxes, cups made of cooper, pottery, iron or aluminum. In the past, Kuwaitis used to import non-metal household wares from Iraq, Iran, China, India, but metal products were made at home, historian Ghanima Al-Fahd said. There were several types of pots.
Al-Jahla (clay jar) was a major item of these days; big ones were used to keep water in, or soaking date seeds that were later turned into fodder, she added. A small one was used as a drum by tapping on it with the fingers, or with the palm of the hand on its open.
There was also the Istikana, a Turkish word used to describe a unique-looking glass used mostly to drink tea. Many of the pots used for cooking and keeping food at home were made of aluminum; big ones were used for kneading flour and washing vegetables, while small ones contained pickles, Fahd said. – KUNA
